Residents' empowerment and tourism in Unesco World Heritage Sites

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K01951
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Tourism Studies
• Research Institution: Takasaki City University of Economics
• Principal Investigator: Maruyama Naho 高崎経済大学, 地域政策学部, 准教授 (60612603)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 世界遺産 / 住民参加 / 地域づくり / エンパワーメント / 日光の社寺 / 富岡製糸場

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The goal of this research was to explore whether and how tourism development in the areas with UNESCO World Heritage Sites (WHS) can be a medium through which the residents in the areas become empowered. Observation, face-to-face interviews, and surveys were conducted in two cities with WHSs, namely, Nikko city, Tochigi and Tomioka city, Gunma. The analysis indicated that residents’ perception of costs and benefits of participating in the tourism projects and its influence on their preference to participation as well as the actual participation levels vary between the two places. Arguably, this may be because the economic and social significance of tourism in each city differs. In addition, in Tomioka city, the representation of mill girls reflects the persistent gender injustice in the mill. While the mill girls were economically exploited as the mill was in operation, after the mill was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the form of injustice changes into cultural imperialism.

Free Research Field

観光学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

地域の観光事業を持続可能なものにするためには、住民のエンパワーメントが重要であり、住民のエンパワーメントは、住民参加によって可能になるといわれている。本研究によって、住民参加へのバリアや希望は地域や個人的な背景によって違うことが明らかになった。このことは、学術的及び社会的に意義があると考えられる。今後の研究では、住民参加を妨げるものや、住民の直接参加以外の方法を探っていくことが必要と考えられる。