Protect & Preserve: The Role of International Education in Heritage Tourism & Historic Preservation

AbstractAccording to the Institute for International Education, about 10% of US college graduates study abroad. During the 2013/2014 academic year, that equated to 304,467 students! As our world becomes more interconnected, there is a concerted, admirable effort to encourage more students from a broader range of backgrounds to study abroad. However, we must recognize that while we are first and foremost educators, we are also firmly embedded into the tourist economy of the countries where we operate, and our presence has an effect on those sites, environments, and communities.

Tourism can have both a positive and negative impact on local sites and communities. International educators have a responsibility to make sure that as we grow our programs and look to increase our enrollments, we do so in a manner that mitigates the negative impact we may have on the communities in which we are based.

What is heritage tourism?The National Trust for Historic Preservation defines heritage tourism as, “traveling to experience the places, artifacts and activities that authentically represent the stories and people of the past and present; including cultural, historic, and natural resources.”

What is historic preservation?Historic preservation looks to preserve, conserve, restore, and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance.

Whether students are hiking the Camino de Santiago, taking a selfie in front of Machu Picchu, or practicing their Portuguese in Salvador’s Pelourinho, they are active participants in heritage tourism and benefactors of historic preservation efforts!

What are some examples of heritage sites impacted by tourism?Mount Kilimanjaro is experiencing severe eroding due to more than 10,000 tourists hiking it year after year.

Mountaineers on Mount Everest often leave so much litter behind that mountaineer Sir Chris Bonington described it as the “world’s highest garbage dump.”

Thousands of tourists visit the tombs and historic sites in Egypt each year. The breath from thousands of tourists visiting these spaces has increased the humidity so much that mold has begun to grow and it is beginning to destroy the stone work, wall paintings, and carvings at the sites.

Residents of Easter Island have protested the high number of tourists who visit because the island ecosystem cannot sustain such large numbers of people. More than 65,000 visitors come to the island every year; many choose to stay permanently and work.

Tourists to the Galápagos Islands have brought with them a type of mosquito not found on the island. This mosquito carries a strain of avian flu that threatens the island’s unique ecosystem.

Standing stones at Stonehenge have been fenced off to protect them from damage because tourists were constantly touching them.

Due to thousands of tourists visiting the site every year, Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail have sustained serious erosion damage, and great harm has been caused to the local ecosystem. The situation is so bad that it could destroy Machu Picchu.

The number of tourists in Venice have overcrowded a city that was never intended to accommodate so many people. Residents are being crowded out so much so that local authorities have considered a measure to restrict the number of tourists who enter the city at a time.

A tourist in Lisbon destroyed a 126-year-old statue while climbing it in an attempt to get a selfie.

What is the Learning Abroad Center doing?

Positives Effects of Tourism Negative Effects of Tourism

Economic Effects

Creates direct employment in the service, retail, and

transportation sectors, which spurs economic development within the local community.

Generation of tax revenue, which is often used for

education, health, and/or infrastructure projects.

Creates alternative sources of income, which can help to reduce issues of overfishing

and deforestation in developing countries.

Adaption to tourist demands, whether providing tourists with recognizable fast-food restaurants and hotel chains or changing arts and crafts techniques to make souvenirs more

appealing to tourists.

Displacement of locals to build hotels/resorts or privatize land/beaches, or due to the increased cost of living.

Profits from tourism may go to international corporations rather than to local communities.

Socio-Cultural Effects

Encourages the preservation of traditional customs, crafts,

and festivals.

Provides opportunities for cultural exchange and raises global awareness

of important issues such as climate change, poverty, or

human rights abuses.

Commodification of local cultures and rituals to appeal to tourist sensibilities and expectations, resulting in local

customs and practices not being respected or understood in a way that they should.

Lost or staged authenticity leaves locals performing for tourists who want a glimpse into the culture or daily life

but don’t care or don’t have time to learn about the more complex details.

Environmental Effects

Promotes the conservation of natural resources and

wildlife.Generates funding for

research and the operation of wildlife preserves and

parks.

Natural resources and sites are threatened due to overuse and an increase the in number of people present.

Increased noise, pollution, traffic, etc. affect the quality of life for local people.

Collaborate

Find the Fit Between the

Community and Tourism

Enliven Site InterpretationFocus on Quality

and Authenticity

Preserve and Protect Resources

What can we do as international educators?The National Trust for Historic Preservation outlines five principles of successful and sustainable heritage tourism. These principles can be considered in program development or when vetting potential on-site partners.

Below are a few suggestions. Keep in mind that this isn’t an extensive list, but rather a starting place for a conversation. Faculty, international educators, and program providers should work together and tailor the principles based on the location and theme of a program.

Can you provide some examples of how you could work to implement these principle on your programs?

What would be the pros and cons of considering these principles in program design?

Due to the nature of many of the programs we operate, I found that we were already meeting some of the principles set forth by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. I’m sure that may universities and program providers would find the same. Below are a few of our examples.

• The Minnesota Studies in International Development (MSID) programs have a long-standing history of working with local organizations in both rural and urban communities to provide students with ethical internship and research opportunities in grassroots organizations.

• Students on the Global Health in Thailand: Humans, Elephants, & Disease program visit a local hill tribe and spend time at an elephant sanctuary where they are exposed to the idea of how to come in to new communities and be respectful. They discuss how to appropriately dress for their various professional visits, as well how to represent themselves as students rather than tourists.

• Students on the Study & Intern in London program participate on a Blue Badge guided tour of the neighborhood where they will be living. This serves as an introduction to the location, its history, and the people who make up the community, both past and present.

• Students on the Study & Intern in Sydney program go through a half-day workshop where they are introduced to Aboriginal culture, traditions, and history. Students are also given the opportunity to participate in a extended workshop through a local university.

• The MSID–Senegal program sponsors a wrestling match in a rural community, providing the students with an opportunity to learn about the national sport and some of the rituals that surround it while providing an enjoyable recreational activity for the local community.

• The Study & Intern in Toledo program offers “Service-Learning and the Immigrant Experience,” a course where students volunteer with one of several Toledo institutions related to the immigration phenomenon in Spain, collaborating directly either with the immigrant population or with Spaniards who work with the immigrant community.

That being said, there are still areas where we can improve. For example, many of my colleagues agreed that we could do a better job of making students aware of their impact on local communities or sites, photo etiquette and the power of the images they post, or how to be more respectful of their surroundings and the communities they visit. Some noted that they had never considered these principles simply because they weren’t aware of them; historic preservation and heritage tourism aren’t areas that international educators would typically look to for best practices.

However, in follow-up conversations, we agreed that with a bit of brainstorming and planning, these are principles that we could very easily implement on our programs. It also started a conversation about which other fields outside of international education to which we could look for best practices and the importance of academic diversity within the field itself. The applicability of these few ideas should remind us that as our programs evolve and enrollments grow, it is important that we consider outside and diverse perspectives beyond international education in order have a more well rounded critique of our programs and our impact abroad.