Portuguese Heritage in the UAE: Authenticity in Archaeology and Tourism

Adriaan De Man ()
Additional contact information
Adriaan De Man: United Arab Emirates University

A chapter in Innovative Approaches to Tourism and Leisure, 2018, pp 3-15 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract The relatively short-lived, early modern Portuguese military presence along the Omani coast, but also that of the nowadays United Arab Emirates, has left few physical remains. Some forts have been partially excavated, whilst others seem to have been so heavily reconstructed that their original layout remains invisible. As a result, they have little impact on the visitor experience. This paper seeks to provide a framework that renders these forts, and the narratives around them, pertinent in terms of authenticity. A second step deals with their integration as a potentially distinctive heritage resource. Both approaches need to ponder whether such structures are to become major tourist attractions, which seems unfeasible in the near future, yet destinations may still capitalize on them as part of an integrated marketing strategy. As an exercise, the following text can build on comparable examples, ranging from certain prehistoric sites to forms of intangible heritage, as their commodification faces, to some extent at least, similar challenges. In any case, in the heavily Dubai-centered tourism industry of the UAE, the sustainable use of cultural niche areas along the coast does fit well the national design for diversification.

Keywords: Heritage management; Forts; UAE tourism; Authenticity; Branding (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Z32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

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:spr:prbchp:978-3-319-67603-6_1

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783319676036

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-67603-6_1

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().