A Critical Analysis of the Symbolic Significance of Heritage Tourism

This paper discusses ways in which domestic heritage tourism acts as a symbolic mechanism through which shared social memories of the nation's past can be evoked, conceptualised and communicated. The discussions aptly illustrate the view of heritage as a form of cultural production and how it plays a fundamental role in recognising and expressing the nation's existence. Attention is drawn to an analytical contention emphasizing the crucial significance of individual narratives and unofficial discourses in the production and reproduction of shared memories and collective sentiments, encountered and reproduced during heritage tourism experiences. In this context, it is asserted that the subjective interpretations of heritage places are socially important in understanding how national consciousness and notions of nationhood are projected. The paper critically explores the social and cultural dimensions of tourism experiences emerging from postmodern influences, including the advent of a commercially contrived heritage industry and the increasing significance of de-differentiated tourist experiences. These discussions lead to concluding assertions claiming that the contemporary nature of heritage tourism enables domestic tourists to critically understand their nation's unique 'moral geography'