EMPLOYING CULTURAL TOURISM TO PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: INSIGHT FROM GALLE FORT AND KOT DIJI

Abstract

Cultural tourism refers to the mutual motivation of the visitors toward learning and appreciating historic places. It is closely connected to the sustainable approach, efficient management of heritage sites, built environment and social customs of these locations. However, the relations among these complex phenomena and unplanned tourist activities are always challenging to manage with large scale heritage sites. Sustainable cultural tourism has become an increasingly important topic in recent times. In this context, this study explores the intricate connection between cultural tourism and heritage management in augmenting the sustainable development of heritage sites. This idea can be referred to as ‘cultural sustainability’ in heritage conservation. It
is argued that integrated management of heritage sites, social inclusion of communities, and informed tourism activities intersect to conserve a more sustainable tourism of heritage sites. The management and the practices to maintain heritage site, during the recent years has brought several challenges, contributing directly to economic, environmental, and social challenges. With the demand for more resilient cities and communities, it is crucial to explore how cultural sustainability can contribute to positive outcomes. This research explores cultural tourism and sustainable development by employing the notion of integrated management to identify its crucial role in promoting cultural conservation, enhancing community participation, and supporting
social sustainability within heritage sites. It specifically examines the influence of strategic planning of sustainable tourism approach on communities and consequently on heritage sites, by looking into two case studies.  They are the Galle Fort of Sri Lanka and the Diji Kot Fort of Pakistan. It employs constructivist grounded theory and collects and evaluates data from the above two sites. The inductive process enables the formulation of ideas based on archival data, resulting in a detailed comparison of the phenomena under investigation. The study utilizes qualitative methodologies, such as archival research, site visits and
personal notes to collect data from the sites. The findings demonstrate that informed tourist activities greatly affect the sustainable approach, and associative experiences in the heritage sites. It further reveals that integrating cultural management into heritage conservation initiatives promotes social sustainability and contributes to achieving broader sustainable development objectives.The research offers insights into developing sustainable and authentic tourist experience that could
conserve heritage sites while creating a sense of ownership for all stakeholders, by incorporating community engagement into heritage conservation efforts. Hence, the overall cultural sustainability, how tourism receives feasibility regarding its management practices with community involvement should be considered alongside other policies and techniques. This study will create new knowledge and evidence for facing the challenges of today’s cultural tourism towards sustainable development goals. These findings suggest considerable improvement in heritage conservation of the region when weighed against the increased
demand of cultural sustainability.