ABSTRACT

World Heritage sites have been widely studied due to their position in attracting tourists. However, while small heritage sites do not match the popularity of World Heritage Sites, they can have many socio-economic benefits for local communities and help to transfer knowledge of the past to the next generation. Despite these potentials, small heritage sites have been relatively overlooked by researchers. This study, for the first time, conceptualizes the notion of small heritage site and examines the barriers to sustainable tourism development of small heritage sites in the historic city of Shiraz in Iran focusing on the views of various stakeholders and analyzing their responses to the challenges they face. Using a social constructionist frame and thematic analysis, data from interviews with 15 heritage tourism stakeholders – selected through purposive sampling – were analyzed and challenges were categorized into six themes of policy and planning, knowledge, resources, desire, marketing activities and awareness. The results revealed that the themes of policy and planning were the most commonly referred to issues by the participants. Given the scarcity of studies conducted in the area of small heritage sites, the findings of this study provide constructive suggestions for sustainable heritage tourism development in Iran and elsewhere.

摘要

世界遗产地因其在吸引游客方面的地位而被广泛研究。然而，虽然小型遗产地无法与世界遗产地的受欢迎程度相提并论，但它们可以为当地社区带来许多社会经济效益，并有助于将过去的知识传授给下一代。尽管有这些潜力，但研究人员相对忽视了小型遗产地。本研究首次将小型遗产地概念概念化，并研究了伊朗历史名城设拉子小型遗产地可持续旅游发展的障碍，重点关注各利益相关者的观点，并分析他们对所面临挑战的反应脸。使用社会建构主义框架和主题分析，政策和规划、知识、资源、愿望、营销活动和意识。结果显示，政策和规划主题是参与者最常提及的问题。鉴于在小型遗产地领域进行的研究很少，本研究的结果为伊朗和其他地方的可持续遗产旅游发展提供了建设性的建议。