Perspectives on Heritage Tourism - Seameo-SPAFA

<strong>Perspectives</strong> on Heritage Tourism
Heritage Tourism in Hue:
Impacts and Threats
Huynh Thi Anh Van
Hue is located in Central Vietnam, 658 km south of Hanoi and 1,075
km north of Ho Chi Minh City. Among the five World Cultural
Heritage Sites of Vietnam, Hue is the first site inscribed by
UNESCO in 1993 because of its “unique architectural, sculptural,
and aesthetic achievements, and highly creative labors by the
Vietnamese people over a long period of time, particularly in
monumental arts, town planning, and landscape design” (UNESCO
1992: 124). Since then, Hue’s unique heritage is known internationally
as a tourist attraction in Southeast Asia. With the recognition
of other World Heritage Sites in Central Vietnam a few years
later 1 , tourism developed dramatically in this region.
Hue has attracted an increasing number of tourists partly because
of its developed infrastructure and services for tourism. Inevitably,
both its tangible and intangible heritage have been affected by
urbanisation and environmental degradation, exposing the heritage
site to the risk of losing its integrity, and weakening local efforts
in heritage revitalisation and preservation. In this paper, heritage
refers to both man-made constructions and the natural surroundings,
as well as intangible heritage, that reflect or establish the cultural
1
Phong Nha National Park was inscribed in the World Natural Heritage List
on July 2, 2003, while Hoi An Ancient Town and My Son Sanctuary were
included in the List on December 4, 1999.
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