Volume: 1  Number: 2  Page: 121–132  doi:10.2167/jht005.0

Tourist Perceptions: Personal vs. Non-Personal

Yaniv Poriaaff1, Avital Biranaff2 and Arie Reichelaff2 aff1Department of Hotel and Tourism Management, School of Management, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be'er Sheva 84105, Israel and aff2School of Management, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be'er Sheva 84105, Israel

Recently, attempts have been made to clarify tourist behaviour related to heritage settings by highlighting the importance of the perception of the site. In this study, possible links between visitors' perception of a site as part of their own heritage and their classifications of the heritage presented according to spatial scale (as being local, national or world heritage) were examined. The study was conducted at Anne Frank House in Amsterdam among visitors waiting in line to enter the site. In total 208 visitors were interviewed. The results indicate that the tourists' perception of the site in relation to their own heritage differs from other classification options. In addition, it was found that tourists perceive the site as representing various combinations of personal, national, local and world heritage simultaneously. Implications for researchers and heritage site management are presented.

Keywords: heritage, perception, identity, spatial scale

© 2006 Y. Poria et al.

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