The Semiotics of Heritage Tourism

This book presents a new way of understanding heritage tourism that focuses on what people feel and not just what they see. Traditionally, semiotics points to the study of signs and symbols, and how we use them to make sense of the world. Here semiotics is extended into our other senses as part of what it means to experience heritage as tourists.

Emma Waterton is a Senior Lecturer at the Institute for Culture and Society, University of Western Sydney, Australia. Her interests include unpacking the discursive constructions of 'heritage'; community involvement in the management of heritage; the divisions implied between tangible and intangible heritage; and the role played by visual media. Publications include Politics, Policy and the Discourses of Heritage in Britain (2010) and Heritage and Community Engagement (2011, co-edited with Laurajane Smith and Steve Watson).
Steve Watson is Principal Lecturer in Tourism at York St John University in the UK. His research is focused on the ways in which heritage is constructed and understood in tourism and the way that tourism acts as a vector for various social and cultural meanings. He has published widely in the field of heritage tourism and recent co-edited books include The Cultural Moment in Tourism (2012, with Laurajane Smith and Emma Waterton) and Heritage and Tourism, Place, Encounter Engagement (2012, with Robyn Bushell and Russell Staiff).