Irreconcilability of heritage missions: Personalized and general tourism audiences

Jane Hamilton Johnstone, Derek Bryce and Matthew Alexander

Annals of Tourism Research, 2023, vol. 102, issue C

Abstract: This paper explores the tensions between access to heritage as a social good, its commercialization and the subsequent impact this has on service delivery. Drawing on the context of ancestral tourism, a growing heritage tourism segment requiring a high level of personalization, it develops arguments about the structural irreconcilability implicit in contemporary museum service delivery when staff resources do not meet the individualized demands of specialist markets. Its findings reveal how challenges with delivering bespoke services drive tensions surrounding aspirations for greater public access and the commercialization of public heritage. Our focus contributes to debates around heritage missions and public heritage management, illuminating the importance of understanding provider perspectives as museums adapt to more visitor-centered service delivery modes.

Keywords: Heritage tourism; Heritage management; Ancestral tourism; Personal heritage; Diaspora tourism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160738323000944
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:anture:v:102:y:2023:i:c:s0160738323000944

DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2023.103621

Access Statistics for this article

Annals of Tourism Research is currently edited by John Tribe

More articles in Annals of Tourism Research from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().