Sheffield Business School
BSc (Honours) Tourism Management
Title A Review of the Development of Heritage Tourism in Hong Kong
Name CHEUNG MUI KUEN
Student No 91204744
Month Year April 2010
Sheffield Hallam University
Sheffield Business School
Title A Review of the Development of Heritage Tourism in Hong Kong
FULL NAME CHEUNG MUI KUEN
STUDENT No 91204744
Supervisor: Dr. Connie Mok
In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Science in Tourism Management.
Month Year April 2010
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my thankfulness to my supervisor, Dr. Connie Mok, with her help in the ten learning sets that she guided me the way of thinking and the method of study in my dissertation. Moreover, my two friends, Nicole Lee and Bess Lam, they gave me opinions and assisted me how to review the heritage development.
I Abstract
Hong Kong is not only an international city, but also a city with many heritages.
Heritage tourism was introduced 20 years ago that mean it was not a new term in
Hong Kong. However, why does heritage tourism cannot become great attraction to
tourists? The aim of this dissertation is going to review the development of heritage
tourism in Hong Kong and the researcher will find out what problems in the development through literatures review. And another purpose of review the development of heritage tourism is aiming to make recommendations for improvement, no matter in heritage preserving, heritage management, the usage of heritage in tourism.
The topic is going to review the development of heritage tourism in Hong Kong so that it will be a qualitative study using the case study method. This method is about to descript an actual situation in heritage development. Through reading different sources of secondary data, the researcher can summaries the problems of heritage tourism development and what factors affect its development.
The factors affect the development of heritage tourism in Hong Kong are including: heritage tourism product, the intentions of different stakeholders of developing
II heritage tourism, heritage management, visitors marketing, visitors’ attitude to Hong
Kong heritage tourism. Those factors connect each other tightly and they affect each other in two ways.
III List of Figures
Fig 1, Formal and working relationship of AMO within the Government
Planning and Home Affairs Bureau Culture and Heritage Lands Antiquities Authority Advise Commission Department (Secretary of HAB) (Policy)
Environment Statutory duty support Lord Wilson Protection Operation Leisure and Cultural to Advise Heritage Trust Depart Service Department (Seek donations) Antiquities Government Operation Advisory Property Agent Antiquities and Monument Lord Wilson Board Office (Operation) Support Heritage Trust Architectural (Approve Service Secretariat applications) Department Liaise Other departments, Urban Hong Kong Chinese Education Museums including: Renewal tourism Temples Department Committee Highways, Authority Board Committe Buildings, Fire Service
IV List of Tables
1. The percentage of tourists from different countries in 2008:
The Americas 4.70% Europe Africa &Middle East 5.70% Australia, New Zealand & South Pacific 2.40% North Asia 6.80% South& Southeast Asia 12.90% Taiwan 6.40% Mainland China 58.20%
Source: Visitor Arrival Statistics—Dec 2008, HKTB
2. The percentage of tourism from different countries participated in visiting museums or cultural activities venues in 2008:
The Americas 8.00% Europe Africa &Middle East 6.00% Australia, New Zealand & South Pacific 6.00% North Asia 4.00% South& Southeast Asia 3.00% Taiwan 2.00% Mainland China 1.00%
Source: Visitor Profile Report –2008, HKTB
V Contents
Acknowledgements ...... I Abstract ...... II List of Figures ...... IV List of Tables ...... V Contents ...... VI CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ...... 1 1.1 Current Situation of Hong Kong Tourism Industry ...... 1 1.2 Purpose of Study ...... 2 1.3 Outline of Structure ...... 4 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ...... 6 2.1 Definitions...... 6 2.1.1 Heritage ...... 6 2.1.2 Heritage Tourism ...... 7 2.2 Similarities and Differences between Cultural and Heritage Tourism ...... 8 2.3 The Importance of developing Heritage Tourism in Hong Kong ...... 11 2.3.3 Sustainable Development...... 12 2.3.4 Economic Value ...... 13 2.4 The Development of Heritage Tourism in Hong Kong ...... 13 2.5 The Institutions of Managing Heritage ...... 14 2.5.1 Antiquities and Monuments Office ...... 14 2.5.2 Antiquities Advisory Board (AAB) ...... 15 2.5.3 Home Affairs Bureau (HAB) ...... 15 2.5.4 Urban Renewal Authority ...... 16 2.6 Legal framework of protecting heritage ...... 18 2.7 The Type and Number of Heritage ...... 18 2.7.1 Built Heritage ...... 18 2.7.2 Declared Monuments ...... 19 2.7.3 Heritage Trail ...... 20 2.8 The Institution of Promoting Heritage Tourism ...... 21 2.8.1 Hong Kong Tourism Board ...... 21 2.8.2 Tourism Commission ...... 22 2.9 Characteristics of Heritage Tourists ...... 23 2.9.1 Tourists at Heritage Sites ...... 23 2.9.2 Heritage Tourists ...... 23 2.10 Good Practices of Heritage Tourism from Other Regions ...... 24 2.10.1 Macau’s Experience ...... 24
VI 2.10.2 Britain’s Experience ...... 27 2.10.3 China’s Experience ...... 28 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY ...... 31 3.1 Case Study ...... 31 3.2 Secondary Research ...... 32 3.2.1 What Secondary Research is ...... 32 3.2.2 Source of Secondary Data ...... 32 3.2.3 Limitations of Secondary Data ...... 36 CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS ...... 38 4.1 The Factors that Affect Heritage Tourism Development in Hong Kong ..... 39 4.1.1 Heritage Tourism Products ...... 40 4.1.2 Intentions of Stakeholders of Developing Heritage Tourism ...... 42 4.1.2.1 Government...... 42 4.1.2.2. Entrepreneurs/Business ...... 42 4.1.2.3 Public ...... 43 4.1.3 Heritage Tourism Management ...... 44 4.1.4 Relevant Heritage Tourism Accessories ...... 45 4.1.5 Visitor Marketing in Heritage Tourism ...... 46 4.1.6 Tourists’ Attitude to Heritage Tourism ...... 47 CHAPTER 5 RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS ...... 50 5.1 Having a Clear Grading System ...... 50 5.2 Incentive policy to the private owner of heritage ...... 51 5.3 Set up a Central Authority of Heritage Management ...... 51 5.4 Establishing Heritage Funding and Cooperate with NGO ...... 52 5.5 Change the Usages of Heritage ...... 53 5.6 Conclusion ...... 54
VII CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Current Situation of Hong Kong Tourism Industry
Tourism is the major and growing importance to Hong Kong. Tourism receipted account for some 5% of GDP, there were over 3,000 people employed directly in the industry (Government Press Release, 3/11/2001) and tourist arrival total 29.6 millions in 2009 (TopNews Hong Kong, 6/1/2010). These facts reflect the importance of tourism industry to Hong Kong so that Hong Kong has intended to diversify its attractions to maintain its position as a prominent tourist destination in recent years.
For instant, the government intends to develop HK as MICE (Meeting, Incentive,
Conventions and Exhibitions) destination in Asia, “promote Hong Kong as an
International city, to attract large-scale MICE events to Hong Kong” (2008-09 Policy
Address). However, the number and size of venues in HK are inadequate due to land limitation and the rate of use is coming close to saturate in the two main venues, Hong
Kong Convention and Exhibition Center and Asia World Expo. And other cities like
Guangzhou and Macau have bigger venues for MICE, so there are obstacles and challenges to develop HK as a MICE destination and the competitive power of Hong
Kong is comparatively weak.
1 1.2 Purpose of Study
In fact, Hong Kong itself has many assets what can develop as tourist attractions, like
heritage. Hong Kong used to have over 160 years of colonial history, diversified
attractions full of Chinese and western culture, like western churches and traditional
Chinese temples. Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) emphasized Hong Kong as a
unique fusion of Western and Eastern cultures. Many ancient Chinese temples,
museums with different themes, declared monuments, heritage trails spread
throughout territory.
And heritage is regarded as one of the more significant and fast growing components
of tourism in many developed economies (Alzue, O’Leary, & Morrison, 1998;
Herbert, 2001).Taking United Kingdom as an example, UK heritage tourism sector estimated to generate 28% of all UK tourism expenditure annually (Carr, 1994). And
in US, heritage tourism is recognized as an important sector of domestic tourism, it
has an annual growth rate of 13% between 1996 and 2002, with approximately 216.8
million personal trips to heritage sites in 2002, and their average spendings were $
623, which is almost 50% higher than the expenditure of non-heritage visitors (Travel
Industry Association of American TravelScope survey, 2003). Heritage tourism brings
lots of benefits to those countries in the past years.
2 Moreover, heritage tourism not only plays a role in economic development, but also
widely accepted as a way to achieve the educational function of tourism. As heritage
can help a government influence public opinion and gain support for national ideological objectives, promote national ambitions, develop a positive national image,
as well as produce national identity. (Li, Wu and Cain, 2008). Heritage is a vital asset
for the destination so the Hong Kong government should preserve and use it properly.
There are so many benefits to develop heritage and Hong Kong has many tangible
heritages, but why is heritage tourism not very popular? Are there any reasons or
obstacles from stopping it develop? Or the attractions are not well recognized that not
many tourists are interested in visiting them? That’s why this arouses the researcher’s
interest to review the development of heritage tourism in Hong Kong.
The title of this research is a review of the development of heritage tourism in Hong
Kong. The word “review” in the title that means the researcher will look back the past
to understand how the development of heritage tourism in Hong Kong. The purpose
of review is going to find out what problems in the development of heritage tourism
and what factors affect its development. Finally, the researcher wants to find out those
obstacles and make suggestions for future heritage tourism development.
3 1.3 Outline of Structure
This dissertation is going to review the development of heritage tourism in Hong
Kong and it will explain why the researcher studies this topic in Chapter one. And let readers understand the situation of developing heritage tourism in Hong Kong through literature review in Chapter two. In Chapter three, the method of this study will be introduced. And in Chapter four, researcher will conclude what she found through secondary data. Then results will be released in Chapter five, and conclusions and recommendations will be made in the same chapter.
Aim
This study aims to review the development of heritage tourism in Hong Kong so as to find out the factors that affect it development and to suggest recommendations.
Objectives
This study aims to achieve the following objectives:
1. To review the development of heritage tourism in HK;
2. To evaluate the importance of heritage tourism in HK;
3. To assess the factors that influence the development of heritage tourism in HK;
and
4 4. To identify the good practices of heritage tourism from other regions that could be
applied to Hong Kong.
5 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Definitions
2.1.1 Heritage
The word “heritage” has caught people much attention recent years due to massive exposure from media. But what is the meaning of heritage? In 1983 National Heritage
Conference defines it as: ‘That a past generation which has preserved and handed on to the present and of which a significant group of population wishes to hand on to the future’ (Hewsion, 1989, p6). The definition of it is a bit abstract and heritage has become more closely linked with tourism, so Prencice states heritage not only “means landscape, natural history, buildings, artifacts, cultural traditions and the like which are literally or metaphorically passed on from one generation to another, but those among these things which can be portrayed for promotion as tourism products
Prentice, 1993, p.5).
Cultural heritages are assets to the destination, and they can become attractions, for they encompass the unique features of a place that reflects its history, lifestyle, or environment (McKercher, Ho and du Cros, 2004). Heritage of Hong Kong can distinct its culture and identity, and it’s separated from the Chinese culture of the People's
Republic on the mainland (Cheung, 1999). Based on those definitions, heritage can
6 classified into tangible what are buildings, landscape and intangible what are cultural
traditions.
2.1.2 Heritage Tourism
Heritage tourism, is it just an alternative tourism? Or is it just a tour visiting historical
buildings? So what is heritage tourism? Garrod and Fyall (2001) argue heritage
tourism, likes heritage itself, what is difficult to pinpoint. It is because almost
anything with a historical or cultural element could possibly be included as heritage
tourism. However, Zeppel and Hall define heritage tourism as a board field of
specialty travel, which ‘based on nostalgia for the past and the desire to experience
diverse culture landscape and form’ (Zeppel and Hall, 1992, p47).
Those definitions of heritage tourism emphasize that the contents of a place are linked
to the phenomenon of heritage tourism due to the belief that featured history
contributes to the overall visitor experience gained (Poria, Reichel, &Biran, 2006).
And other authors regard heritage tourism as simply tourism in places categorized as
heritage or historic sites, what as Yale’s description that heritage tourism is “centered on what we have inherited, which can mean anything from historic buildings, to art works, to beautiful scenery” (Yale,1991, p21). However, adopting this approach will
7 cause problem, as it “can lead to some confusion when dealing with heritage and historic tourism in general and their management in particular” (Poria et al., 2006, p1047). And therefore, they proposed a new definition of heritage tourism, which is “a subgroup of tourism, in which the main motivation for visiting a site is based on the place’s heritage characteristics according to the tourists’ perception of their own heritage” (Poria et al., 2006, p1048).
2.2 Similarities and Differences between Cultural and Heritage Tourism
In the above definitions and many literatures always combined “culture” and
“heritage” together, for instance, “culture and heritage tourism”, “culture and heritage management”. However, the two terms are not the same thing. In order to let readers have a clear concept of them, Edgell (2006) cited Webster's II New College
Dictionary (2001 edition) to distinctive them in explanations. "Culture" is defined as
"The totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought typical of a population or community at a given time." In the same edition, "heritage" is defined "(1) Property that is or can be inherited;"(2) something passed down from preceding generations; (3) The status gained by a person through birth").
8 Even though the two terms are different in definitions, why do people always combine them together? Edgell (2006) believed they were lump together because of economic impact. The merger of the terms can be advantage for tourism, but he though they were different in some ways. In order to let readers have a further understanding between both of them, he cited the National Trust for Historic Preservation's (2001b) article "Cultural and Heritage Tourism--The Same, or Different?" to identify how they are same and how they are different (Edgell, 2006, p70 cited in National Trust for
Historic Preservation, 2100 b).
“‘It is not possible to define cultural tourism and heritage tourism as two entirely different kinds of tourism. In looking at definitions of both heritage and cultural tourism, there clearly is overlap between the two. Without question, the areas of overlap far exceed the differences...An informal survey of programs across the country reveals that "heritage" programs are more often found in rural areas while
"cultural" programs are more often found in urban settings, Historic preservation groups are more likely to describe "heritage tourism" programs, while museum and arts groups are more likely to refer to "cultural tourism" programs, though the content is often quite similar. The primary difference between the two is that heritage tourism is "place" based. Heritage tourism programs create a sense of place rooted in the local
9 landscape, architecture, people, artifacts, traditions and stories that make a particular
place unique. Cultural tourism programs celebrate the same kinds of experiences,
though with less emphasis on place. Thus, viewing the work of a great master artist in
his home and studio is a heritage tourism experience, while viewing those same pieces
of art in a traveling exhibition is a cultural tourism experience. The content is the
same while the context is different...This distinction clarifies why preservations refer to "heritage tourism" while museums and arts organizations are more likely to use the term "cultural tourism". Historic preservation tends to address the built environment and cultural landscape, and preservationists place a high value on maintaining the original context. On the other hand, museums and the arts are more likely to work with collections and performances that can be transported and shared with other communities... While using the term "cultural heritage tourism" is useful to help being together all of the partners that need to be working together on this type of an effort
(including organizations and individuals representing the arts, museums, the humanities, historic preservation, heritage areas, ethnic groups and others including tourism partners), it is cumbersome to use in marketing programs to potential visitors.
An informal survey reveals that the terms "cultural" and "heritage" have different meaning for the layperson--and for your potential visitors. Thus, based on your audience, it may be more effective to use one term or the other depending upon the
10 image that you are trying to convey’.”
2.3 The Importance of developing Heritage Tourism in Hong Kong
Heritage plays an important role in Hong Kong history and society and it contributes
in different ways.
2.3.1 Historical Value and Cultural Value
From different definitions, heritage is an evidence of displaying history, reflecting
people behaviors and culture in the past. Heritage can let new generations trace back
how the old Hong Kong looks like in the past, how it can develop from a fish village
to an international city that educates the public about evolution of the city through visiting heritage. Moreover, some significant landmark buildings can symbolize the image of the city; tourists see those landmark buildings that reflect the image of Hong
Kong (Chui and Tsoi, 2003).
2.3.2 Social Value
Hong Kong used to be a colony of British and returned to Mainland China in 1997.
Hong Kong people have confusion in identity during the time. Heritage is a unique product that belongs to Hong Kong people. Heritage is a ‘collective memory’ to Hong
11 Kong people generating a sense of belonging to the place. This is important to the government management and coherent of social power that the society becomes more
harmony. In addition, the development of heritage tourism not only enhances the
quality of urban life, but also contributes significantly to the international
competitiveness of a city (Lo, 1996).
Hong Kong people would be proud of their unique social roots by appreciating the
evidence of human activity. Moreover, the building structure and architecture of
heritage can have high educational and recreational values. The skill of art in
architecture can be passed to generations.
2.3.3 Sustainable Development
The definition of sustainable development existed in Our Common Future of the
Brundtland Commission which defined was as ‘development that meets the needs of
the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs’ (World Commission on Environment and Development 1987:43). Heritage is
an asset belonging to the present, as well as future generation so that it should be
protected for the benefits of future generation.
12 2.3.4 Economic Value
Heritage, like historical buildings and monuments, they are with significantly historical and architectural importance which can become assets of attractions after successful restoration and promotion. Moreover, Hong Kong reputation as an international modern city with its long and distinctive history can be enhanced.
By revitalizing and converting them to tourists’ spots such as museum, their value can rise substantially because it can attract visitors and boost tourism industry, which is an important economic pulse of Hong Kong (Chu and Uebergang, 2002)
Furthermore, many heritages located in some old districts, those areas are not business areas. So the development of heritage tourism can help to boost the economic around the area and generate business opportunists to the local.
2.4 The Development of Heritage Tourism in Hong Kong
Hong Kong was a fishing village and now becomes a modern metro. Some distinctive
Chinese traditional characteristics constructions have been replaced or ruined during the changing process. In the mid-60s, it was a period of great suffering and turmoil on the Mainland, and it affected Hong Kong much in term of sense of belonging. In order
13 to generate the sense of mutual belonging among the people of Hong Kong, the
government undertook local campaigns. And in the late 60s, “Hong Kong identity”
began to appear (Lo, 1996).
In the mid-80s, Ping Shan’s clan, the Chinese traditional monument has been used to
represent the uniqueness of a Hong Kong heritage. And at that time, the Hong Kong
government was going to package and present a view of itself which stressed its own
uniqueness and distinctive “heritage”---one considered to be different from both the history of mainland China and the 150 years colonial history of British Hong Kong
(Cheung, 1999). And in 1989, Hong Kong Tourism Association (now HKTB) firstly introduced heritage tour to western tourists (HKTB, 2007)
2.5 The Institutions of Managing Heritage
2.5.1 Antiquities and Monuments Office
In 1976, the Antiquities and Monuments Office (AMO) was set-up, AMO is one of the bodies under Leisure and Cultural Service Department. The AMO served as an executive body to carry out a series of work from identification, excavation, restoration, and maintenance of monuments to publicizing Hong Kong’s heritage for educational purposes (HKAMO 1992b). The AMO provides secretariat and policy
14 support to both the Antiquities Authority and the Antiquities advisory Board in
preserving places of historical and archaeological interest (AMO, 2004).
2.5.2 Antiquities Advisory Board (AAB)
In the same year, 1976, Antiquities Advisory Board had been established as well. The purpose of establishing AAB was to advise the Secretary for Home Affairs Bureau on matters relating to antiquities and monuments (Chui, and Tsoi, 2003). Members from the general public were appointed by the Governor to participate in the Board for supporting heritage conservation since 1986. For instance, members are from various disciplines like historians, architects and planners. With expertise in different aspects of heritage conservation, the Board plays an important role in supporting and guiding the Antiquities and Monument Office (AMO, 2004).
2.5.3 Home Affairs Bureau (HAB)
The Home Affairs Bureau is a central authority, which oversees heritage policies and strategies. It also works closely with Leisure and Cultural Service Department, the other executive department of heritage in Hong Kong, especially the AMO in monitoring heritage preservation and promoting heritage education (HAB, 2008).
15 According to Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance, the HAB is empowered to
prevent alterations, or to impose conditions upon any proposed alterations in order to protect a monument. Furthermore, HAB is empowered to regulate the search for and excavation of relics through a licensing system. If any person conducts any excavates, searches for antiquities or demolish, defaces or carries out any work on a declared monument, he/she will face a criminal offence (Chui and Tsoi , 2003).
2.5.4 Urban Renewal Authority
The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) is responsible for implementing the Hong Kong government’s urban renewal strategy. To preserve by maintaining and restoring buildings of historical and architectural value, and to sustain local characteristics are one of the priority works of it. Under the URA, there is a committee, Planning,
Development and Conservation Committee (PDCC). The PDCC has set up a
Conservation Advisory Panel to advise on matters related to preservation.
Furthermore, the URA works closely with the Antiquities and Monuments Office on the criteria to assess the conservation merits of the buildings in order to
redevelopment, rehabilitation and revitalization (URA, 2005)
Those government departments are the major bodies of protecting heritage in Hong
16 Kong. Also, there are others relevant government departments involve in managing heritage. How do they work and co-operate with each other? The following figure shows their relationships.
Fig 1, formal and working relationship of AMO within the Government
Home Affairs Bureau Culture and Heritage Planning and Antiquities Authority Advise Commission Lands (Secretary of HAB) Department (Policy)
Environment Statutory duty support Lord Wilson Protection Operation Leisure and Cultural to Advise Heritage Trust Depart Service Department (Seek donations) Antiquities Government Operation Advisory Property Agent Antiquities and Monument Lord Wilson Board Office (Operation) Support Heritage Trust Architectural (Approve Service Secretariat applications) Department Liaise Other departments, Urban Hong Kong Chinese Education Museums including: Renewal tourism Temples Department Committee Highways, Authority Board Committe Buildings, Fire Service
Source: Hong Kong University, Department of Architecture, Architectural
Conservation Programme
17 2.6 Legal framework of protecting heritage
In 1976, Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance has been enacted, the ordinance is
providing the legal basis for protecting and preserving the “heritage” of Hong Kong.
The purpose of the ordinance is for “the preservation of objects of historical, archaeological and palaeontological interest and for matters ancillary thereto or connected therewith” (HKAMO, 1992b).
In December1992 Lord Wilson Heritage Trust was released, it aims to preserve and conserve the human heritage of Hong Kong by organizing activities and by funding heritage-related projects in Hong Kong (Lord Wilson Heritage Trust, 1995).
2.7 The Type and Number of Heritage
In Hong Kong, build heritage, declared monuments, heritage trails are the three main types of heritage. Buildings are graded based on their ages and historical significances.
There are 1,444 historic buildings being assessed according to their significant, and
61are built heritage, 94 declared monuments, 5 heritage trails (AMO, 2004).
2.7.1 Built Heritage
The range of built heritage is ranging from elegant traditional Chinese ancestral hall,
18 Western residences to functional structures, like waterworks facilities. Visitors can
reveal the artistic and human messages through visiting those buildings. Since the
architectural styles, selections of sites and building materials, and the types of
building to be constructed are governed by social beliefs, traditions, ideas and cultures.
A three-tier grading system has adapted to record buildings of considerable historical and architectural significance. There are coming close to 500 historical buildings assessed and graded (AMO, 2004).
The importance of heritage buildings being graded based on following grading systems (AMO, 2004):
Grade 1 Buildings of outstanding merit, in which every effort should be made to
preserve if possible.
Grade 2 Buildings of special merit; efforts should be made to selectively preserve.
Grade 3 Buildings of some merit; preservation in some forms would be desirable
and alternative means could be considered if preservation is not practicable.
2.7.2 Declared Monuments
There are 94 declared monuments located in Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, New
Territories, and Outlying Islands, which are fascinating Chinese and colonial heritage
19 sites. Those declared monuments reflect more than 5,000 years of Chinese and more than 160 years of British colonial heritage (HKTB, 2007).
The declared monuments are being recognized through a series of process. Antiquities
Authority consulted the Antiquities Advisory Board, and gets the approval of the
Chief Executive as well as the publication of the notice in the government gazette; which legally declare a place to be protected (AMO, 2004).
2.7.3 Heritage Trail
Several heritage trails have been set up by the AMO. The trail mainly links up historic buildings and sites which enable travelers to have a better understanding of the growth and development of the Districts (HKTB). On Hong Kong Island, there are three heritage routes, which are Central Route, the Sheung Wan Route and the
Western Districts, and the Peak Route. In New Territories, Ping Shan heritage trail in
Yuen Long was the first heritage trail; Lung Yeuk Tau heritage trail in Fanling was the second established. And two more heritage trails have been established based on their historic value, which are Tai Tam Waterworks heritage trail and Wan Chai heritage trail (AMO, 2004).
20 2.8 The Institution of Promoting Heritage Tourism
2.8.1 Hong Kong Tourism Board
The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) is an official body to market and promote
Hong Kong as a travel destination worldwide, diversify Hong Kong’s tourism
products, enrich visitors’ traveling experience and attract them to extend their stay in
Hong Kong (HKTB, 2007). In order to ascertain level of tourism value of heritage, the HKTB also conducts, from the tourism perspective, assessment of individual attraction and so on to map out promotional strategy of heritage tourism (HK government press release, 30/5/2007).
Some heritage attractions are being promoted to visitors through its website, information boards, publications and guided tours. Moreover, heritage-themed
itineraries like Northeast New Territories island-hopping tour have been developed by
HKTB. It is because these areas are less frequently visited by tourists, and the Board
is intending to let tourists know more about the cultures of fishing village and the
local architecture. In addition, the HKTB has published a guidebook called “Discover
Hong Kong by Rail”. The aim of publishing this guidebook is going to promote the heritage itineraries along the Kowloon-Canton Railway (KCR) lines and encourage visitors to take the KCR to explore Hong Kong’s local culture, history and traditions.
21 For the visitors’ convenience, the HKTB works closely with AMO, Tourism
Commission and District Councils to provide tourist-related facilities such as
directional signs (HK government press release, 30/5/2007).
2.8.2 Tourism Commission
The tourism commission is to improve Hong Kong tourism facilities and support the
development of new attractions and events as a result of remaining it as a premier
tourist destination. The major responsibilities of tourism commission is formulating
and coordinating implementation of policies, strategies and plans for tourism
development. Meanwhile, it also coordinates with other Government bureaus and
departments in case any policies and initiatives have an impact on Hong Kong
tourism (Tourism Commission, 2006).
Tourism as a major income industry in Hong Kong, it concerns a broad range of economic activities and business interest. For the heritage tourism development,
tourism commission can play a role of the coordinator to make partnership (including
the government, business sectors and so on) in promoting cultural heritage tourism
work (HK government press release, 30/5/2007).
22 2.9 Characteristics of Heritage Tourists
It’s important to know the characteristics of heritage tourists because it will help to make successful marketing and promotion (Prentice, 1993). In general, heritage tourists divided into two categories based on relevant literature reveals what are
“tourist at heritage sites” and “heritage tourist” (Li et al, 2008).
2.9.1 Tourists at Heritage Sites
Li et al (2008) defined the it as a broader spectrum of tourist, including those who do not know about, are not motivated by, or do not cherish the values of heritage ---as every tourist, no matter what their reason for visiting, contributes to overcrowding.
2.9.2 Heritage Tourists
Prentice defined “heritage tourist” who visit a heritage site as one part of their holiday or precisely to include only those tourists not undertaking activities, beach or pool based holiday, but visit heritage site, townscapes or landscape as their principle or sole holiday activity (Prentice, 1993).
Smith (1993) defined heritage tourist as a ‘better class’ of tourist with several reasons.
He thinks heritage tourists tend to spend more money in the local economy of a
23 destination and they are supposedly sensitive to the local culture, customs and traditions of the host community. Moreover, they are more likely concern about the environmental and conservation issues.
The characteristics of ‘heritage tourists’ are described as the followings:
Better than average education.
Age groups 20 to 30 or 45 to 60.
In the older age category, or above-average income.
An actual or aspirant member of the middle class.
Traveling without children.
Experience in foreign travel.
Choose catered accommodation forms.
Relatively high per diem expenditure.
Source: Tunbridge and Ashworth, 1996
2.10 Good Practices of Heritage Tourism from Other Regions
2.10.1 Macau’s Experience
On 15 July 2005, the Historic Centre of Macau was officially inscribed on the prestigious World Heritage List by UNESCO (Macau Government Tourist Office,
2010). Since the 1970s, the Macau Government has been putting lots of effort and
24 attention to heritage conservation. There are comprehensive polices which have been spelt out and set clearly the scope and degree of protection offered to wide range of historical buildings and sites (Chui and Tsoi, 2003).
Cultural Institute and Cultural Heritage Department are the major statutory agencies for heritage protection in Macau. Formulating and implementing cultural policies are authorized by Cultural Institute. Cultural Heritage Department is focusing on classifying, restoring, renovating and up-grading Macau’s historical buildings and artifacts (Macau Heritage Net, 2010). The heritage preservation strategy in Macau government not only just preserves one heritage building, but streetscape and their natural setting. In order to protect heritage well, the Macau government provides incentives like land exchange and tax relief that the whole area can be protected well
(Chui and Tsoi, 2003).
The Macau government created an area call “The Historic Centre of Macau”. It is an urban area within the old city of Macau spanning eight squares and 22 historic buildings. With Macau government’s effort, “The Historic Centre of Macau” becomes the oldest, the most complete and consolidated array of European architectural legacy standing intact on Chinese territory today. The Macau Government Tourist Office
25 offers free guiding service for heritage visitors in order to share with tourist the outstanding universal value of the “The Historic Centre of Macau” (Macau
Government Tourist Office, 2010).
Heritage tourism in Macau attracts worldwide tourists with great promotional
campaign in different countries. For instance, the Macau Government Tourist Office
set up an office in France to promote the Macau heritage tourism and develop the
European market for Macau. In 2007 Macau received “more than 36,000 visitors from
France, up by nearly 26 per cent from the previous year.” Moreover, from January to
August on 2008, more than 28,000 visitors from France arrived in Macau, a growth of
23 percent compared with the same period of 2007 (Macau Daily Times, 22/9/2009).
It was a great successful to Macau tourism industry.
In addition, for the visitors’ convenience, visitors can download an introduction and
information of the route guide of the “Historic Centre of Macau” to their PDA so that
they can explore these World Heritage sites conveniently. And it provides itineraries of heritage for visitors too (Macau Heritage Net, 2010).
26 2.10.2 Britain’s Experience
The categories and numbers of heritage in Britain are various as it is a historic country,
and heritages are protected well in the country. Hong Kong used to be the colonical
city of it, so Hong Kong and Britain have similar heritage protection manners and
grading system of buildings. But why are heritage tourism not developed in Hong
Kong?
In Britain, both national agents and local authorities need to share the responsibility of protecting heritage. In the national level, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport
(DCMS) is responsible for the identification, recording, protection, conservation, enhancement and interpretation of heritage assets, and for their promotion as part of contemporary culture (Department for Culture, Media and Sport). English Heritage is a statutory organization for heritage preservation in Britain. It advises the government on planning applications affecting historical environments and to distribute grants to owners and raise funds for buildings at risk (Chui and Tsoi, 2003). And in order to let public have greater understanding of the historic environment, many workshop are held to public and support are given to teachers (English Heritage).
In the local level of protecting heritage are based on different regions, countries. The
27 English Heritage facilitates the local communities if they need any consultants. And
English Heritage sponsored the remuneration of conservation officer of local governments (English Heritage).
Unlike Macau heritage tourism, many heritage sites in Britain need entrance fees, and make profit from souvenirs, get funding from donation and so on (English Heritage).
Britain involved more parties than Hong Kong on preservation heritage. Like National agencies, local authorities, NGOs, and charitable organizations share the responsibilities of heritage protection. Furthermore, the community actively participated in contributing significantly to the success of heritage preservation, and voluntary organizations can give advice to the Government (Chui and Tsoi, 2003).
Many heritage sites can be preserved right now and become the assets of heritage tourism.
2.10.3 China’s Experience
China is a vast country with a long history as well as an unbroken cultural tradition.
In 2004, China has accrued 30 site designations which the third highest national number in the world, there are great number of inhabited ancient and historic urban areas, towns, villages and hamlets that even United Nations Educational, Scientific
28 and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) could ever hope to list for protection (WHC,
2005).
Those World Heritage sites in China have their global value and unique identity that
draw world attention and attract large amount of visitors each year. The excessive
visitation brings conflict with the initial goal of the convention and challenges the
sustainable development of those heritage sites (Li et al, 2008). It seems a dilemma between conservation and tourism development in the heritage sites.
In China, heritages are protected by the law of the People’s Republic of China on the
Protection of Cultural Relics, and this law states the responsibility for the
conservation of cultural heritage lies primarily with the various levels of government.
In addition, the National People’s Congress affirmed the UNESCO Convention
Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage in 1985.
Therefore, China has integrated the practice of heritage conservation that is done
around the world (Agnew and Demas, 2004).
In the contemporary society of China, peace and development are central themes for
heritage. Over the past several decades, a large number of cultural seriously
29 threatened sites have been effectively and extensively protected. Professional teams at
sites, museums, and archaeological institutes have been set up throughout the country
(Agnew and Demas, 2004). Moreover, China links with international professional
organizations, like International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), with the linkage with professional organization, it was a great opportune for the China heritage authority to initiate the process of drawing up national guidelines (ICOMOS
China).
The development of heritage tourism in China satisfies both the needs of residents and
caters to heritage tourism requirements while planning. In recent years, heritage
tourism is well planned and invested than earlier years. Heritage tourism provides the
income and meanwhile motivates the local to undertake conservation work (China
Heritage Quarterly, 30/6/2010).
30 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY
This is a qualitative study using the case study method. Qualitative is the most appropriate for answering the researcher’s questions. Through review those academic books, newspapers, article journals, websites and so on that can help the researcher to understand how the development of Hong Kong heritage tourism. Comparing with other good practices of heritage tourism development, the researcher can absorb the good things from those good practices so that the researcher can suggest recommendations for Hong Kong heritage tourism development. This chapter will introduce what case study is and what the sources are the researchers used.
3.1 Case Study
According to the website, Center for Management Research, ICMR, there is no universally accepted definition for a case study and the case method means different things to different people. A case is “description of an actual situation, commonly involving a decision, a challenge, an opportunity, a problem or an issue faced by a person or persons in an organization” (ICMR).
31 3.2 Secondary Research
3.2.1 What Secondary Research is
Secondary data are data which already exist and which were collected for some other
(primary) purpose but which can be used a second time in the current project--the
researcher is the secondary user. Further analysis of such data is referred to as
secondary analysis (Veal, 19997, p96).
According to the website, Learn Marketing, secondary data can be divided into two types: internal sources and external sources. The internal sources, like an organization
itself collected information for internal purpose. And external sources, like government, syndicated sources, trade associations and miscellaneous sources and so on (Learn Marketing).
3.2.2 Source of Secondary Data
Journal Articles:
Cultural and heritage tourism: identifying niches for international travelers
Tourism development of World Heritage Sites in China: A geographic
perspective
Hong Kong: Post-Colonialism and Political Conflict
32 Attitudes to a Non-viable Community-Owned Heritage Tourist Attraction
Heritage site management: Motivations and expectations
Heritage tourism: a question of definition
Reconciling tourism and conservation: the case of historic towns
Literary places, tourism and the heritage experience
The meanings of a heritage trail in Hong Kong
Attributes of popular cultural attractions in Hong Kong
Reports:
Heritage preservation: Hong Kong and Overseas Experiences
Saving Hong Kong’s Cultural Heritage
Report of The Antiquities Advisory Board 1990 and 1991 HKAMO Recreation
and Culture Branch, Hong Kong
Annual Report 1993–1994 Lord Wilson Heritage Trust
News:
Experts call for push on 'green' tourism, South China Morning Post, 6 March
2006
Let's protect our unique approach, South China Morning Post, December 19,
33 2005.
Heritage first, then tourism, South China Morning Post, November 13, 2004.
Macau Daily Times, Macau tourism board promotes local heritage in France,
22/9/2009.
Books:
Tourism and heritage: The pressure and challenges of the 1990s.
Managing sustainable tourism—A legacy for the future
Heritage: an interpretation
Dissonant Heritage: The Management of the Past as a Resource in Conflict
Research methods for leisure and tourism --a practical guide
From Tourist Attractions to Heritage Tourism
Art and heritage tourism
Tourism and Heritage Places
Statistics:
Travel Industry Association of American TravelScope survey, 2003
Visitor Arrival Statistics and Visitor Profile Report, 2009
34 Websites:
Antiquities and Monument Office,
http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/Monument,
Department of Justice, Bilingual Laws Information System,
http://www.legislation.gov.hk/eng/index.htm
1999 Policy Address
2008-2009 Policy Address Hong Kong
Department for culture, media and sport, DCMS
http://www.culture.gov.uk/index.aspx
English Heritage
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/
Home Affairs Bureau
http://www.hab.gov.hk/en/home/index.htm
Hong Kong Tourism Board
http://www.discoverhongkong.com
Hong Kong Tourism Commission
http://www.tourism.gov.hk
ICOMOS China
http://www.icomoschina.org.cn/
35 Learn Marketing
http://www.learnmarketing.net/secondaryresearch.htm
Macau Government tourist office
http://www.macautourism.gov
Macau Heritage Net
http://www.macauheritage.net/en/default.aspx
Urban Renewal Authority
http://www.ura.org.hk/html/c100000e1e.html
Government Press Release
Strategy to enhance Hong Kong as a tourism destination, 3/11/ 2001.
Cultural heritage tourism, 30/5/ 2007
3.2.3 Limitations of Secondary Data
Secondary data can be easily collected from various channels. However, researchers
should use the data carefully, since these may have limitations of the data and problems could arise if these limitations are ignored.
Some secondary data can be general and vague and may not really help the research
36 to identify the problem of the research topic. And the information or data may not be accurate, since the researcher did not know who collected the data, why the data were collected and how the data were collected. So the source of the data should be checked carefully. Moreover, some data may not be that relevant with the research topic; it is because the researcher did not know the measurement units of primary data, and the difference in category definitions, as well as time period. Sometimes, the data is old and do not have the real reflection of current situation. And the data may not be recognized (Learn Marketing).
37 CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS
Through review different sources of secondary data, the researcher understood what
problems stop heritage tourism from developing in Hong Kong. There are many
government departments are responsible for heritage preservation. However, each
department of them is just responsible for a small task that there is not a central
authority to deliver a complete planning for future Hong Kong heritage and heritage
tourism development.
Also, there are large numbers of heritage in Hong Kong, but the grading system is not clear that public do not know the value of the heritage. Moreover, there is lack of promotion in heritage attraction that some heritages become not popular and they maybe demolished at the end. The complication situation in preservation of heritage that also affects the heritage development, it’s because some heritage are private owners and limitation of land use that those elements make the government get into dilemma.
Those problems can stop heritage tourism from developing, but in the view of researcher. The researcher will summarize what factors that affect Hong Kong heritage tourism and how they can contribute to improve heritage tourism
38 development.
4.1 The Factors that Affect Heritage Tourism Development in Hong Kong
Several components involve in developing Hong Kong heritage tourism that are shown in the following figure (Fig 2). These factors connect together and affect each other, heritage tourism cannot be developed successfully if lacks any of them.
Fig 2: Factors that affect the development of heritage tourism in Hong Kong
Heritage Management
Visitors’ Attitude to Hong Kong Heritage tourism products: Heritage Tourism Heritage Buildings Declared Monuments Heritage Trails
Relevant Heritage Accessories: Intention of Stakeholders of Transportation Developing Heritage tourism Network Hotels
Visitors Marketing
39 Those factors connect together like a chain or like ripples. If any of them have
improvement, the other will be affected. Therefore, those factors can affect each other
in both ways. Each factor will be analyzed deeply that how each of them contributes
to the improvement of heritage tourism development in the following.
4.1.1 Heritage Tourism Products
McKercher (2001) states that successful cultural attractions must be appealing beyond the local heritage community, valued by the tourists, interesting, unique, and with a compelling reason to visit. Moreover, McKercher and du Cros (2002) feel that
successful cultural attractions have common features. They must effectively tell a
story, make the asset come alive, make the experience participatory, make it relevant
to the tourists, focus on quality, and provide a sense of authenticity. Hong Kong
heritage, they can let tourists experience what Hong Kong looks like and significant
events hold in the past.
There are 452 graded historic buildings in Hong Kong as at 6 November 2009, 94
declared monuments, 3 main heritage trails (AMO). They are the important sources of
heritage tourism in Hong Kong. Some of them can become attraction to tourists
because many unique heritage there.
40 Taking the Ping Shan heritage trail as an example, there are three villages and
contains some of the most significant historical buildings in Yuen Long District in the
New Territories. Tourists can know the foundation of Hong Kong life hundreds and
hundreds of years ago when hard-working peasants worked their small farm holdings
(HKTB, 2007). In the Ping Shan heritage trail, tourists can visit Tsui Sing Lau Pagoda
(Hong Kong’s only ancient pagoda), Tang Ancestral Hall (one of the largest ancestral
halls in the territory), Sheung Cheung Wai (a walled village), Kun Ting Study Hall
(built for students preparing for the Imperial Civil Service Examination), Hung Shing
Temple and Yeung Hau Temple together with several other Chinese buildings (AMO,
2004).
The advantage of Ping Shan Heritage Trail is which has lots of heritage tourism
products along the trail. Tourists can spend half-day in visiting the trail and signposts
and carved granite blocks that guide tourists to the destinations. Also, information
boards are put up at convenient locations that tourists can appreciate the history of the
monuments (AMO, 2004).
To sum up the factor of heritage tourism products, a heritage product should have unique and reflect the authenticity of Hong Kong and relevant assistant facilities like
41 clear signpost to guide tourist to there and information boards.
4.1.2 Intentions of Stakeholders of Developing Heritage Tourism
4.1.2.1 Government
The government as a main body in protecting and managing heritage, the intention of
the government in developing heritage tourism is vital and it decides whether the
successful of heritage tourism or not. In 1999 Policy Address, the Chief Executive
pronounced the importance of preservation as an objective for sustainable
development and heritage tourism (1999 Policy Address). The government had
noticed the importance of preserving and developing heritage since 10 years before.
The government should release complete legal framework on heritage protection and
the government’s intention on developing heritage tourism should be proactive.
4.1.2.2. Entrepreneurs/Business
The situation in developing heritage tourism in Hong Kong is quite complicated, lack
of finance support on managing heritage, private own of heritage and so on. Some problems can be solved through the help of businesses. In the past years, there are
some successful cases that local property developer involved in the conservation of
cultural heritage sites and the excavation of archaeological sites. The government
transferred the rights of heritage management to private sectors, like using a 50-year
42 land lease (South China Morning Post, 13/11/ 2004).
Although business sectors need to invest large amount of money in refurbishment and regeneration of the heritage area, the business sectors have chances to make profit in long run in one way and public will have positive images of the business companies.
Moreover, heritage products have great attractions if they are revitalized. Taking 1881
Heritage as an example, it was Former Marine Police Headquarter what is declared monument. It now becomes hotel, dining area, a famous attraction to tourists (South
China Morning Post, 13/11/ 2004). So the intention of business on developing heritage tourism is strong.
4.1.2.3 Public
The public is willing to protect heritage for their collective memory, and one of the ways of protecting heritage is developing it as tourist’s attraction. However, public do not have enough knowledge about heritage conservation (South China Morning Post,
19/12/2005). Sometimes, public just want to save anything that looks old but they do not know whether the ‘protected’ areas worth protecting or not. Also, they do not think too much about how to use heritage site in case those heritages are conserved.
Although public has increased the awareness on protection of heritage buildings since
43 media exposure on the heritage protection and public involved in protecting, how to deal with keeping all these buildings and sites, the public should have suggestions on it. The heritage sites, buildings are not worth preserving if their functions and community values do not perform. Even though public has strong intention on developing heritage tourism, they are better to understand how to utilize the heritage products.
4.1.3 Heritage Tourism Management
Heritage products are being conserved but how can be protected them in long run? A complete conservation policy and management authority in government should contribute on managing heritage well. The relevant government bodies (Fig 1) involve in heritage management in the literature review.
It shows there are abundance of legislation and government department involved in protection and management heritage. However, many of the government departments only have tasked with defined responsibilities, there is no encompassing body or authority at a high level that plans the overall objectives and policies for heritage conservation. The method of communication between departments is rigid. That’s why the report of Saving Hong Kong Cultural heritage suggests Hong Kong should
44 have an authority body what needs to be able to complete against other policy
objectives for funding and other government resources (Chu and Uebergang, 2002).
And the researcher believes that the government should empower a specific
department to deal with all problems of heritage, no matter policy or operation. It will
be effective in managing.
The non-government organization also can contribute on heritage management. Like
Conservancy Association, puts lots of effort to educate public to protect their valuable
assets and gives suggestions the government on conservation of heritage. The government can open its mind to have communication with NGOs that collect
opinions.
4.1.4 Relevant Heritage Tourism Accessories
The convenient of accessibility will increase tourists’ motivation to visit heritage
attractions. The convenient of accessibility is in term of transportation network
coverage, the remoteness. Also, information of the heritage products is introduced on
Internet, brochures that it will help tourists understand the stories, meanings behind
the heritages before their visits. The relevant heritage tourism accessories will arouse
tourists’ interests on visiting the heritage.
45 When tourists arrive at the heritage site, clear direction signage should be located in proper locations and at lease bi-lingual information boards to introduce the heritage on site. These accessories are the first impression to tourists. Other accessories like toilets, food and beverage kiosks, and some basic human needs facilities should exist in the heritage sites. These accessories seem to be minor, but they really help tourist stay there and generate job opportunities to Hong Kong.
4.1.5 Visitor Marketing in Heritage Tourism
Mckercher et al, (2004) state whether a heritage site is popular or not, it relies on the ability to clearly define target markets and shape experience to match the audiences’ needs. If the market target is not clear, the way of marketing strategy will be wrong.
A few years ago, Hong Kong Tourism Board published a “Museums and Heritage” guidebook that directs tourist to over 90 declared monument. In 2001, Mckercher et al conducted a survey, they tried to find out which cultural attraction on the guidebook was the most popular and they questioned 1,033 cultural tourists. They found that the
10 most popular cultural attractions generated 70% of all person-visits. However, no visits were recorded to more than 50 other places listed in the guidebook. (Mckercher et al, 2004). Some heritage tourists maybe interested on something different, but there
46 is no promotional material about them. In other word, the survey shows the marketing failure in heritage tourism.
Someone may worry if put too much effort in marketing, does Hong Kong really have such kind of attractiveness? In fact, about 40% of Hong Kong is covered by country parks, but the Hong Kong Tourism Board often overlooks it in its mainstream tourism promotion, and failed to capitalize on the 30 % annual growth in nature-based tourism overseas (South China Morning Post, 8 /3/2006). This figure shows tourists are interested in visiting Hong Kong nature-based and heritage is one part of it. Visitor marketing in heritage tourism can attract tourists’ attention on Hong Kong heritage, but not other areas.
4.1.6 Tourists’ Attitude to Heritage Tourism
In 1989, Hong Kong Tourists Association (now HKTB) introduced Heritage Tour that tourists could have Housing Tour and Home Visit, those heritage tours was popular to foreign tourists (HKTB, 2007). After twenty years, how is tourists’ attitude to heritage attractions?
According to HKTB survey, the percentage of tourists from different countries in
47 2008 is shown below:
The Americas 4.70% Europe Africa &Middle East 5.70% Australia, New Zealand & South Pacific 2.40% North Asia 6.80% South& Southeast Asia 12.90% Taiwan 6.40% Mainland China 58.20%
Source: Visitor Arrival Statistics—Dec 2008, HKTB
In the survey items of place visited/ activities taken: 84% of tourists went shopping, and only 3% tourist went to museums or cultural activities venues, and the 3% tourists came from the followings areas:
The Americas 8.00% Europe Africa &Middle East 6.00% Australia, New Zealand & South Pacific 6.00% North Asia 4.00% South& Southeast Asia 3.00% Taiwan 2.00% Mainland China 1.00%
Source: Visitor Profile Report –2008, HKTB
From those figures, over half of visitors in 2008 are from Mainland China, Mainland
China is the major source of tourists to Hong Kong, and the number of Mainland
China tourists will increase year by year. Also, Mainland China have similar cultural with Hong Kong, there is not much motivation or interesting for those tourists to joint
48 heritage tours. It seems that it is not an optimistic situation on developing heritage
tourism to major tourists. On the other hand, on the researcher’s opinion, tourists from the Americas, Europe Africa and Middle East, New Zealand & South Pacific are still interested in Hong Kong heritage. Even though Hong Kong has similar culture with
China, something that unique in Hong Kong can attract the Mainland tourists.
Tourists’ attitude can help Hong Kong heritage tourism development, if tourists have a
positive experience after their visiting, they will share it with their friends or re-visit
the heritage sites. Then the number of heritage tourists can maintain in the long run.
49 CHAPTER 5 RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
Heritage is a vital asset that enriches people’s lives by providing a deep sense of
connection to the past. Moreover, the cultural heritage ensures the diversity and
uniqueness of the city, it helps to strengthen the local people the sense of belonging
and civic pride. These benefits can help support cultural and economic development.
In order to improve the development in both heritage preservation and heritage tourism development, the researcher suggests the following recommendations.
5.1 Having a Clear Grading System
The grading systems used in heritage buildings right now are ambiguous. Which
building must be protected? Who have the rights to classify a building to be heritage?
What are the standards of fully protection? Is there any change if the building is being
assessed as heritage building? Public are confused about the grading systems. The
researcher suggests the AMO can use the hotel grading system in heritage, the more
starts the heritage gets, the more important the heritage is. Public will recognize how
important the heritage easily. Some of them maybe interested in why do the heritages
can get so many or little stars? So that it arouses their interests in visiting the heritages.
50 The preserving strategy in Hong Kong is just protecting isolated buildings, it is not
going to preserve the surrounding areas of the buildings. The attraction to isolated
buildings is less than a whole area to tourists. Like Macau the whole area become heritage attraction that tourists can visit one place can see several heritage sites.
5.2 Incentive Policy to the Private Owner of Heritage
Even though some historical buildings are being assessed as heritage buildings, but some of the buildings belong to private developers. Under such circumstance, the only thing the government can do is just to persuade the owners not to damage them, but the rights still lie in the owners’ hand. Government does not have any policy on the issue of private owner heritage. It’s a problem of preserving the number of heritage products existing in future. The government should release relevant policy to ensure private owners to protect those heritages, and meanwhile incentive policy, like Macau, giving tax relief to the private owners that can encourage those private owners to protect their heritage buildings.
5.3 Set up a Central Authority of Heritage Management
Also, the researcher believes the Hong Kong heritage can be preserved well if the government empowers more power to the AMO. At the present, there are too many
51 heritage preservation committees that just waste of source. The government can merger the department of Antiquities and Monuments Office and Antiquities Advisory
Board so that all heritage sites are defined by AMO and it also set up planning of
refurbishment. The role of AMO will be more dominant to public on the heritage
protection.
5.4 Establishing Heritage Funding and Cooperate with NGO
In Hong Kong, there is rarely hear any charitable funding for heritage preservation.
Almost everything about heritage preservation relies on the government. However,
heritage protection is not only the government’s thing, but also all Hong Kong people.
From the Britain’s experience, the local government cooperates with non-government organizations and communities in protecting heritage sites. English Heritage is one of heritage preservations in Britain, it gets donations from public and asks for help from cooperate. The Hong Kong government can establish a similar organization under
AMO’ s management, the responsibility of the new organization is going to collect donations from public, private sectors and using the fund to sponsor heritage restoration and rehabilitation works.
In fact, there are some non-government organizations concerning about the
52 development of heritage, like the Conservancy Association. The NOG can share the responsibility of heritage preservation with the government so the Hong Kong government should have more dialogue with those NOGs. They can exchange ideas
and work out sustainable plans in developing and utilizing built heritage.
5.5 Change the Usages of Heritage
Once a building is assessed as heritage, it is protected by law. The heritage will be
restricted in usage, some heritages in Hong Kong just empty there because its value is
“heritage”. Under such circumstance, many heritages just keep their original or even become worse without repairing. If heritage becomes hotels, or if the heritage
becomes art center, dining areas, this will be a gimmick to tourists.
The researcher suggests the AMO can set up some guidelines for heritage owners to
refurbish their heritage to be hotel, art centers or what the owner wants to be. But
there are restrictions on the changing of construction and characters of heritages. If
any business sectors are interested in developing heritage into hotels, dining area, the
government can rent it to business in years. The businesses will be responsible for the
heritage management and restoration, but they cannot change the original
characteristics of the heritage. The heritage can perform their functions and tourists
53 can have more attractions to visits.
5.6 Conclusion
To sum up, the heritage tourism has developed over 20 years in Hong Kong, but the
development is still slow. The Hong Kong government is the major body in heritage
preservation, if the heritage can be preserved well, the usage of heritage can be
diversified, and especially it can fulfill the demand of tourism industry. And the factors affect heritage tourism are connecting together, affect each other. So the development of heritage tourism cannot rely on one factor or the government only, but the all factors and business, public as well.
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