The Interpretation of Cultural Heritage: Sharing Māori Cultural Tourism Experiences with International Visitors

Māori cultural tourism can be an important part of the experience for visitors to New Zealand. The purpose of this research is to gain insights into the way guides manage visitor experiences in order to enhance the understanding and appreciation of Māori culture. International visitors are culturally and linguistically diverse. Therefore, not only are there differences in perspectives and beliefs, but also in communication. Furthermore, visitors arrive with differences in knowledge, interest and expectations. This thesis considers approaches to guiding and interpretation in Māori cultural tourism experiences by examining how guides, as cross-cultural mediators, share Māori cultural heritage so that it is meaningful and relevant to visitors. The literature on Māori tourism has examined issues of ownership, participation, control over representation, and the diversification of Māori tourism products. In spite of the shift to reflect tribal diversity, stereotypes are still reinforced in marketing images and tourism products. Although acknowledged as important, there are no published studies on the role of Māori guides. Developed from a social constructivist perspective, this study compares perspectives on and approaches to guiding and interpretation by Māori and non-Māori guides. Data collection was through semi-structured interviews with tour guides and a manager from the chosen case studies, Te Puia and Te Papa, with 21 interviews conducted in June and July 2011. Using a visitor-centred approach to interpretation, guides select information and find relevant connections. Furthermore, the quantity and complexity of information, as well as the style and level of communication is considered. Guides manage the relationship so that visitors feel comfortable, which not only enables interaction and encourages questions but is also important for managing visitors' attitudes. The main challenge identified is the language barrier and working with outside language interpreters. In the comparison between Māori and non-Māori guides, the key differences are found in the guide's background and ways of learning about Māori cultural heritage. This research contributes to the literature on interpretation and indigenous tourism by identifying factors influencing the process of the interpretation of cultural heritage. Furthermore, comparing the perceptions of Māori and non-Māori guides provides a key contribution. The findings of this study have management implications for training of guides

Genomic mid-range inhomogeneity correlates with an abundance of RNA secondary structures

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Genomes possess different levels of non-randomness, in particular, an inhomogeneity in their nucleotide composition. Inhomogeneity is manifest from the short-range where neighboring nucleotides influence the choice of base at a site, to the long-range, commonly known as isochores, where a particular base composition can span millions of nucleotides. A separate genomic issue that has yet to be thoroughly elucidated is the role that RNA secondary structure (SS) plays in gene expression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We present novel data and approaches that show that a mid-range inhomogeneity (~30 to 1000 nt) not only exists in mammalian genomes but is also significantly associated with strong RNA SS. A whole-genome bioinformatics investigation of local SS in a set of 11,315 non-redundant human pre-mRNA sequences has been carried out. Four distinct components of these molecules (5'-UTRs, exons, introns and 3'-UTRs) were considered separately, since they differ in overall nucleotide composition, sequence motifs and periodicities. For each pre-mRNA component, the abundance of strong local SS (< -25 kcal/mol) was a factor of two to ten greater than a random expectation model. The randomization process preserves the short-range inhomogeneity of the corresponding natural sequences, thus, eliminating short-range signals as possible contributors to any observed phenomena.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We demonstrate that the excess of strong local SS in pre-mRNAs is linked to the little explored phenomenon of genomic mid-range inhomogeneity (MRI). MRI is an interdependence between nucleotide choice and base composition over a distance of 20–1000 nt. Additionally, we have created a public computational resource to support further study of genomic MRI.</p

Interpretation in Maori cultural tourism in New Zealand: Exploring the perspectives of indigenous and non-indigenous guides

Cultural tourism experiences provide opportunities for cultural exchange between the host culture and visitors. With growing interest in indigenous tourism, the extent of indigenous control over cultural content and representation becomes increasingly important. In mana-ging interpretation processes, guides have an influential role in facilitating understanding and appreciation in visitors, thereby fostering respect for indigenous cultural heritage. In a guided tour this exchange is facilitated by the tour guide who needs to consider the diversity of the visitors’ characteristics. By taking a visitor-centred approach to guiding and interpretation, guides adjust the way the experience is managed so that it is interesting, meaningful and relevant

Learning about learning in tourism: Indigenous guide perspectives on their personal and professional development

This empirically based article examines guides’ knowledge and skills acquisition. Using two cultural tourism attractions in New Zealand as field sites, the focus is on guides in cultural tourism contexts. Twenty-one semistructured in-depth interviews with guides and managers were conducted and analyzed using a social constructivist perspective. This article is thus among the first to add the voices of (Indigenous) guides to the discussions of guide knowledge acquisition and learning. The relevance of previous personal experience of guides, conceptualized as informal experiential (practice-based) learning and lifelong learning, is identified as critical in guided tour content selection and delivery, as well as in engagement with participants of a guided tour experience. Implications address power relationships, ownership of information and stories, and credibility of a message in (Indigenous) cultural tourism; the need to focus on recruitment of guides, and a call for perceiving guides as humans with a sophisticated, demanding, interpersonal role