Visitors motivation and information seeking behaviour of World Heritage Sites: a study of Maropeng Interpretation Centr

1. Visitors� motivation and information seeking behaviour of World Heritage Sites:a study of Maropeng Interpretation Centre Prof Thomas van der Walt, UNISA Dr Felicite Fairer-Wessels, UP

2. Introduction This paper aims: to determine what motivates visitors to travel to  heritage sites; and to determine how visitors go about finding out  about heritage sites and the various types of  information sources they use. - This paper is �research in progress� and is based  on the literature, paper-based and electronic, and  on the results of limited fieldwork started at  the Maropeng Interpretation Centre during 2007

3. What are World Heritage Sites? Places of international importance Concerned with conservation of humankind�s natural and cultural heritage UNESCO est. the World Heritage Convention in 1972 Resulted in ID of wide variety of cultural & natural sites and landscapes, towns, historic & modern buildings

4. 2008: 868 Sites 678 Cultural 174 Natural 26 Mixed

5. Implications of being a WHS International recognition & accountability- prestige and status- attracts new visitors- highest quality standards encouraged- if threatened = List of WHSites in danger Improved protection & management of site- sites protected by national governments- management plans recomm by UNESCO- ensure sustainable management - ID opportunities and preservation of site- 6yearly report by governments to  UNESCO on state of their sites

6. What is �Heritage�? Heritage: the experience produced by the interaction of the visitor with the resource; it is how we mediate our relationship with the past History: thoughts processed through mythology, ideology, nationalism, local pride or marketing into a commodity; history is concerned with causes & effects of changes over time 2 different constructs but often used interchangeably

7. Convergence between heritage & tourism Typical tourist is moving away from sun-sea holiday -> one containing unique personal experiences -> heritage tourism Heritage attractions are now a niche market and regarded as a �contemporary commodity created for the purpose of satisfying contemporary consumption�

8. South Africa�s 8 WHSites

9. Overview of the Cradle of Humankind Declared as WHS in 1999. Mainly in NW Province, 47,000 hectare Of universal value: �it is the place where humankind began� Significance: the fossil-bearing cave deposits that preserve a remarkable record of the early stages in the evolution of humans and their near-relatives

11. Map of the Cradle of Humankind

12. The Cradle contains more than a third of all hominid fossils worldwide with massive archeological significance �vital information for the understanding of early humankind The Cradle consists of 13 fossil sites Sterkfontein cave most famous: Mrs Ples skull discovered in 1947 by Robert Broom 1997 Little Foot (the southern ape man), is regarded as the most important hominid fossil ever found (paleo-anthropologist, Ron Clarke)

13. Early man (reconstructions)

14. The Skull of Mrs Ples

15. Sterkfontein caves

16. Museum at Sterkfontein

17. 600MYA: rocks around the Cradle area were once laid down as seabed

18. Excavations at Sterkfontein

19. Maropeng Interpretation Centre

20. �Maropeng� means �returning to the place of origin� in Setswana. Built in the form of a tumulus, an ancient burial mound, to symbolically depict the birth and death of humankind. The interpretation centre consists of a highly interactive underground hall, and provides a unique educational experience with appropriate museum exhibits.

21. Visitor motivations Many factors that motivate people to travel: escapism, leisure, status, pilgrimages, research, education, social motives, entertainment, a new experience Main reasons for travel:- the individual�s motives (education, relax)- attributes of the site (location, attributes)

22. Push & pull factors of motivation demand for heritage displays is driven by visitors� desire to satisfy their main motivation which prompted them to visit this attraction This desire is manifested in the push & pull factors Push = personal needs, wants of the visitor Pull = attributes of the site (location, ambience) Heritage tourism relies on the strength of both push & pull factors to appeal to potential tourists We will now investigate the fieldwork on visitor motivation to the Maropeng Interpretation Centre

23. Fieldwork:Demographics of visitors during fieldwork

24. Visitors: male vs female

25. Domestic vs Foreign visitors

26. Awareness of Cradle WHS

27. Overall motivations of respondents

28. Personal motivation of respondents

29. How respondents heard about Maropeng IC

30. Authenticity of information on display at Maropeng IC

31. Findings in brief� Mainly students visit the CoH More female than men visit More domestic than foreign visitors Visitors are motivated by:- educational reasons - knowledge gained Word-of-mouth is the strongest carrier of information about Maropeng Maropeng Survey done at Maropeng

32. Information use of visitors to Sites Before the visit (stage 1):- preparation for the visit- background to understand the site- printed sources: Guides - electronic sources: Websites During the visit (stage 2):- dioramas, models, exhibits, interpretation  centres, brochures, exhibition guides After the visit (stage 3):- guidebooks for detailed info, coffee tables

33. Information Guides

34. Cradle and Maropeng websites Unesco South Africa Fossil Site Maps document Google Maropeng Venues Mogale

35. Impact of IT on Heritage Sites IT for stages 1) and 3)= before and after What about stage 2? DURING the visit?- Audio guides- CD roms, but laptops are needed- Cellphones using GIS to handle spatial location  (e.g. Germany: Deep Map for personalized  guided tours of cities)* use cellphones to relate tourist�s location in  reach, i.e. other sites in vicinity of CoH* can ask geography-related questions such as:  Where am I?; What other attractions can I  reach?; the fastest route?, where is a hotel?  (The latter are linked to other data bases)