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6THE IMPORTANCE OF CULTURAL HERITAGE TOURISM IN TOURIST MOTIVATION AND HOLIDAY
DECISION-MAKING IN UZBEKISTAN
Shokhrux ABDURAKHMONOV Alfraganus University ORCID: 0009-0008-5901-653X
Abstract: A significant number of theorists and practitioners from many disciplines, as well as from recently established heritage studies, have theorized, defined, reinterpreted, negotiated and renegotiated the idea of cultural heritage. Cultural heritage tourism is the concept that a region's cultural perspective is valuable enough to make it a travel destination. Communities with a high level of cultural development typically have a high level of contentment with their living circumstances and wealth. In recent years, a considerable number of research in the tourism industry have been devoted to the relationship between cultural heritage and tourist motivation as well as the holiday decisionmaking process. This field of research has attracted the attention of many disciplines including economics, geography, sociology, history as well as ethnology, sociocultural anthropology, museology and cultural studies. The study intends to establish the value of cultural heritage in tourist motivation and holiday decision-making processes using a qualitative study approach and to reflect their application within a specific national and regional context using a case study of Uzbekistan.
Keywords: tourism, cultural heritage tourism, tourist motivation, holiday decision-making process, holiday in Uzbekistan, importance of cultural heritage
Annotatsiya: Ko'pgina oldigi ilmiy izlanishlar shuningdek yaqinda tashkil etilgan merosshunoslikdan ko'plab nazariyotchilar va amaliyotchilar madaniy meros g'oyasini tahlil qildilar, aniqladilar, qayta talqin qildilar, muzokaralarolib bordilarva qayta muhokama qildilar. Madaniy meros turizmi - Madaniy meros turizmi - bu mintaqaning madaniy istiqboli va ushbu manzilni sayohat uchun qulay dargohga aylantirish uchun qiymatli ekanligi haqidagi tushuncha hisoblanadi. Madaniy meros turizmning rivojlanish darajasi yuqori bo'lgan jamiyatda odatda o'zlarining yashash sharoitlari qisqa muddatda yaxshilab olishga imkonyatga ega bo'lishadi. So'nggi yillarda turizm sohasi bo'yicha ko'plab tadqiqotlar madaniy meros va sayyohlarni rag'batlantirish o'rtasidagi bog'liqlik shuningdek ta'til qarorlarini qabul qilish jarayoni haqida olib borilgan. Ushbu tadqiqot iqtisodiyot, geografiya, sotsiologiya, tarix, shuningdek etnologiya, ijtimoiy-madaniy antropologiya, muzeyshunoslik va madaniyatshunoslik kabi ko'plab fanlarning e'tiborini o'ziga jalb qiladi. Tadqiqot turistik motivatsiya va ta'til qarorlarini qabul qilish jarayonlarida madaniy merosning qadr-qimmatini sifat parametrlarini o'rganish tadqiqot usulidan foydalangan holda aniqlash va O'zbekiston misolidan foydalangan holda ularning muayyan milliy va mintaqaviy kontekstda qo'llanilishini aks ettirishdan iborat.
Kalit so'zlar: turizm, madaniy meros turizmi, turist motivatsiyasi, ta'til qarorlarini qabul qilish jarayoni, O'zbekistonda dam olish, madaniy merosning ahamiyati
INTRODUCTION.
The scope and meaning of the purpose of conservation shifted in the early twentieth century as conservation techniques evolved from historicist and restorations, conservation approaches to modernist conservation ideas in the second half of the century. Toward the close of the twentieth century, a spectrum spanning from monuments to instances of civil architecture, from single structures to groups of buildings, and even towns stressed the existence and worth of intangible qualities in connection to the tangible. 'Place', 'spirit of place', 'space', 'cultural significance', 'memory', and 'memory' have all began to be regarded as valuable (UNESCO, 2003). Cultural legacy is shared wealth with exceptional universal worth, the priceless riches bequeathed to future generations by human forebears, and a non-renewable precious resource (UNESCO, 2018). The year 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention, which was adopted by UNESCO in 1972 to protect, utilize, and inherit cultural heritage through the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, and to make positive contributions to the protection and restoration of humanity's common heritage. There are two kinds of cultural heritage: tangible and immaterial. There are 897 cultural heritage sites in 167 nations across four continents as of February 2022. Cultural heritage protection in conjunction with tourism
development has become a new subject of concern for researchers all over the world as countries across the world pay increasing attention to cultural assets. The first research in the field of cultural heritage tourism was published in 2002 (Russo AP, 2002). A study of the studies on cultural heritage tourism published over the last 21 years will help us comprehend and grasp the overall patterns in global cultural heritage tourism development at this time. Cultural legacy reflects the knowledge and crystallization of human evolution, bearing the DNA and bloodline of human civilization, and must be safeguarded, shown, and spread for their cultural significance. Fundamentally, cultural heritage tourism is a type of tourism in which historic and cultural treasures are converted into commodities in order to attract visitors (Lee S, 2016). Since 1970, European and American nations have been constantly innovating cultural heritage tourism activity patterns, promoting it as a popular form of tourism and pushing research into cultural heritage tourism (Wang F, 2023). It was initially established by UNESCO in 2003 with member nations, said that dangers such as globalization, societal change, and prejudice towards specific cultures impact not just tangible assets but also societies' intangible cultural heritage. The following is how intangible cultural heritage is described in this context: "The term "intangible cultural heritage" refers to practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills, instruments, artifacts, and cultural spaces that communities, groups, and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage." This intangible cultural heritage is constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to their environment, interaction with nature, and history, and provides them with a sense of identity and continuity, promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity. For the purposes of this Convention, only intangible cultural heritage that is compatible with existing international human rights instruments, as well as the requirements of mutual respect among communities, groups, and individuals, and of sustainable development, will be considered. "UNESCO (2003). Following this accord, a "Representative List of Humanity's Intangible Cultural Heritage," similar to the World Heritage List for natural, cultural, and mixed sites, was established. It may be a chance for the intangible part of cultural and natural heritage, which has long been stressed but for which no uniform framework has been developed, has been addressed by distinguishing it from existing tangible assets. The list of heritage items also demonstrates that the emphasis is solely on intangible assets. As a result, the issue of 'Place, memory, meaning: safeguarding intangible values in monuments and sites', which was considered at the ICOMOS General Assembly in 2003, raised research on the combined conservation of tangible and intangible qualities in cultural heritage sites ICOMOS (2003). Historic locations that have been properly given significance by people as part of social life should be considered heritage; otherwise, they will be nothing more than works of art that have been conserved, maintained, and made attractive but have no meaning (Smith, 2006). As a result, rather than solely tangible qualities, it was decided in this study to analyze intangible cultural legacy in connection to location from a human-centered approach. Throughout their lives, humans are continuously engaging with their surroundings. They attempt to make sense of the world, cosmos, and space they occupy through these encounters. At this time, the integrated interaction between the tangible and the intangible begins. People's perceptions and experiences of the place they inhabit are encoded in their thoughts and turned into memories and narratives. On the one hand, memories are stored in memory as place-bound codes. Studies on the spatial coding of memory conducted throughout history hint to the oneness of the physical and ethereal (Halbwachs, 2017). On the other hand, the idea of 'location' encompasses both concrete selves and intangible qualities. According to geographer Tim Cresswell (2009), there are three levels of place: geographical location, physical presence, and meanings linked with place. "A meaningful site combines location, locale, and a sense of place." An absolute point in space with a specified set of coordinates and measured distances from other locations is referred to as a location. The 'where' of a place is referred to as its location. The material context for social connections - the appearance of a place - is referred to as locale. Locale refers to a location's buildings, streets, parks, and other visible and tactile features. The more ethereal connotations linked with a location are referred to as sense of place: the sentiments and emotions a place elicits. These meanings might be personal and based on one's own life, or they can be shared." (Creswell,2009). The spirit of place is comprised of all intangible assets such as sentiments and ideas, meaning, story, and memory that originate from the relationship that people form with the place, that is, with the tangible part of
cultural heritage. The 'cultural relevance of location' (ICOMOS,1999) is comprised of people's previous and current experiences and thoughts on the place. All of this appears to be difficult to record or turn into a tool in conservation decision-making processes. Uzbekistan's culture has a rich history that is closely linked by centuries-old customs and lifestyles of Central Asian peoples. Uzbekistan has many architectural monuments, ancient fortresses and castles, mysterious and unique natural monuments, and elements of folklore on its territory, many of which are now protected by UNESCO World Heritage (Uzbekistan travel, 2023). The UNESCO Representative World Heritage list includes four architectural complexes: Khiva's Ichan Kala Museum-reserve (1990), Bukhara's historical center (1993), Samarkand's historical center "Samarkand - crossroads of cultures" (2001), Shakhrisabz's historical center, the Ugam-Chatkal National Park (2016), and nine monuments of intangible heritage (Uzbekistan travel, 2023). Since its independence, Uzbekistan has prioritized not only the preservation of cultural assets via monument repair, but also the growth of national consciousness and recognition in global culture. Minarets and antique domes have become a type of icon of many towns, a gorgeous silhouette of urban landscapes, their religious and educational institutions-mosques and madrassas-for more than a millennium. These remarkable masterpieces of ancient architects have earned a particular status as objects of irreplaceable cultural property in independent Uzbekistan and are subject to special governmental protection. Therefore, the research focuses on the current and previous narratives of heritage travelers who connect with history and culture as the primary motivation in the decisionmaking process of cultural heritage sites in Uzbekistan.
LITERATURE REVIEW.
In a variety of new critical viewpoints, the legacy notion has been developed, reconfigured, and updated. The traditional "Western" understanding of heritage was that it could "be mapped, studied, managed, preserved, and conserved," and that its protection could be "the subject of national legislation and international agreements, conventions, and charters" (Smith,2006).The critical heritage literature no longer views heritage as a physical "thing," but as a social and cultural construction, a dynamic and elastic concept and process, a continuing dialogue with the past that "engages with acts of remembering that work to create ways to understand and engage with the present" (Smith, 2006). Heritage tourism refers to tourism markets and industries that have developed around heritage. Heritage and tourism are inextricably linked (The Travel and Tourism Programme, Ireland; Kamani Perera, n.d.). Cultural tourism comprises a wide variety of perspectives including a whole spectrum of human expressions and manifestations that travelers undertake to experience the heritages, arts, and lifestyles of people living in cultural locations. Cultural tourism is commonly associated with heritage tourism. Heritage tourism: refers to travelers visiting areas of traditional, historical, and cultural value for educational or recreational purposes (Nzama, 2005). Hall and Zeppel (1990), for example, stated: "Heritage tourism as a synonymous of cultural tourism, is an experiential tourism related to visiting preferred landscape, historic sites, buildings or monuments and seeking an encounter, involvement and stimulation with nature or feeling part of the history of a place». Cultural and heritage tourism can be defined as a dynamic activity developed through physical experiences that seeks and celebrates what is unique and beautiful, represented by our own values and attributes that are worthy of preserving and passing down to future generations in such a way that communities can be proud of them (Vargas-Hernández, 2012). Heritage tourism focuses on both material and immaterial, tangible and intangible antiques of the past. Heritage tourism is now defined by an evolving set of concepts and terminology (Pearce, 1996). According to Goodall (1990), historical tourism is a concept that combines many various feelings, such as nostalgia, romance, aesthetic enjoyment, and a sense of belonging in time and location. According to Peterson (1994), "heritage tourism is defined as the visiting of areas that make the visitor think of an earlier time." Hall (1992) agreed with the notions of "nostalgia" and "special form of tourism," stating that "heritage tourism is a broad field of specialty travel, based on nostalgia for the past and a desire to experience diverse cultural landscapes and forms" (Usha, 2016). Furthermore, Silberberg (1995) considered cultural and heritage tourism to be an economic development tool that achieves economic growth by attracting visitors from outside a host community who are motivated wholly or partially by interest in a community, region, group, or institution's historical, artistic, scientific, or lifestyle and heritage offerings (Rosenfeld, 2008). Poria (2001) described
heritage tourism as "a phenomena based on tourist motivation and perceptions rather than particular site qualities... "Heritage tourism is a subset of tourism in which the main motivation for visiting a site is based on the place's heritage characteristics as perceived by the tourist's own heritage" (David Leslie, 2005). Heritage tourism is defined by the National Trust for Historic Preservation-NTHP as going to experience places, objects, and activities that authentically represent the stories and people of the past and present. Visits to cultural, historic, and natural resources are included (NTHP, 2015). In 1990, the NTHP pioneered the approach for historic tourism projects by establishing five guiding principles: Collaborate; Find the Fit Between Community and Tourism; Bring Sites and Programs to Life; Focus on Quality and Authenticity; Conservation and resource preservation; and four actions to get started: Assess the Potential, Plan and Organize, Prepare, Protect, and Manage (Steven, 2011). Heritage tourism is a sort of tourism that focuses on practical experiences and knowledge of all things related to human existence or physical and mental activities from the past. It is the link of ideas in the present with what transpired in the past, eliciting sentiments of respect, pride, and appreciation for previous values.
METHODOLOGY.
The study adopts a qualitative approach in which interviews are conducted among local and domestic tourists who are interested in the concept of tangible and intangible heritage, which is frequently discussed in the literature, from a different perspective, data is collected from travelers, data is analyzed and used in decision-making processes, and the interaction of people with cultural heritage sites is documented, as well as heritage travel motivation as a contemporary value. Understanding cultural heritage is the first step in this route. Research and fieldwork on the site are critical for being able to handle and comprehend the site in a multifaceted manner. The study of the history and cultural heritage, tourist motive, and geographical decision-making process assists in understanding the current state of cultural heritage tourism in Uzbekistan.
RESULT AND DISCUSSION.
It is clear from the interview analyses that the locations connected with memories, meanings, and narratives are not restricted to structures or physical regions. Mountain ranges, waterways, open spaces, parks, agricultural gardens, squares, and roadways were all part of people's everyday lives in the past. The expansion of places may be referred to as large scale places such as mountains, streams, and open spaces occurring on the urban perimeter of the historic site, whilst structures or small sized regions occur within the urban historical site. It may also be observed that the previously indicated narrative locations and historic city cores overlap. It implies that people can recall and visit historic sites. Another examination of the location and human link is how many times a place is repeated. In other words, how the frequency of recall of a location is increased in an urban historic site. The reviews show remarkable outcomes. For example, open spaces, parks, and public open spaces are better recalled than constructed places. A small park in a district is the most often visited cultural heritage site because people have a strong spatial link to that park. To that end, the park is nevertheless heavily used, which has an impact on tourist motivation and decision-making. However, because physical data predominates in field research, intangible values cannot be treated holistically and are consequently not represented in conservation recommendations. The study, which includes the stages of understanding, analysis, evaluation, and decision-making that are common to all conservation approaches, develops a proposal to integrate the data of memories, meanings, and narratives, which contain verbal information, with the physical space. The proposition it produces based on data directly belonging to people is regarded to provide a significant methodological addition to the field by emphasizing the reading of the city with a new perspective of traditional settlements. Furthermore, the concepts focused on have mostly been addressed and adopted by the disciplines of architecture and conservation; it is expected that the interdisciplinary conceptual discussion of the proposals will also contribute to the current understanding of conservation. The research, on the other hand, contains limits and potential for development. The changing elements and data of the place-human interaction may be regularly updated by moving the study's database and base maps to an online and interactive environment. At the same time, these databases and maps may serve as memory banks for those who live in cultural heritage locations. All visual and textual materials, old and new, may be analyzed on maps based on place and position. The location of people's childhood homes or previous homes was
acquired as part of the scope of this investigation. As a result, another location-the human relationship analysis-focuses on that information. The locations connected with people's tales are mapped, and the coverage area of those locations is established. This study is limited to persons since overlapping regions interfere with the map's clarity as the number grows. As a result, the map processes people's former home locations, present locations, and coverage zones. It is clear that coverage regions have been greatly enlarged. The junction point of the regions, on the other hand, is easily found. This neighborhood also merged with the historic center of the city.
CONCLUSION.
This study provides cultural heritage tourism academics with a quantitative overview of the industry. However, it should be mentioned that the conclusions of this study relate exclusively to tourist sciences research and cannot be applied to other fields, particularly science, engineering, and ecology. Because different professions have their own databases, it is suggested that more study be performed to compare and evaluate results across fields.
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