A Master Thesis Entitled Visitor Satisfaction at UNESCO World
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A Master Thesis entitled Visitor Satisfaction at UNESCO World Heritage Sites: The Case of the Oasis of Bahla and Land of Frankincense in the Sultanate of Oman by Philipp Jan Carl Herzig Submitted to the University of Ljubljana and the German University of Technology in Oman as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the European Master in Tourism Management conducted at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Southern Denmark Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana Faculty of Tourism, University of Girona _______________________________ Prof. William C. Gartner, Ph.D., University of Ljubljana _______________________________ Prof. Heba Aziz, Ph.D., German University of Technology in Oman July 31st 2017 this page has been intentionally left blank AUTHORSHIP STATEMENT The undersigned Philipp Jan Carl Herzig, a student at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Economics, (hereafter: FELU), declare that I am the author of the bachelor master’s thesis entitled Visitor Satisfaction at UNESCO World Heritage Sites: The Case of the Oasis of Bahla and Land of Frankincense in the Sultanate of Oman, written under supervision of William C. Gartner and co-supervision of Heba Aziz. In accordance with the Copyright and Related Rights Act (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, Nr. 21/1995 with changes and amendments) I allow the text of master’s thesis to be published on the FELU website. I further declare • the text of my master’s thesis to be based on the results of my own research; • the text of my master’s thesis to be language-edited and technically in adherence with the FELU’s Technical Guidelines for Written Works which means that I o cited and / or quoted works and opinions of other authors in my master’s thesis in accordance with the FELU’s Technical Guidelines for Written Works and o obtained (and referred to in my master’s thesis) all the necessary permits to use the works of other authors which are entirely (in written or graphical form) used in my text; • to be aware of the fact that plagiarism (in written or graphical form) is a criminal offence and can be prosecuted in accordance with the Criminal Code (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, Nr. 55/2008 with changes and amendments); • to be aware of the consequences a proven plagiarism charge based on the submitted master’s thesis could have for my status at the FELU in accordance with the relevant FELU Rules on Master’s Thesis. Kiel, July 31st, 2017 Author’s signature: Copyright 2017, Philipp J. C. Herzig This document is copyrighted material. Under copyright law, no parts of this document may be reproduced without the expressed permission of the author. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS After an intensive period of four months in the Sultanate of Oman, researching and writing about visitor satisfaction at the Oasis of Bahla and Land of Frankincense World Heritage Sites and another two months at home in Germany, I am now able to write this note of thanks as the finishing touch of my thesis. First of all, I would like to thank my two supervisors who supported me personally and to Dr. Heba Aziz for welcoming me the German ش كرا from far away. Many thanks and University of Technology in Muscat without hesitation and for taking your time to support me throughout the entire working period with your academical expertise, the interesting discussions on the Omani tourism sector and the provision of everything I needed to complete my thesis. I am equally thankful for the chance of having Dr. Bill Gartner as my supervisor who accepted and supported my decisions right from the beginning. Thank you for giving me a great start with the provided literature and your fast responses to all the questions that occurred during the process. Despite the distance, you were always able to give me the useful advices on how to proceed. Moreover, thank you both very much for taking the time to review my thesis notwithstanding your busy schedules. Furthermore, I need to thank Dr. Osman Bargouth for being so open and friendly to share his office with me for the entire time in Oman and continuously helping me writing my thesis. Osman, thank you so much for spending all this time on guiding me through the evaluation of the survey and answering all the academical questions I had. Last but certainly not least, I would like to thank my mum and dad who are the most supportive parents I could imagine. Thank you for giving me the possibility to make all these great experiences. I cannot appreciate it enough and will always be thankful to you. Table of Contents 0 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................... ix LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................... x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................................................... xi ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................. xiii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 1 1.1 Research Background ................................................................................... 1 1.2 Research Objectives ..................................................................................... 2 1.3 Rationale of the Study ................................................................................... 3 1.4 Structure of the Thesis .................................................................................. 4 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................... 6 2.1 Supply Side: Heritage Tourism ...................................................................... 6 2.1.1 Defining cultural and heritage tourism. .................................................... 7 2.1.2 Relationship and conflicts between heritage and tourism. ...................... 9 2.2 Demand Side: Heritage Tourists.................................................................. 11 2.2.1 Segments and characteristics of heritage tourists. ................................ 12 2.2.2 Motivation of heritage tourists. .............................................................. 14 2.2.3 Tourism at UNESCO World Heritage Sites. .......................................... 15 2.3 Defining Satisfaction .................................................................................... 17 2.3.1 Expectations and satisfaction versus experience and satisfaction. ....... 19 2.3.2 The relationship between the quality of destination attributes and satisfaction. ........................................................................................... 22 2.3.3 The relationship between satisfaction and behavioural intention. ......... 26 2.3.4 Previous models. .................................................................................. 29 2.3.5 Conceptual model of the study. ............................................................. 31 CHAPTER 3: THE CASE OF WORLD HERITAGE SITES IN OMAN ..................... 36 3.1 UNESCO World Heritage ............................................................................ 36 3.1.1 The World Heritage Convention. ........................................................... 36 3.1.2 The World Heritage List. ....................................................................... 37 3.1.3 The World Heritage Committee. ............................................................ 39 3.1.4 The World Heritage Fund. ..................................................................... 40 vi Table of Contents 3.1.5 The World Heritage Centre (Secretariat to the World Heritage Committee). .......................................................................................... 40 3.1.6 National and international responsibilities. ............................................ 40 3.1.7 Tourism at World Heritage Sites and shortcomings of the WHL. .......... 41 3.2 The Tourism Sector in Oman ...................................................................... 46 3.2.1 Diversification of the economy and tourism statistics. ........................... 46 3.2.2 Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. ............................... 49 3.2.3 Oman Tourism Strategy 2040. .............................................................. 51 3.3 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Oman ..................................................... 52 3.3.1 Oasis of Bahla. ...................................................................................... 54 3.3.2 Land of Frankincense. .......................................................................... 59 3.3.3 Comparison of visitor numbers at Oasis of Bahla and Land of Frankincense. ....................................................................................... 62 CHAPTER 4: METHODOLOGY AND RESEARCH DESIGN .................................. 64 4.1 Part one: Survey .......................................................................................... 64 4.1.1 Study area and sample. ........................................................................ 64 4.1.2 Material. ................................................................................................ 65 4.1.3 Procedure. ............................................................................................ 72 4.2 Part two: Content Analysis .......................................................................... 75 4.2.1 Sample. ................................................................................................