Omar, Hamimi and Abdul Razak, Norhanim (2014) Promotion of cultural heritage attractions in Malaysia: e-Brochure perspectives. In: 2nd Tourism and Hospitality International Conference (THIC 2014), 5-6 November 2014, Langkawi, Malaysia.

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Abstract

Cultural heritage resources are among the primary tourist attractions commonly included in promotional materials.Various categories of heritage attraction, such as nature, culture and built environment, play an important role in attracting international as well as domestic tourists and are a major source of foreign exchange for many countries, including Malaysia. Cultural heritage resources are especially important to Malaysia in the development of tourism, as an agent of national integration and representing a key theme in the country‘s promotional campaign. Although several works have examined various aspects of Malaysian cultural heritage, few studies have explored this topic from the perspective of tourism promotion.Thus, this paper analyses how cultural heritage attractions are projected in current Malaysian tourism promotion.Content analysis was adopted in the assessment of cultural heritage attractions represented in the e-brochures published by Tourism Malaysia.The findings reveal that cultural traditions, buildings and natural heritage are all promoted.The key theme reflected through the descriptions and images of intangible and built heritage is the portrayal of Malaysia as a multi-ethnic destination, which is consistent with the current promotional tagline, ‗Malaysia Truly Asia‘.Attributes including traditional costume, rural lifestyles, music and dance, cuisine, games and pastimes, buildings, architecture, places of worship and handicrafts have been employed extensively in the e-brochures.Natural heritage resources and activities are also widely represented in various brochures either as specialised attractions, background or integrated with other types of attraction. Finally, the findings of this study add to the understanding of destination marketing by showing which aspects of cultural heritage have been selected and commoditised in tourism promotion.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Additional Information:	ISBN:978-983-2078-83-8 Organized by: School of Tourism, Hospitality and Environmental Management, Universiti Utara Malaysia
Uncontrolled Keywords:	cultural heritage; tourism promotion; e-brochures
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > G Geography (General)
Divisions:	College of Law, Government and International Studies
Depositing User:	Dr Hamimi Omar
Date Deposited:	08 Mar 2015 01:57
Last Modified:	08 Mar 2015 01:57
URI:	https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/13303

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