Marking time: tourism and heritage representation at Millers Point, Sydney

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine how Millers Point, a harbourside precinct of Sydney, is being assimilated into the tourism production system as the traditional local economic base of maritime industries has declined. For localities with some attribute that can be marketed, packaged and sold, assimilation into the tourism production system is a viable route towards realigning the local economy. For Millers Point, commodification of the past as ‘heritage’ is central to the assimilation process. Following Britton (1991), three mechanisms of assimilation are discussed. How these mechanisms are engaged has particular implications for the representation of place and history for tourism purposes. Millers Point is largely portrayed as an opportunity to escape back to the ‘beginnings’ of the European notion of the Australian nation as it is represented in the built environment. In contrast, scant attention is given to indigenous peoples, social histories, or to the industrial infrastructure of the early twentieth century.

Key Words:

• Sydney
• Millers Point
• tourism production system
• representation of place
• heritage
• social meaning
• commodification