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278 history
in the shaping of the product. Therefore, the
authenticity of the consumer experience takes
precedence over the authenticity, or even the
presence, of the resource. The importance of the
explanatory `marking', the interpretation centre
and the historical theme park may lead to
accusations of staged authenticity or commercialisation.
Second, the past has many other
contemporary uses other than in the tourism
industry. This can result in competition between
different users of the past. The heritage created by
local residents in support of their identity, or by
their governments seeking legitimisation, may not
be the same as that created by the tourism industry,
a situation which leads to conflicts between users.
See also: archaeology; commercialisation;
conservation; cultural tourism; nationalism;
nostalgia
Further reading
Prentice, R. �1993) Tourism and Heritage Attractions,
London: Routledge.
Tunbridge, J.E., and Ashworth, G.J. �1996) Dissonant
Heritage:The Management of the Past as a
Resource in Conflict, London: Wiley.
history
G.J. ASHWORTH, NETHERLANDS
History is concerned with the dimension of time
and attempts to understand human processes
within that context. Its emphasis on the temporal
dimension provides a depth which comes from
viewing societies not as static, but in a continuous
process of change. Fundamentally, the discipline
considers the transformation of phenomena �people,
places, institutions, ideas) through time, from
one state into another. History can thus contribute
a vital evolutionary perspective to the study of
tourism. It can help an understanding of the origins
of this human activity and isolate what may be
essentially short-term trends in its development
from what constitute basic long-term continuities.
The philosophy and methodology of history
have undergone a number of changes. It has been
subject to the ideographic �uniqueness) versus
nomothetic �generalisation) debate, positivist approaches
to knowledge via the social sciences, as
well as the concepts of Marxism, humanism and
structuralism. The influential Annales school in
France stressed the need for an interdisciplinary
approach to history and a focus on structural
analysis rather than a history of events. In more
recent times, some historians have returned to a
more narrative mode �arranging material in a
chronologically sequential order). Today, a whole
range of approaches to the past exists within the
discipline, but the central concern of understanding
change through time remains its distinctive
contribution to knowledge.
Two main strands of historical research in the
field of tourism can be identified. One comes from
the work of mainstream historians, the other from
social science tourism researchers who seek a
temporal dimension to their subject. Poor interdisciplinary
links between these strands, however,
continue to check the overall development of
research in this area.
Historians in the United Kingdom, France,
Germany and North America have undertaken
significant research into the evolution of tourism.
In the former, the majority of historians tend to
approach the subject through the broader arena of
leisure, and the field of leisure history has seen
considerable growth in the last fifteen to twenty
years. Through these efforts, the major trends in
British leisure in the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries have become clearer and the underlying
processes of change explored through a lively
theoretical and ideological debate. This depth of
analysis has perhaps not yet fully developed outside
this country, where the role of urbanisation,
industrialisation, class structures and technology
and their relationship to leisure and tourism have
all been examined and questioned. This work of
mainstream historians is critical for understanding
a number of processes which underlie the evolution
of tourism. For instance, the notion of mass follows
class is frequently cited in the tourism literature as a
basic aspect of development over time. But, many
historians would question this mechanistic process
and suggest that class interrelationships have been
far more complex, with social groups often creating
their own leisure worlds rather than simply
imitating others.