The purpose of the current chapter is to discuss the impact of cultural tourism on the development of communities, particularly intangible cultural heritage (ICH). In addition, it highlights the ICH's property in Oman's Dhofar region. It also provides recommendations and practical guidance on how local communities can gain the most from the expansion and development of ICH tourism. It is evident that the development of cultural heritage tourism benefits the local community, but there are also some difficulties that need to be considered. In the Dhofar governorate of Oman, cultural heritage tourism, especially its intangible component, plays a vital role in the growth of the local economy. This study significantly advances the theoretical understanding of concerned academics and scholars by shedding light on the intricate connections between cultural heritage tourism and community development. Additionally, it makes contributions to practice that could affect how public policy, historical preservation, and community involvement are handled.
Top1. Introduction
The concept of cultural tourism is commonly used interchangeably with heritage tourism and cultural heritage tourism (Almuhrzi, 2020). Cultural tourism can be approached from two standpoints: supply and demand sides. According to Apostolakis (2003), the demand side (or descriptive side in his words) tends to reflect the tangible heritage resources and any intangible practices associated with such resources. The supply side also defines intangible resources such as dances, languages, and rituals. Furthermore, Apostolakis (2003) suggests that cultural tourism can also be defined from a demand side. In approaching cultural tourism from the visitor’s eye, the focus is more on visitors’ motivations, perceptions, and meanings of cultural resources.
Regardless of which standpoint one approaches the meaning of cultural tourism, literature agrees on the vital role of a community in shaping, driving, and developing cultural tourism and vice versa. While culture is an integral part of any tourism destination offerings, in some destinations a specific aspect of a culture is the core visitors’ pulling factor (McKercher & du Cros, 2002). The fact that cultural tourism is solely built around the existence of a community, its traditions, language, rituals, way of living, and all elements of tangible and intangible resources make the relationship between tourism and community a two-way relation. On one hand, the community offers and opens its ‘doors’ to tourists to experience their culture; on the other, tourism contributes directly to the development of the community.
As an emerging destination, Sultanate of Oman is recognised for its wealth of history, culture, and heritage resources. Since its effort to promote itself as a destination, Oman places its unique cultural heritage resources at the centre of its tourism offerings. Several resources were commodified into tourism products at the early stage of tourism development in Oman. The Omani tourism industry has benefited from well-reserved and conserved tangible and intangible cultural heritage resources. For example, from the early 2000s, Nizwa Fort was central in different tour itineraries. Additionally, Muttrah Souq was also a must-visit cultural attraction for tourists visiting Muscat.
This relationship between the Omani tourism industry and Oman’s cultural heritage resources is underpinned by several factors, including stakeholders’ involvement and support. One of the success enablers is the community itself. Omani communities are known for their hospitality and welcoming outlook toward outsiders. Furthermore, tourism has contributed directly and indirectly to the revival and sustainability of different tangible and intangible Omani cultural resources (Al Riyami, Almuhrzi & Scott, 2022).
This chapter discusses cultural tourism and community development in the case of Dhofar. The chapter starts by discussing the concept of cultural tourism and its different classifications while trying to answer the question of who a cultural tourist is. Subsequently, it explores the nexus between cultural tourism and community development by discussing several cases and how cultural tourism serves as a development catalyst. It then moves to discuss positive and challenging factors facing communities using cultural tourism as a development tool. The last section discusses cultural tourism and community development from the Oman perspective, in the Governorate of Dhofar. It specifically discusses several unique cultural resources and how the community uses/promotes them as tourism products and experiences. Finally, this chapter puts forward an interesting perspective on how cultural tourism can contribute towards the development of local communities and put forward a future research trajectory that several researchers will certainly find interesting to pursue.