THE UNIVERSITY of HULL Examining the Creative
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THE UNIVERSITY OF HULL Examining the Creative Tourism Potential of Intangible Archaeological Heritage in Alentejo (Portugal) – a study on the Role of Tourism Providers in Developing Creative Archaeological Tourism Experiences being a Thesis submitted for the Degree of PhD in the University of Hull by David Olinga Clifford Ross Lic University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro February 2018 Acknowledgements This work was only made possible due to the support of the following people, to whom I wish to express my sincere appreciation: To Professor Gunjan Saxena, for her invaluable support and guidance, challenging questions and encouraging discussions. For her readiness and willingness to read several drafts of this thesis and each time offer valuable advice I am truly grateful. To Dr. Fernando Correia and Dr. Pauline Deutz, for their thought-provoking comments and helpful critiques on this research; To the people and organisations of Alentejo who participated in this study, for their time and hospitality; To the University of Hull, for the financial support which gave me the stability and conditions to fully immerse myself in the research process; To Dr. Idalina Sardinha, for encouraging me to embark on this PhD journey; To all my friends and family, with special thanks to my Mother and Father, for their infinite love and support; To Ghazal, for keeping my heart warm every single day. 2 Abstract This study conceptualises the role of tourism providers in facilitating creative tourism experiences by focusing on their ingenious enterprise. The emphasis is on how they make use of intangible archaeological heritage as tourism resource. Intangible archaeological heritage can be understood as knowledge emanating from actors’ own interpretation of archaeological sites that have either become physically inaccessible or been destroyed since initial exploration. Archaeological heritage is often equated with tangibility, which results in an omission of experiences that intangible archaeological heritage can offer. In arguing for a rethinking of the archaeological tourism framework, the emphasis is on theorising creativity in tourism and examining constructivist approaches to cultural heritage interpretation. This study focuses on the Alentejo region, in southern Portugal, a cultural tourism destination where archaeological heritage assumes a key role. Based on a qualitative approach, 25 tourism stakeholders were interviewed to understand their perceptions concerning the role of tourism providers in delivering archaeological tourism experiences, as well as towards the potential of intangible archaeological heritage to inform the development of tourism initiatives. In addition, secondary data such as tourism promotional materials and TripAdvisor reviews were also analysed. Findings suggest that, in order to operationalise intangible archaeological heritage in tourism, providers should employ constructivist heritage interpretation strategies as a way of highlighting the value of tourists’ interpretation of a historical monument over experience of engaging with its material fabric. Furthermore, co-creative archaeological tourism experiences are enhanced when providers’ creative skills are applied, a point which calls for the development of activities that are able to improve providers’ creative capacity. However, in the case of Alentejo, lack of communication between public, non- profit, and private sector actors involved in tourism provision is a key obstruction for development of tourism initiatives that are able to operationalise intangible archaeological heritage. 3 Table of Contents Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... 2 Abstract ............................................................................................................................. 3 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 9 1.1 Archaeological tourism and intangible archaeological heritage ............................. 9 1.2 Research aim and objectives ................................................................................. 12 1.3 Conceptual framework .......................................................................................... 13 1.4 Research methods .................................................................................................. 14 1.5 Contributions of this study .................................................................................... 15 1.6 Research dissemination ......................................................................................... 15 1.7 Structure of the thesis ............................................................................................ 16 1.8 Summary ............................................................................................................... 18 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................ 19 2.1 Cultural and archaeological tourism ...................................................................... 20 2.2 From cultural to creative tourism .......................................................................... 21 2.3 Providers’ role in co-creating tourism experiences ............................................... 25 2.4 Theorising creativity in tourism ............................................................................ 29 2.5 Positivist and constructivist approaches to cultural heritage interpretation .......... 33 2.6 Summary ............................................................................................................... 37 CHAPTER 3. RESEARCH SETTING: ALENTEJO ..................................................... 40 3.1 An overview of Portugal ....................................................................................... 40 3.2 Alentejo and the Alqueva dam .............................................................................. 42 3.3 Summary ............................................................................................................... 50 CHAPTER 4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ............................................................ 52 4.1 Research philosophy .............................................................................................. 52 4.2 Research design: case study .................................................................................. 55 4.3 Profile of participants and sampling criteria ......................................................... 57 4.4 Data collection methods ........................................................................................ 61 4.4.1 Interview protocol for tourism businesses ...................................................... 61 4 4.4.1.1 Open-ended questions .............................................................................. 62 4.4.1.2 Show cards ............................................................................................... 64 4.4.2 Interview protocol for public and non-profit actors ........................................ 66 4.4.3 Interview procedures....................................................................................... 67 4.4.4 Secondary data ................................................................................................ 67 4.5 Data processing and analysis ................................................................................. 68 4.6 Ethical considerations ............................................................................................ 74 4.7 Summary ............................................................................................................... 75 CHAPTER 5. ALENTEJO’S TOURISM PROVIDERS AND REGION’S (INTANGIBLE) ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE ................................................... 76 5.1 Public actors in Alentejo ....................................................................................... 77 5.1.1 Public actors’ support to tourism businesses .................................................. 79 5.1.2 Training programs developed by public actors............................................... 85 5.2 Non-profit organisations in Alentejo ..................................................................... 88 5.2.1 Non-profit actors support to tourism businesses............................................. 89 5.2.2 Training programs developed by non-profit organisations ............................. 94 5.3 Private actors in Alentejo .................................................................................... 101 5.3.1 Tour guides as locals..................................................................................... 107 5.3.2 Tour guides’ knowledge about archaeology and Alentejo’s heritage........... 113 5.4 Inter-sector cooperation and implications for IAH ............................................. 119 5.5 Summary ............................................................................................................. 121 CHAPTER 6. ALENTEJO’S PROVIDERS USE OF CULTURAL HERITAGE INTERPRETATION STRATEGIES IN APPROACHING ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE ................................................................................................................... 123 6.1 Enhancing tourists’ operant resources ................................................................. 124 6.1.1 Assessing tourists’ operant resources ..........................................................