EMERGING BUILT HERITAGE COMMODIFICATION OF BOUTIQUE HOTELS IN WORLD HERITAGE SITE: EVIDENCE FROM GEORGE TOWN, PENANG, MALAYSIA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21837/pm.v16i8.542Keywords:
built heritage, boutique hotels, heritage commodification, World Heritage Site, tourismAbstract
Although heritage, by its very nature, has been in existence for a long time, an understanding of the ways in which heritage products can be used is relatively recent. The increasing number of boutique hotels in George Town has contributed to the distinctiveness of lodging accommodation. In many cases, this has led to the commodification of the built historic environment and its history into a form of tourism product. This study sought to investigate the process of the built heritage commodification of boutique hotels in George Town. A semi-structured interview was conducted among boutique hotel managers and entrepreneurs in George Town, Penang. The findings revealed that external factors such as the global recognition of George Town as a World Heritage Site and the setting of the historic city are the pull factors for investors to purchase premises in the city centre. These built heritage resources (tangible heritage) and intangible values have been assimilated with their contemporary uses to be commodified into different types of boutique hotels. The attempt to establish a built heritage commodification model will contribute to the empirical data on the process and the factors that lead to the built heritage commodification of boutique hotels in heritage city.Downloads
References
Aggett, M. (2007). What has influenced growth in the UK's boutique hotel
sector? International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 19(2), 169-177.
Aliukeviciute, M. (2011). Boutique hotels evolution. Retrieved from
https://ojs.kauko.lt/index.php/stmd/article/download/233/229
Albazzaz, A., Birnbaum, B., Brachfeld, D., Danilov, D., Kets de Vries, O., & Moed, J. (2003). Lifestyles of the rich and almost famous: The boutique hotel phenomenon in the United States. Fontainebleau: Insead Business School.
Amir, S., Osman, M. M., Bachok, S., Ibrahim, M., & Mohamed, M. Z. (2017). Tourism stakeholders perception on tourists’ expenditure in entertainment sector in Melaka UNESCO World Heritage Area. Advanced Science Letters, 23(7), 6336-6338.
Anhar, L. (2001). The definition of boutique hotels. Retrieved from
http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4010409.html
Arifin, A. S., Jamal, S. A., Aziz, A. A., & Ismail, S. S. (2015, September). A preliminary study on boutique hotels in the city of Kuala Lumpur. 2nd International Hospitality and Tourism Conference 2014. September 2-4, 2014, Penang, Malaysia.
Ashworth, G. J., & Larkham, P. J. (1994). Building a new heritage: Tourism, culture and identity in the New Europe. London: Routledge.
Ashworth, G. J. (2012). Preservation, conservation and heritage: Approaches to the past in the present through the built environment. Journal Asian Anthropology, 10(1), 1-18.
Astuti, W., Permana, A. S., Qomarun, Q., & Andisetyana, R. (2017). Integrated planning model of creative industry-based kampung tourism in Jayengan Surakarta, Indonesia. Planning Malaysia, 15(3), 63-76.
Chang, T. C., & Teo, P. (2008). The shophouse hotel: Vernacular heritage in a creative city. Urban Studies, 46, 341–367.
Erkutlu, H. V., & Chafra, J. (2006). Relationship between leadership power bases and job stress of subordinates: Example from boutique hotels. Management Research News, 29(5), 285-297.
Freund de Klumbis, D. & Munsters, W. (2005). Developments in the hotel industry: Design meets historic properties. Retrieved October 12, 2015, from
http://bibemp2.us.es/turismo/turismonet1
Forsgren, S., & Franchetti, C. (2004). The marketing role of unique concepts for hotels in Sweden: Tourism and hospitality management (Master Thesis No 2004: 53). Goteborg University, Sweden.
Goh, Y. N. (2015). Investigating revisit intentions for the boutique hotels of Penang - A UNESCO world heritage site. Asian Social Science, 11(4), 126-134.
Henderson, J. C. (2011). Hip heritage: The boutique hotel business in Singapore. Tourism and Hospitality Research, 11(3), 217-223.
Khosravi, S., Malek, A., & Ekiz, E. (2014). Why tourists are attracted to boutique hotels: Case of Penang Island, Malaysia. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, 12(1), 26-41.
Li, Y. (2003). Heritage tourism: The contradictions between conservation and change. Tourism and Hospitality Research, 4(3), 247-261.
Lim, M. W., & Endean, M. (2009). Elucidating the aesthetic and operational
characteristics of UK boutique hotels. International Journal of Contemporary
Hospitality Management, 21(1), 38-51.
Lwin, M., & Phau, I. (2013). Effective advertising appeals for websites of small boutique hotels. Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, 7(1), 18-32.
Mcintosh, A. J., & Siggs, A. (2005). An exploration of the experiential nature of boutique accommodation. Journal of Travel Research, 44(1), 74-81.
Olga, A. (2009, September). The alternative hotel market. International Conference on Management Science and Engineering. September 14-16, 2009, Moscow, Russia.
Prideaux, B. (2003). Commodifying heritage: loss of authenticity and meaning or an appropriate response to difficult circumstances? International Journal of Tourism Sciences, 3(1), 1–15.
Rani, P., Putri, C., & Devina, A. (2017). Transforming heritage building for
commercialisation. Planning Malaysia, 15(3), 135-146.
Rompho, N., & Boon-itt, S. (2012). Measuring the success of a performance measurement system in Thai firms. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 61(5), 548-562.
Rogerson, J. M. (2010). The boutique hotel industry in South Africa: Definition, scope, and organization. Urban Forum, 21(4), 425-439.
Su, X. (2011). Commodification and the selling of ethnic music to tourists. Geoforum, 42(4), 496–505.
Suraiyati, R. (2013). Heritage management challenges in historic town of Ludlow, England. World Applied Sciences Journal, 24(12), 1589-1596.
Teo, P., & Yeoh, B. S. A. (1997). Remaking local heritage for tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 24(1), 192-213.
Terzano, K. (2014). Commodification of transitioning ethnic enclaves. Behavioural Sciences, 4(4), 341-351.
Timothy, D. J., & Teye, V. B. (2009). Tourism and the lodging sector. Oxford: Elsevier.
Van Hartesvelt, M. (2006). Building a better boutique hotel. Lodging Hospitality, 62(14), 32-44.
Waitt, G. (2000). Consuming heritage. Annals of Tourism Research, 27(4), 835-862.
Wheeler, D. (2006). Understanding the value of boutique hotels (Master's thesis). Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA.
Wight, P. (1994). Environmentally responsible marketing of tourism. In E. Carter & G. Lowman (Eds.), Ecotourism: A Sustainable Option? London: Wiley.
Xu, K., Yan, T., & Zhu, X. (2013). Commodification of Chinese heritage villages. Annals of Tourism Research, 40(1), 415-419
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright & Creative Commons Licence
eISSN: 0128-0945 © Year. The Authors. Published for Malaysia Institute of Planners. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license.
The authors hold the copyright without restrictions and also retain publishing rights without restrictions.
