De-Contextualisation of Heritage

Significance of heritage and the ritual that depicts its cultural moorings lies in the expression in the original aesthetic locale. The out of context representation of the expressions of heritage in terms of performing arts, traditions, beliefs, rituals lies in the proper context. The corruption of the art forms and rituals for luring the tourists by the tour operators has spoiled essence of heritage tourism in many destinations .It has been seen in case of the religious heritage as to how the rituals associated with the particular tradition have been contextualized in manner that makes me them irrelevant; when the business interests forget that these rituals have seasonality and context that cannot be shaped by artificial experience being created by the marketers or policy makers to attract the tourists. Not only that it affects the local sensitivities of the people as it develops a sense of antagonism between the hosts and the visitors. The marketers have been suggested by the heritage tourism professionals that festivals, dances, harvests and other events like local mails have the traditional seasonality and thus ,cannot be manipulated to suit the demand inflated by the insensitive marketing.It has been argued by the conservators and heritage professionals that tour operators hire dancers to welcome the visitors. It has been terms as the de contextualization of heritage as pseudo inheritors and demand lead to insulation of heritage from the real inheritors and has adverse impact on its image. Another factor that leads to de contextualization of the heritage   is the romantisization of heritage by the guides as they implant inaccurate picture. It leads to dumbing down of heritage and an authenticity is projected that is not relevant .it raises a challenge that this situational adaptation are developed to satisfy tourists and not the genuine manifestation of the host culture. Tourism marketing based on such improper strategies results in the presentation of the heritage and its allied forms like rituals and traditions in a way that leads to mutation of the reality to suit the tourist demand by violating the cultural space.This presentation of the of the heritage that is not the actual representation of the heritage sends an image that is not useful in the long run as it does not give a tourist the real picture as to how he has to represent himself at the event. The reason being that he has not been sensitized for the event and the code of conduct prevalent for such occasions that involve local sensitivities.It cannot be denied that tourism has the potential to commodify the heritage expressions and transforms the cultural landscape in terms of performance fees .It leads to dilution of the standards and norms that govern the expression of heritage at the destination area. Marketing strategies that are framed on such lines end up creating a wrong understanding of the people and their heritage .It leads to development of conflict instead of promoting the destination. Marketing strategies are not just the commercial tactics to lure the consumers to enjoy the features of the asset that has heritage value. But it is the policy that shapes the long term image of the heritage landscape that has to sustain in terms of economic activity but well within the self-inherent guidelines for preservation. If the intrinsic elements of the heritage is not conserved and marketed in its product stage then it will not serve the purpose of marketing that is peculiar to the heritage tourism product. Heritage tourism product is both tangible and intangible and needs extra set of dimensions to be situated in the public domain.