A well drafted charter should be able to withstand the test of time, and I feel as though our Charter has served the committee and cultural tourism well through the years. However, as the former chairman, Robertson Collins, has pointed out, times have changed, the nature of tourism has changed, and the ability of cultural resources managers to influence corporate and governmental decisions has changed. All the more need then to take a fresh look at the Charter and see what revisions might be necessary to make it relevant to today's needs as well as the future.

Those present in Sofia at the committee meeting decided to go ahead with a process for evaluating and revising the Charter. A schedule is being developed, which will use the 1999 General Assembly in Mexico as the target for adoption of a revised Charter. Although three years may seem like a long time, the requirements for reviews by the National Committees (twice) and the Executive Committee make the timing more difficult. We also decided to seek input from the tourism industry itself to the draft. Hopefully this will assure that the final document is well grounded, both from a cultural resources perspective, and also in the realities of market driven tourism.

Other important actions taken at the Sofia meeting include a new approach to our annual meetings. At each such meeting, we will strive to have additional activities that will benefit the locality, such as a one or two day workshop, conference or task force. With a group of experts gathered in one place, the benefits of this expertise should not be confined to committee business. Mr. Sophocles Hadjisavvas of Cyprus will be preparing plans for the meeting in fall 1997. His goal is to have a one day business meeting for the committee followed by a two day workshop/seminar. More details will be forthcoming.

Another important direction for the committee is the establishment of on-going relationships with representatives of the tourism industry. We cannot talk merely to ourselves any longer. Since the second half of the committee's name is "tourism," it is time we involved them in our work. The Charter revisions offer a good opportunity to begin establishing contacts. To this end, I have requested that committee members contact at least three to five representatives who are active in tourism and are willing to work with them. They can be tour operators, travel agents, hoteliers, cruise ship operators, airline representatives, etc. The draft revisions will be sent to the people on this list to gain their input. It is therefore critical that you begin to find and establish these relationships by the beginning of the new year.

I have contacted fellow US/ICOMOS member Peter Stott who has been maintaining the ICOMOS Web site, and we will begin working on a Web site for the committee. For those of you with access to the Internet, this will be a new way of communicating our purpose, goals, and activities. Please contribute your ideas to help construct this new site.

It was a pleasure for me to attend the 11th General Assembly and to meet the members of the committee who were there. I look forward to working with you over the next three years.

Hisashi B. Sugaya, AICP

E U R O P E

Although a proposed cultural tourism conference in Copenhagen was cancelled, much else has been happening in the region. Mentioned elsewhere in this newsletter, the ICOMOS UK committee has published the papers presented at the 1995 Bath Conference on Sustainable Tourism and Historic Cities.

Following the UNESCO/ICOMOS initiative to define the concept of cultural landscapes, there has been a growing amount of activity working towards a definition of the three sub-categories, and hopefully identifying those landscapes which are pre-eminent examples. Thus UNESCO sponsored a seminar in Vienna in April, drawing together 40 people with relevant knowledge and expertise to elaborate the concept and to work towards guidelines for selection of landscapes of universal value in Europe.

After a period of calm following the strife in the countries of former Yugoslavia, the UNESCO Commission in Zagreb, Croatia, sponsored a seminar in Dubrovnik, together with the UNESCO Commission in Germany, which involved a group of experts in redefining the opportunities for Croatia to feature its cultural heritage as an attraction for tourism. You will understand that the industry of tourism virtually collapsed during the period of civil war, and there are now signs that foreign operators are again showing interest. Because the country can start with a "clean sheet," there has been discussion about ways in which more intelligent use could be made of the rich multi-cultural heritage of locations such as Dubrovnik and Split.

There is no way in which cultural tourism can displace the earlier forms of mass tourism, because so much of the infrastructure of the tourist industry was based on volume. However, there is scope for all visitors to the country to have a better appreciation of the rich cultural heritage. It poses a problem for many countries where mass tourism has been overlaid on towns and cities with great historic values. Much can be done through the simple techniques of information and display to help all visitors appreciate the value of the cultural heritage of the host nation.

Europa Nostra, which is a federation of 200 heritage organizations in 30 European countries, has continued to develop its network of contacts in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which have an architectural heritage which is largely unknown to the tourist industry in the West.

Europa Nostra uses its meetings to focus on a wider concept of cultural heritage, and at its meeting in Manchester discussed the values of Industrial Heritage, and in Vienna emphasized the period of Art Nouveau, and in Cracow considered the importance of vernacular wooden architecture throughout Europe. In this way, Europa Nostra aims to make communities more aware of the heritage around them, which they must value and conserve if they are to have social and economic value through cultural tourism.

Finally, members should be aware of the work of a new consortium, the European Heritage Group, which was initiated by Europa Nostra and ICOMOS, working with 10 other federations of experts in various related fields of conservation of the manmade and natural environment. This group has been effective in offering a point of contact for institutions such as the European Union and the Council of Europe and international bodies such as UNESCO for the discussion of European and worldwide issues. It is an example of how many individual groups can combine for maximum political effect. The Secretariat of the European Heritage Group is provided by Europa Nostra.

Lester Borley, Secretary General, Europa Nostra

C A R I B B E A N

BERMUDA
The Summer 1996 issue of MARITimes, the quarterly magazine of The Bermuda Maritime Museum, was a special issue devoted to cultural tourism. Individual sites and categories of heritage are examined in separate articles by Dr. Edward Harris, Director, The Bermuda Maritime Museum. Together, they provide a comprehensive overview of the situation in Bermuda and an assessment of needs for the development and maintenance of the material cultural resources that are the subjects of cultural tourism; as well as proposals for action on the part of the public and private sectors to insure the legal and physical protection of the cultural heritage. The introductory article was written by Edwin S. Mortimer, Bermuda National Trust Representative. Excerpts are reprinted below with permission from the publisher.

UNTAPPED POTENTIAL I am pleased to have been asked to write the introduction to Dr. Edward Harris' comprehensive and challenging series of articles on Tourism and Heritage, the originals of which were printed in the Mid-Ocean News earlier this year.

Dr. Harris' background and professional training is in archaeology; mine is in town and country planning. As one of the first professional planners in the Bermuda Government's Central Planning Authority, in 1967, I became deeply involved in trying to find solutions to many of the problems Dr. Harris mentions.... Dr. Harris and I share a common interest in the subject of cultural tourism, old buildings, conservation, fortifications, British naval and military history and commitment to work to preserve Bermuda's unique heritage.

Six years ago, when serving on the West End Development Corporation's [WEDCo] Development Committee as Bermuda National Trust representative, I prepared a paper identifying a step-by-step process to develop a Cultural Tourism programme for Dockyard. Its aim was to identify a commonalty of interest and purpose which would bind the National Trust, WEDCo., and the Bermuda Maritime Museum and provide a tangible raison d'Ltre for saving the buildings of the magnificent Victorian-era Royal Navy Dockyard from inappropriate development. Since then, my interest in the Dockyard, its purpose, fortifications, buildings, and the Royal Navy of Georgian and Victorian times has developed into a passion.

Only three built-up urban areas in Bermuda have escaped radical change caused by the rapid pace of development over the past 25 years: Dockyard, the town of St. George's and portions of the northern part of the City of Hamilton have stayed basically unchanged for 150 years. Their preservation has relied on a variety of factors, not least that until recently they were neglected areas. By virtue of this, these three areas provide Bermuda's last frontier for the development of a special kind of tourism too long ignored: Cultural Tourism. However, if their conservation is insensitively carried out, there will be no second chance.

The problem is that economic development and sensitive conservation or restoration do not normally go hand in hand, unless there is a clear understanding of the vital importance of heritage preservation by everyone involved in the design and decision-making process. Too much of value has already been lost or bastardised by inappropriate conversion. There is a desperate need for a general recognition of the intrinsic importance of the heritage in Dockyard, Hamilton and St. George's and that this has a tangible economic value if sensitively developed. It has been estimated that every dollar spent in promoting cultural heritage generates an average return of eight dollars.

For years, Bermuda's tourist industry was based on exploiting the Island's natural resources beautiful beaches, clear water, reefs, sunshine and a picturesque quaint urban environment. The main thrust of tourist development in the 1960s, '70s and '80s was in the construction of large hotels and golf courses. Until recently, there was little re-investment to enhance or protect these resources vital to our tourist industry, with the result that, sadly, the Island's product for the tourist has become shabbier. The singularly successful development of a National Parks system spearheaded by the highly professional Bill Cooke, and the purchase by Government of land vital for opens space parks are a start in reversing this trend. Similarly, efforts by the National trust to purchase threatened open space, to place its many old buildings in good repair and to make an Island-wide inventory of historic buildings are important steps towards providing some basic building blocks for a cultural tourism programme, which would be beneficial to the whole community. The most exciting single opportunity for providing a suitable basis for cultural tourism came with the creation of WEDCo in the 1980s, and the infusion of Government funds which has enabled a well planned start to be made in the conversion of a blighted area of derelict naval buildings. They have the potential to become the jewel in Bermuda's crown.

The importance of the former Royal Naval Dockyard as a World Heritage Site cannot be over-stressed. Yet it is a dockyard, not a 'harbour-village,' with huge potential for historical re-creation to allow the visitor to discover interesting items of history seen through British eyes. Whether it can reach its full potential without a far-sighted Government taking a firm hand is unfortunately to be doubted. Hopefully St. George's will be next.

Cultural Tourism is not a new concept. As far back as the 16th Century it was customary for the nobility to send their sons on European tours to visit the remains of classical antiquity and obtain a broad education. The Grand Tour, as it later became known, accompanied by tutors and an artist to record scenes (there were no cameras then) was the cornerstone of an 18th Century gentleman's upbringing. In the late 19th and early 20th Centuries with the advent of luxury ocean liner travel, wealthy Americans flocked to Europe to discover their roots and different cultures. Cultural tourism is now firmly established worldwide, whether it is to visit Inca ruins in South America, the Great Wall of China, art museums in Italy, the monolithic walls of Zimbabwe or British castles.

Some countries, such as the U.S., excel in the presentation of and pride in their heritage. Others take it for granted, or like Italy have allowed over-visitation to cause irreparable harm to precious sites such as St. Mark's, Venice. Heritage or 'cultural' tourism in Britain now accounts for more visitors than in any other country in Europe and a significant part of the United Kingdom's national earnings. In recent years, Britain's development of heritage sites has been spectacular, such as the Ironbridge Museum, Jorvik Museum of Viking York, mediaeval castles, Palmerston forts, Stuart and Georgian naval dockyards, Roman ruins, Industrial Age canals, warehouses and mills.

Yet, with the huge potential available in Bermuda for developing cultural tourism, why has it been overlooked?

First of all, the potential has to be recognised as existing. Secondly, without adequate seed money it is unlikely to develop by itself. In these times of economic stringency neither Government nor private enterprise has spare funds to take on investment in ventures whose outcome is not certain. Government's investment of millions of dollars into Dockyard via WEDCo. has created the very place for a pilot project in cultural tourism to succeed. However, for this to happen, the co-operation of WEDCo, the Bermuda Maritime Museum and all commercial enterprises in Dockyard is an essential prerequisite and there is not room for anything less than top quality. It is imperative that knowledgeable experts, historians, architects, designers and managers must be involved to ensure that the product is first class.

Inherent in the development of successful cultural tourism is the absolute need to be historically correct, to be sensitive in restoration or redevelopment and at all costs to avoid anything that smacks of pseudo-restoration (such as mock Georgian window-pane proportions being horizontal rather than vertical; this is wildly inaccurate from an historic point of view (such as now-removed crenellations on electricity sub-stations in a 19th Century Dockyard); that is kitsch; that provides a Disneyland-like potted experience; or that is out of place (like bungee jumping). This doesn't have to mean making a place for only the elite few to appreciate and enjoy. Like the urban city centres of mediaeval and Renaissance Europe, the urban place should be the heart of the community where people can mix and mingle, enhanced by aesthetically pleasing surroundings.

Bermuda will never be able to develop proper cultural tourism until the work of all the various likely-interested parties is co-ordinated into an overall plan of the broadest spectrum with each organisation or institution responsible for developing an agreed part of that plan. Cultural tourism would allow a wide range of community organisations, individuals, tour companies, and Government departments to become involved, down to the level of the individual taxi operator and tour guide. It has exciting prospects but it must be properly planned and carried out by properly qualified people.

In the past few years we have to some extent lost sight of, and, indeed deliberately, turned our backs on the Island's huge heritage of British history in which Bermuda played a significant part. It was, for instance, a Bermuda-made vessel which sighted the French fleet prior to Trafalgar, and was the first to bring news of the battle to England. Our interpretation of history has become far too narrowly focused. The emphasis of our maritime history is on whaling, pilotage, the Queen of Bermuda and fitted dinghies. Important as these are, we ignore the larger themes of history, British sea power, convict transportation, the War of 1812, the transformation of the Victorian Royal Navy, the building of the Dockyard, and the role of Bermuda in two world wars and in the Cold War.

It is a truism that we often overlook the obvious. Edward Harris' articles which follow will, I hope, open our eyes to the huge potential which lies in the rediscovery of Bermuda's rich heritage and the Island's forgotten resources. If it is to be used at all, let us all make our best efforts to ensure that this is done in ways which will not deplete, destroy or substantially change this heritage, in the way that over-development has changed and still threatens to further change this beautiful Island we call home.

To receive a copy of this issue of MARITimes, contact The Bermuda Maritime Museum, P.O. Box MA 273, Mangrove Bay, Bermuda, tel: 441-234-1333, fax: 441-234-1735; e-mail: marmuse@ibl.bm.

AMERICAN EXPRESS PRESERVATION AWARDS PROGRAM FOR THE CARIBBEAN

American Express announced the winners of its 1996 Historic Preservation Awards Program for the Caribbean at The Caribbean Tourism Conference (CTC 20) in Bridgetown, Barbados, on September 27, 1996.

These awards, first presented by American Express in conjunction with the Caribbean Tourism Organization in 1990, were created to recognize excellence in the protection and enhancement of the Caribbean's architectural and cultural heritage. Initiated with a three-year grant from the American Express Foundation in New York, the success of the awards led the Latin America and Caribbean division to continue the program in the region.

US/ICOMOS administers the program for American Express and convenes the professional jury of experts to review the nominations, of which there were 19 this year from 12 nations. Three completed projects were selected for recognition:

Heywoods Archaeological Recovery Program, St. Peters, Barbados
The Heywoods Archaeological Recovery Program is an excellent example of a professionally guided project that has thrived with broad-based community support. The program strives to increase public awareness and to provide a unique educational experience for the local and visiting public. In addition to the recovery of some of the most significant precolombian finds in the Caribbean region, the project has led to an on-going program to continue excavations and to document, conserve and house the recovered artifacts. Plans for the creation of a field school for volunteers in appropriate recovery techniques; the design, production and installation of new exhibits; and the development of new educational curricula have been generated by this project. Finally, the importance of the archaeological finds, the success of the project in the face of great difficulties and the high professional standards of the organizers have spurred the government to acknowledge the need for permanent professional archaeological services and to move forward with legislation.
Contact: Alissandra Cummins, Director, Barbados Museum & Historical Society, St. Ann's Garrison, St. Michael, Barbados; tel: 809-427-0201, fax: 809-429-5946.

Casa Ramón Power, Old San Juan, Puerto Rico
As the manager of 14 sites and nearly 13,000 acres island-wide, the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico had already undertaken the careful restoration of other sites. In 1989 the Conservation Trust acquired the Casa Ram\n Power in Old San Juan in order to restore it and have it serve as Trust headquarters. The headquarters, with an Exhibition and Reference Center, is a unique educational resource with live and electronic displays, to provide greater visibility for the Trust's programs and its goal to protect and enhance Puerto Rico's natural beauty. The house was in an advanced state of deterioration. Meticulous research was combined with exacting preservation techniques. Compatible materials were used in making traditional mortars and lime plasters; wood elements were recreated with mortise and tenon joints; discarded historic timber and clay bricks were recycled into the project; and 19th-century color schemes and interior finishes provide the background to contemporary furnishings and lighting. In the first five months the Exhibition Center welcomed more than 10,000 visitors. This exemplary project has already shown the influence it will exert on the local community of historic San Juan and the entire island's population.
Contact: Francisco Javier Blanco, Executive Director, The Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico, P.O. Box 4747, San Juan, PR 00902-4747; tel: 809-722-5834, fax: 809-722-5872.

Soufriere Estate Factory, Soufriere, St. Lucia, West Indies
The restoration of the Soufriere Estate Factory, with its historic water wheel and canal system, adds a critical dimension to the visitor experience of a St. Lucian estate. The visitor will perceive a more complete picture of social and economic life in Soufriere through this industrial landmark that brought the town through two centuries of change. This latest restoration on Soufriere Estate in St. Lucia assures that an early 19th-century water wheel which first crushed sugar cane, then limes, and finally generated electricity for the nearby town can stay in motion. It again revolves within the even older, restored factory building. Interpretation of the wheel and its related industries, through story boards and tapes will explain the development of the site. Combined with the Estate House, the Diamond Mineral Baths and the Botanical Gardens, the jury commends this private initiative as a key phase of a cumulative effort to preserve, to protect and to make available to the public an important part of the heritage of St. Lucia.
Contact: Joan Devaux, Director, or Cheryl Cribbet, Manager, Soufriere Estate, P.O. Box 278, Soufriere, St. Lucia; tel/fax: 809-459-7565.

The winner in the category of project under development, and recipient of the $10,000 cash award:

Grants Program for Falmouth Historic District, Jamaica
This project is unique in the history of the Preservation Awards Program. The award to The Jamaica Heritage Trail Limited will provide the start-up funds for an innovative, local grants program within the context of a long-term, comprehensive restoration tourism development project for the Historic District of Falmouth. This exemplary program proposes a vehicle to finance the repair, rehabilitation and preservation of the vernacular architecture of small privately-owned historic buildings in the Falmouth Historic District, and provides a highly organized and clearly defined framework to achieve this goal. Acknowledging that infrastructure improvements and major restoration projects for large historic structures and civic buildings are outside the scope of this project, the proposal focuses on the small property owners who do not have the means to improve and protect their houses. This project will not only provide tangible improvements to individuals and to the community, but also will serve as a training ground for preservation methods and techniques, and a source for the creation of new jobs. The creation of a selection panel of individuals representing the major institutions in local preservation and commerce will assure the participation of a dedicated business and civic community, and a personal investment in the quality of an authentic restoration.
Contact: James M. Parrent, General Manager, Jamaica Heritage Trail Limited, 4 Lower Harbour Street, Falmouth, Jamaica; tel/fax: 809-954-3033.

 

O C E A N I A   &    T H E    P A C I F I C

CULTURAL TOURISM IN NEW ZEALAND:
The Maori Perspective

Amid hot springs, bubbling mud, tourists and kiwi birds, young artisans gather each day at the Maori Arts and Crafts Institute (NZMACI). There they learn the ancient carving and weaving rituals of their ancestors.

Credited with saving historic Maori wood carving from near-extinction, the school has also had a major impact on a devastated culture. It is an autonomous, non- profit organization that is completely funded by tourism.

Visitors flow through the school and its museum, then out to the geothermal sites that surround it and into the kiwi aviary. They finish the tour in the adjacent Maori village of Whakarewarewa.

"This is where I live," the Maori guide tells the tourists, leading them into a small and simple village. "These steaming holes are where we cook our food. We do it the old way C over the steam that comes from the ground."

She wears a red and black sweater, patterned after traditional Maori weaving designs, and she demonstrates how the traditional piu piu skirts are made from flax cut with a sharpened shell. Proudly she tells the group that her grandmother, too, was a tour guide.

The tour finishes with a visit to the hot springs bathing area. "Here I can bathe every night with my neighbor's husband and nobody thinks a thing of it," she says with a mischievous grin.

It is all for a fee, of course C the visitors to the institute pay an entrance fee, and many of the village residents work at the institute. The villagers are also compensated for opening their main street to onlookers each day.

The Arts and Crafts Institute

The school was the brain child of Apirana Ngata, a famous Maori parliamentarian of the early 20th century. Ngata pioneered the idea that tourism could be used to protect Maori historic cultural sites. He is commonly quoted as having said, "We need to learn to sell it or lose it."

Founded by the New Zealand government in 1926, the school was established to build Maori morale and to strengthen community. It was enormously successful. Student carvers from the school built or restored 250 Maori meeting houses on marae (village centers) across the country, produced war canoes and other traditional objects, and also preserved the rituals and symbolism of their craft. The health issues of the iwi, or tribes, were also met, and economic development centers grew from the original plan. Since that time, when government support waned, tourist dollars enabled the school to continue. In 1963, when Maori culture was again at a low point, the New Zealand government gave the local geothermal site to the school.

Students are chosen from young Maori men across New Zealand for an intense, 3- year dose of Maori history, symbolism and carving. Historically, Maori master carvers were men of priestly rank, the honored historians of their people. The course must therefore include theology, the history of ancient kings and battles and the interpretation of genealogies recorded in the roof lines of sacred meeting houses. Women are not included in the carving school. They study weaving, the traditional craft of Maori women.

Clive Fugill, the master carver and director of the institute, was one of its students in 1963. He is proud of its achievements, and the tourist dollars that have sustained it. "We are not trying to commercialize our history," he says emphatically. "We are trying to save it, and tourism has saved it."

The school is only one of many Maori tourist attractions in Rotorua. Others include an early 19th-century church built by Maori carvers; a mini Maori Williamsburg; concerts and traditional hangi feasts; visits to local marae; boat trips to a sacred island in Lake Rotorua; and a mini Maori Pompeii. This is Wairoa, a town that was buried by the volcanic eruption of Mount Tarawera in 1886.

Many of the visitors to these sites are Maoris themselves. Some come looking for the history of their people, and express a sense of pride and connection with their past. Others feel disappointment, even anger, at the commercialization of their culture.

This intra-Maori debate has been raging as long as the tourist industry has been in Rotorua C that is to say, for more than a century.

The Tourism Debate

The first evidence of the controversy comes from 1886, when Tuhoto, a 104-year- old Maori tohunga, or elder, began cursing his tribe for abandoning their ancient ways.

About that time, contact with European tourists and missionaries was having a strong effect on Maori culture. Women's clothing styles were changing C women had begun to weave bodices to cover their chests, and piu piu (flax) skirts were being developed for the tourists. Women had stopped participating in the traditional war dance as well, as the Westerners preferred more "feminine" behavior. Christianity and drinking were also issues. Tuhoto chastised his people for their commercialism, and warned that God would punish them. When Mount Tarawera erupted later that year, it buried Tuhoto's entire village of Wairoa. Many saw the eruption as the fulfillment of his prophecy.

The Tarawera eruption destroyed the greatest tourist site of all C the pink and white silica terraces, a series of porcelain-like sinter pools that descended into Lake Rotomahana. International tourists had begun flocking to the terraces about 1870, after Prince Albert of England made an internationally publicized trip to Rotorua. Albert had come to present the Te Arawa people with a bust of Queen Victoria, and to personally thank them for supporting the British in the land wars of 1860.

Generally, the tourism debate divides along regional lines. Maoris who live near Rotorua tend to argue that tourism has sustained their culture and can continue to do so. Those who live elsewhere tend to disagree, in part because they were not as exposed to Western influences. For some tribes this was because they fought the British in the early land wars and were subsequently treated more harshly by them. For others who fought on the side of the British, it was because their geography was less conducive to tourism.

Nick Tupara, ICOMOS member and curator of Maori History at the Gisborne Museum, is not from Rotorua, but his grandmother was. She suffered the taunts of other iwi who called her names like "plastic tui pui doll" and "penny diver" because Te Arawa children dove from the local bridge for coins thrown by tourists.

The Downside of Tourism

Tupara says the criticism of Maori tourism is larger than just regionalism. Many observers do not like the slick and rosy view of Maori history they see presented at Rotorua.

Sidney Moko Mead, former professor of Maori studies at Victoria University, says that the view of Maoridom presented at Rotorua does not capture the deep spiritual side of the culture. But it is not Maoridom that is presented there, he says. It is entertainment.

"Entertainment involves selecting the parts of your tradition that are easy to communicate," he said. "These items are presented over and over at a fast pace to keep the tourists awake."

The real downside of Maori tourism, Mead says, is the appropriation and trivialization of important cultural ceremonies. Examples include the mis-use of the Maori dawn ceremony, a traditional blessing intended for the opening of a sacred meeting house. The ceremony is frequently performed at the openings of commercial buildings. Mead says this is done to give the impression that Maori people were consulted about the project and are in agreement with what is going on there. "In fact, all it signifies is that Maori people were hired to perform," he said.

Another example of a tradition that is frequently co-opted by non-Maoris is the traditional welcoming ceremony. Maori professional performing artists have performed this ceremony in places as inappropriate as the Frankfurt International Airport. In that case, the ceremony did not welcome visitors on to a marae, rather, it welcomed a Boeing 747 to Frankfurt, the first one to fly the new Air New Zealand Auckland-Frankfurt route.

Another sticking point for tourism skeptics is the domination of Maori tourism by wealthy developers from outside the region. These people have been permitted to lease Maori and government lands repeatedly, and profits from tourism are flowing outside the community. Mead says, "Generally, tourism has helped the Rotorua area economically and that has had a trickle-down effect on the Maoris. This has combatted poverty, but that's about all, as Maoris have mainly been involved on the lower, service levels of the industry."

June Mead, with her husband Sidney, is one of the founders of a Maori cultural group in the Whakatane area. She says "Many Rotoruans see tourism simply as income, and sometimes fail to see its long-term implications. The problem is that Maoris are not in control of the inflow of tourists C of the buses and the travel agents C and have never been able to break in to it."

Mokoia Island, a historic site in the middle of Lake Rotorua, is perhaps an example. Sacred to four hapu, or sub-tribes, it is home to an old statue of Matahonga, the kumara, or sweet potato fertility god. It was also the site of several historic battles, and contains many graveyards and other sacred sites. In the past, it has suffered much abuse, even vandalism. It has also been stocked with rare bird species by the government. Now it is a purely Maori site, a reserve regulated by the four hapu. Nonetheless, it is still open to tourists on a daily basis. Tourists arrive on a launch that is owned and operated by non- Maoris. Maoris would like to own the launch, to better control access to the site, and to keep profits from the island in the Maori community.

For the most part, criticism of Rotorua tourism is an undertone, as naysayers are reluctant to criticize others publicly. Moea Armstrong of the Ngatiwai Trust Board said, "No one will talk to an outsider about the downside of cultural tourism. The downside is tokenism and exploitation, but those are discussions that only take place on the marae."

A Different Path

Some hapu, or sub-tribes, are saying no, thank you, to tourism. On these marae, private boundaries are rigidly maintained. These groups don't take calls after 5:00 PM, don't return the calls of pesky journalists, and don't allow tourists on their marae at all. Generally, these people are centered in their cultural groups. Apparently, they do not accept the popular wisdom that getting into the tourist game is without cost and compromise.

One of the Te Arawa's neighboring tribes, the Tuhoe people, have a history that contrasts sharply with their own. A dense native forest surrounds the Tuhoe iwi, and it has isolated them from the rest of New Zealand. As a result, the Tuhoe have evolved independently, remaining steeped in the ancient ways of their iwi. Their dialect and their connection to the plants and medicines of the bush are the strongest of all the tribes in New Zealand.

Emily Schuster, cultural director and weaving teacher at the NZMACI, grew up in Rotorua during the 1920's. Trips to the bush were part of her daily life. Now, the native forest around Rotorua has been cut down.

"I was taken to the bush as a small child," she said, "and taught in the old way with the old teachings.... I knew when the moon was right for shellfish, I knew what was sacred.... But my childhood can never be repeated."

The bush around Rotorua is gone now. Schuster drives her weaving students fifty miles to find the veins of the kie kie leaf and other things they need for weaving. "People cut the kie kie down and sell it," she says. "We have to go to Maori lands to get the things we need."

But despite Schuster's nostalgia for the old ways, she is adamant that Maoris should be doing Maori tourism. "Why shouldn't we do Maori tourism?" she asks. "If we don't do it, someone else will. Tourism is a part of our culture now." She bristles at the suggestion that her people have been misused, saying "No, no, no, we have made good use of the white man."

Culture and Commercialism Together?

In 1981, a doctoral student at The University of Waikato wrote a dissertation on the effects of tourism on her people, the Te Arawa iwi of Rotorua.

Ngahuia Te Awekotuku, a lecturer in Art History at the University of Auckland, found that tourism had acted as a cultural catalyst for her people, causing them to cling harder to their culture rather than to reject it. She wrote, "The Te Arawa response to the overbearing pressures of acculturation . . . was a cultural efflorescence and strengthening that was paradoxically stimulated . . . [by] tourism."

Professor Sidney Mead agrees. Rotorua's experience has been unusual, he says. "There, Maoris have been successful because they have not allowed tourism to interfere with the traditional part of their lives. Maori traditions and language are strong there," he said, "and their marae are in pretty good shape."

Roanna Bennett of the Aotearoa (Maori name for New Zealand) Maori Tourism Federation (AMTF) in Rotorua says "We have coexisted with tourism for many years now. It has not affected our culture."

"Tourism is just the latest phase of our culture," she said. "We were always very commercial. Early on, we were traders. The Te Arawa people have been involved in accommodation, food and travel since the first European tourist came here in 1838."

There is plenty of evidence to support the argument that Maori culture is strong in Rotorua: 1) their language is strong, 2) the NZMACI was built there because the strongest remaining craft traditions were found there, and 3) Rotorua won the national haka (or posture dance) competitions this year.

Young Maoris from the area are optimistic that they can continue to profit from tourism without compromising the treasures of the past. Some have joined together to rebuild a historic village from the oral accounts of their elders. There they perform the songs, chants and welcoming rituals of their people, after first cautioning their guests not to laugh at them when they stick out their tongues and roll their eyes. They cook dinner on hot rocks, make jokes, and talk about their pride in Maori history and customs. They conclude by thanking the tourists for making it possible for them to perform some of their less sacred rites every night. And when it is over, they go home to their real Maori life. The cost is NZ $52 per person, and the demand has been enormous C in the first 14 months of operation, the group has welcomed 35,000 visitors to their site.

This is just the sort of tourism that the Rotorua Tourism Advisory Board would like to promote C the "more authentic" variety. It is also just the sort of tourism that Maori activists in the area are trying to encourage C Maori owned and operated tourism.

The AMTF has dedicated itself to promoting Maori management of Maori tourism and to keeping profits in the community. To that end, they are developing a Maori trademark that will alert consumers to authentic Maori products.

The Future

Last year, tourism generated NZ $300 million to the Rotorua District, not including the NZ $1 million the local council spent promoting it. These figures cover more than Maori sites, however, as tourism has expanded to include sport holiday packages, helicopter rides, volcano viewings, native forest treks, glow worm caves, sheep farms and other sites. This is part of a development boom that has been going on for more than 20 years.

In 1981, Te Awekotuku wrote pessimistically about the future of historic Maori sites if growth trends continued at the 1970-80 rate. She predicted that, unchecked, the rapid rate of growth and the exploitation of the Takiwa Wairiki, or thermal regions, would lead to increased resentment in the Maori population. At that time, the leasing of government lands for development had permitted hotel developers to create new thermal baths on their sites, causing a general decrease in pressure at other thermal sites in the region.

The only hope for the ancient sites and homelands of her people, Te Awekotuku wrote, was to maintain tourism at its 1980 levels, and to monitor closely its effects. She also stressed the importance of Maori voices in tourism planning and management.

Since that time, growth in the area has continued at a fast pace. Two new four- star hotels have been built in the last year, and the Rotorua Tourism Advisory board is currently working to develop new tourist attractions for the area. Their list of 18 new "avenues for exploration" includes amusement parks, casinos, spas and retail shopping. They project continued growth of the tourist market at 8-11 percent a year until the year 2005.

A key part of the advisory board's 1996 strategic plan, nonetheless, is holding on to Rotorua's image as the center of Maori culture in New Zealand, and fending off the Maori tourism that is beginning to develop in other areas.

Where all this development will lead is unclear. But all across New Zealand, Maori elders conclude their formal gatherings with a prayer for their culture. "Let us hold fast to the ways of our Maoritanga," they chant, "and to the ways of our ancestors."

Will their prayers be answered? Or will the Maoris go the way of their Hawaiian and Tahitian cousins? One Maori fellow, who would rather not be named, said jokingly, "Tourism in Rotorua. That's a tough one. Perhaps another volcano..."

Patricia Bovers Ball

Cultural tourism as a name means many things to many people and herein lies its strength and its weakness to define what ICOMOS members are really concerned about. If you are like me, you are concerned about historic and pre-historic monuments (structures) and sites with or without local people.

Today more than ever we need to define these interests to each other, to others interested in the cultural arts and humanities and most of all, to the tourism industry C private and governmental. I believe that worldwide there is a general understanding about cultural tourism ... that it is good and worth embracing. It certainly includes visits to historic sites and museums. These visits show up in most destination area statistics. It includes people C traditional costumes, pagents and food. This ethnicity is the making of full-color tourist promotions. In fact, people do travel to see how other people live (or used to live). These are the major reasons for leisure travel. (The emperors and wealthy Romans did go to North Africa and the Middle East to "take the waters." Perhaps you could say the travelers on the ancient trade routes were foreigners on shopping trips ... tourists.) In any case, cultural tourism has been around for a long time. We need to make it work for us.

Early in 1995 as the White House Conference on Travel and Tourism was being organized, a number of us expressed concern that the cultural tourism interests were not adequately addressed in the workshop sessions. As a result, a white paper was prepared to address each of the agenda items and a full day's session was organized for the cultural community to talk with the delegates. This interest has spawned the "Partners in Tourism" program that will hold cultural tourism forums around the country as a means to address the implementation of the agenda challenges to combine culture and commerce.

US/ICOMOS participated in the White House Conference working group and a number of members attended the cultural tourism post-conference session as well as the first partnership forum in Annapolis, Maryland, in November 1996. I participated in these meetings as well as similar tourism meetings held in Virginia. It was interesting to see who was there and who wasn't. The museums were there in force. National, state and local arts and humanities organizations, including the performing arts and related program events, were well represented. Local convention and visitor bureaus and state tourism offices talked about their cultural tourism promotions and events. Historic areas and State Historic Preservation Officers talked about "partnerships" with lots of success stories, often with federal, state and local governmental participation with private funding. In these meetings cultural tourism is being defined with a very big "C."

While it is clear that the American Association of Museums and the National Endowments, the Institute of Museums and Library Services and the Presidents Committee on the Arts and Humanities are acting on these cultural tourism opportunities with high level policy commitments, unfortunately, there is not a visible commitment at a policy level from the historic preservation and cultural resource organizations like the National Trust and the National Park Service. Ironically, these organizations are players in successful cultural tourism partnerships at specific sites, but they have abdicated their role to speak for protection, planning and presentation as a benefit and cost of cultural tourism. The needs for funding and staffing for planning, management and interpretation at the destination area sites is not occurring and no one is talking about it in this market place of ideas.

We as members of ICOMOS have a responsibility to get into the cultural tourism arena and cause our affinity preservation organizations to play the politics of budget. We all need to define the cost/benefit equation to justify the funding needed to protect the assets of our sites and monuments.

As the ICOMOS Cultural Tourism Committee writes its new charter, I hope we do not belabor the words or meaning of cultural tourism. The fact that ideas about culture are all-encompassing are beneficial. I hope we can address the attributes of monuments and sites as cultural assets with special characteristics to be protected and with quantifiable limitations for use. Cultural tourism is here. We need to define the words to include protection in the excitement of promotion.

The charter needs to address the cost of planning, implementation and management to assure protection of the site and destination area for sustainable, authentic and quality tourist experiences. We need to be direct about the benefits of this billion dollar tourism industry and its needs. We need to be imaginative in suggesting ways that this income can be redistributed to reinvest in the physical assets of cultural tourism. The successful local tourism partnership case studies can demonstrate new partnerships for similar statewide, regional and national programs. When all the players are "owners" of cultural property, stewardship can be rewarding. We should be able to say "we care about our place ... you all come and enjoy it, too."

Hugh C. Miller, FAIA, Chairman
US/ICOMOS National Committee on Cultural Tourism