Catherine E. Magee
Abstract
This article explores the connection between tourism and cultural heritage preservation by examining the formation processes of hybrid tourist/cultural heritage landscapes. As heritage conservation professionals, we use scientific investigations and research to better understand material culture and how to best preserve it, but education and scientific illumination are just two end results of our work. Our work, the real end result of what most of us do, is for tourists, enticing people to visit our museums, national parks, archaeological sites, and historic buildings both in reality and virtually. We are involved in the cultural production of tourism and tourist sites, although we may not conceptualize our work in this way.
This article explains and explores this connection between tourism and cultural heritage preservation. Specifically, it examines the impact tourism had and has on the cultural heritage of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California by investigating the cultural landscapes of Lake Tahoe, United States.