Creative Turns in the Use of Industrial Resources for Heritage Tourism in Taiwan

ABSTRACT

In heritage tourism, traditional industrial production may be transformed through creative processes that reposition the resources to produce novel tourist experiences. This study examines the transformation of salt resources in Taiwan from the production of a tangible to an experiential product. Formerly, the production of salt as an industrial product resulted in the creation of distinctive landscapes and livelihoods. The decline of this industry has been followed by the creation of new heritage values through innovative presentation of cultural relicts and consumption of recreational experiences in tourism. To probe the receptivity of this radical change in resource use, a quasi-experimental approach is used to examine how the repositioned industrial legacy meets the expectations of heritage tourists. Hybrid combinations of presentation schemes (theme, programming, and design) reveal creative turns in the use of industrial resources for the production of tourist experiences. Although there is diversity among the preferences of visitors, participatory experiences are generally preferred to passive viewing of relict landscapes.

摘要

在遗产旅游中，传统的工业生产可通过创造性的过程来改造，并将资源重新定位以产生新的旅游经验。本研究探讨了台湾的盐资源从有形产品生产到经验产品的转变。过去，盐作为工业产品的生产创造了独特的景观和生活。此工业的衰落之后，通过创新的文化遗产呈现和旅游休闲体验的消费，创造了新的遗产价值。为了探索这个资源利用的巨变，本研究使用了准实验方法来调查重新定位后的工业遗产如何满足遗产旅客的期望。演示方案（主题、编程和设计）的混合组合揭示了使用工业资源产生旅游经验的创造性转变。尽管旅客的偏好存在多样性，旅客多数较喜欢参与性的体验。

KEYWORDS:

• Heritage tourism
• creative experience
• salt tourism
• quasi-experiment

关键词:

• 遗产旅游
• 创意经验
• 盐旅游
• 准实验

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the anonymous referees for their detailed and well-considered comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded in part by a research grant (NSC 102-2410-H-259-057MY3) from the Ministry of Science and Technology, R.O.C. in Taiwan conducted by the first author.

Notes on contributors

Tsung-Chiung (Emily) Wu

Tsung-Chiung (Emily) Wu is a Professor in the Department of Tourism, Recreation and Leisure Studies at National Dong-Hwa University, Hualien, Taiwan (E-mail: [email protected]).

Geoffrey Wall

Geoffrey Wall is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management at University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada (E-mail: [email protected]).

Wan-Chen (Vinney) Yu

Wan-chen (Vinney) Yu is a Lecturer in the Department of Marketing Management at Takming University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan (E-mail: [email protected]).