The Impacts of World Heritage Site Designation: Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range

Abstract

This research aims to investigate the impact of World Heritage Site (WHS) designation on the area designated as “Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range”, Japan. The research adopts qualitative approach to explore detailed issues related to the impacts of WHS designation on heritage management and conservation, local communities, and tourism. Primary data was collected though the visits to the WHS, observation of and ad hoc small interviews with people in the host side of tourism, and scheduled in-depth interviews with key stakeholders in the host side of tourism. The initial findings show that the WHS designation has positive impacts on tourism and local communities in the WHS. For instance, the level of conservation of the WHS, the level of pride of local people in their living place, and the number of overseas tourists have also increased since its WHS designation in 2004