Cameron Taylor - Heritage and Tourism

A confused identity

Until recently, whenever I was asked what business I was in I’d reply ‘I’m a heritage and tourism consultant’. Sounded good to me and seemed to sum up where my interests were. But I became aware that what sounded sensible to me was in fact confusing and alarming to some people so I tried an experiment.

For a time I changed my answer to ‘I’m in heritage’. Guess what? No confusion. People nodded approvingly in a ‘jolly well done’ sort of way and started talking about bits of bone they’d dug up in their back gardens.

Then I continued with the experiment and changed my response to the much more dangerous and sinister ‘I’m in tourism’. People’s reaction involved raised eyebrows, a polite but hesitant ‘oh really’ and a mental hand-washing as if they’d encountered something faintly unwholesome.

Now, what my little experiment really brought home to me was threefold. Firstly, heritage is seen as a GOOD THING; secondly tourism is seen as NOT QUITE THE THING a gentleman should get involved in; and thirdly there is a disconnection in people’s minds between heritage and tourism, even though the former is fundamental to the latter.

Heritage: a short rant

Forgive me, but I can feel the first of two rants coming on.

The heritage of the Highlands and Islands is what makes us who we are today. It defines our sense of shared and individual identity. We have a wealth of built heritage, a beautiful and diverse natural heritage, fascinating museums, rich archives and so on and so on. I have a bit of a problem with the barriers created by the administrative structures that we put in place for different aspects of heritage, but let’s put that to one side for now.

It is pretty much self-evident that our heritage has a social and cultural value. We would all agree on this, and yet it can be argued that our heritage is probably under-valued and certainly under-funded. Yes, I know, policy-makers and politicians in central and local government have some tough decisions to make when it comes to determining priorities, but we cannot on the one hand proudly point to the richness of our heritage without continuing to invest in it. Note the word, invest. I’ll come back to this later. 

Tourism: a further rant

I have the greatest admiration for heritage organisations, particularly those run by groups of exceptionally dedicated and hard-working, self-effacing volunteers. But not all is sweetness and light everywhere. Some heritage bodies can be criticised for being too ‘precious’ and inward-looking. I know of some which collect artefacts just because they can, though they have inadequate storage facilities, multiple copies of day-to-day objects and absolutely no collecting policy whatsoever. There are others which resist any attempt to improve the presentation and interpretation of collections, treating them as a private fiefdom rather than a public or community asset. Still others regard tourism as a sordid business, visitors as an unwelcome interruption and grant-funding, from a variety of sources, as a god-given right.

On the other side of the equation, some involved in the tourism sector, whether managing aspects of the industry or operating tourism businesses, see heritage bodies as somehow quaint, unprofessional and generally a bit odd. Crucially they do not realise the economic value of our shared heritage and, perhaps even more importantly, do not appreciate the fact that it is Scotland’s heritage which is its unique selling point.

I’ve heard people say that Scotland is all about its friendly people, great food and good quality accommodation. No it isn’t. Virtually every country and region seeking to compete in the global tourism market would claim to have friendly people, great food and good quality accommodation. These things don’t set us apart. If Scotland is to succeed as a tourism destination and achieve the targets that the industry has set for itself, we need to focus on what makes us different: our heritage.

Changing the language

I’d like to change the language we use when discussing heritage. Given that our heritage has an economic value as well as a social and cultural value; shouldn’t we be talking about investment rather than grant funding? The onus is then on all of us involved in the heritage and tourism sectors to build the best possible case for enhanced investment in our heritage assets.