Cashing in on Vietnam’s world heritage

Vietnam is justifiably emerging as one of South-East Asia’s most popular destinations, with over 10 million inbound tourists in 2016, up from less than 4 million in 2009. With a rich and vibrant culture, engaging history and varied landscape, the country seems set on a continued upward trajectory of rapid growth in its tourism industry.  

And yet... 

The temptation to focus on short-term profit over long-term sustainability is creating serious problems and putting at risk the very destinations which are drawing visitors to Vietnam in the first place. Nowhere is this more apparent than at some of the country’s most popular world heritage sites: Hoi An, Ha Long Bay and, most recently, Trang An.  

Hoi An Ancient Town was designated a world heritage site in 1999. A small-scale trading port between the 15th and 19th centuries, Hoi An began to attract foreign visitors in the late 1990s, who came to enjoy the city’s remarkably well-preserved historic centre as well as the pristine white sand beach at nearby Cua Dai. 

Fast-forward 20 years and you will find a very different place. Hoi An received 3.2 million visitors in 2017, a 22 percent increase over the previous year and an all-time record for the town. For my part, returning to Hoi An last summer for the first time in seven years, not only was I taken aback by the crowds and congestion but there seems to be very little going on in the historic centre apart from tourist-oriented stores and services.

Tour groups visiting Hoi An's iconic Japanese Bridge (Credit: G. Kipling)

While local authorities are to be commended for their efforts to maintain the architectural integrity and visual character of Hoi An’s historic centre, there is clearly a Venice effect at work as well, where overtourism risks degrading visitors’ experience while the local environment suffers long-term adverse consequences. 

A case in point is the near disappearance of much of Cua Dai beach due to coastal erosion. Though Vietnamese authorities emphasize external factors like global warming and rising sea levels, it is clear that uncontrolled hotel development and widespread sand-mining in the area are key contributors to the problem. And sadly even if authorities demonstrate more backbone than they have in the past to ensure sustainable tourism development in the larger Hoi An region, they are likely to find that problems that were years in the making will take decades to resolve.  

Arguably the situation is even more acute in Ha Long Bay in Vietnam’s north-east. Inscribed as a world heritage site in 1994, Ha Long is instantly recognizable for its towering Karst pillars rising above the emerald waters of the Gulf of Tonkin. Indeed, for many no visit to Vietnam is complete without a cruise aboard one the countless “junks” and other assorted watercraft large and small which ply Ha Long Bay every day of the year. 

As one might expect in what has historically been a largely unregulated boat-cruise industry, the result has been congestion on the water, unhappy tourists cheated by unscrupulous operators and, more seriously, a string of boat fires and other accidents which have resulted in injuries and even deaths. Uncontrolled garbage and sewage disposal are also major problems in the area, which are threatening local ecosystems and turning off tourists. 

As one Australian visitor put it after taking a dip near Ha Long’s Dau Be Island: "I was only in for a few minutes. I went under and came out, covered in something — I thought it was oil — and smelled really bad. Some of the children on our boat later came out in a rash."   

Aerial view of Cat Ba Island (Credit: K. Martyn)

Again, amidst the gloom there are some signs that Vietnamese authorities are waking up to the risk they are running by allowing tourism and other industries to run roughshod over what was once a pristine environment. After a public outcry in 2015 the authorities stopped coal shipping near the world heritage site, and more recently Quang Ninh Province implemented a USD30m waste processing centre, although a mooted water protection program for the Bay remains pending. In the year ahead I expect more announcements regarding measures to further protect Ha Long Bay’s environment and regulate its tourism industry. However, as is the case elsewhere in Vietnam, weak rule of law and a profit maximization mindset are likely to undermine the positive impact of any any such measures. 

The seeming inability (or unwillingness?) of provincial and local authorities to protect Vietnam’s heritage sites is currently much in the public eye in the wake of the controversial construction of a 2,000-step staircase a 2,000-step staircase to the top of a mountain within the Trang An Landscape Complex world heritage site. 

Located in Vietnam's northern province of Ninh Binh, Trang An boasts a lush landscape studded with precipitous limestone peaks. Well-established as a domestic tourism magnet, Trang An had already acquired a reputation for over-the-top commercialism long before this latest incident. That being said, the company involved, Trang An Tourism JSC, has shown staircase venture remarkable chutzpah with its staircase venture. 

Reportedly ignoring cease-and-desist orders from the local commune as it built the staircase between August and December 2017, it was allowed to open to the public this past January and if press photos are to be believed the staircase has proven a hit with visitors. 

Illegal staircase at Trang An (credit: VnExpress/Tran Quan)

As is the way with these things, a rising public furore over the staircase finally goaded the national culture ministry to step into the fray, and just this past week it ordered the staircase's removal. Finger-pointing between local and provincial authorities has followed, yet the reality is that this is hardly an unusual tactic for unscrupulous entrepreneurs: disobey the rules and then insist you had permission all along.

As Vietnam's tourism industry continues to mature I expect that more attention will be paid to sustainable practices and we'll see fewer and fewer cases where environmental protection rules are so blatantly disregarded as was the case in Trang An. However, the existential question for Vietnam's world heritage sites is whether attitudes will change quickly enough to avoid irreversible damage in the meantime.

 

Protests erupt at world heritage site in India's Orissa State over hike in entry fees

Officials at the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) must be disappointed today if they thought that their implementation of increased entry fees at listed monuments was going to be trouble-free. While ASI spokespersons' assertion that the new entry fees are in line with the cost to visit heritage sites in other countries may be true, this did not stop protesters from massing at the gates to the UNESCO-designated Sun Temple at Konarak in Orissa State.

Sun Temple, Konarak *

Concerned that the increased entry fees would deter tourists from visiting the site, local residents effectively shut down the ticket counter for much day on April 2, 2016. While they finally agreed to end their demonstration after receiving the promise of a meeting with site administrators next week. Expect more protests if the ASI does not back down.

At a broader level, there is a lesson here for any country seeking to impose across-the-board changes to heritage site entry fees. Given that the economic importance of heritage sites is likely to vary widely from one community to the next, early consultation and a sensitive approach to implementation are vital if the changes are to be accepted.

* Photo credit: By Souvik Burman - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28028170

Locals at risk of being priced out of the real estate market in UNESCO-designated George Town

Although many real estate investors are attracted by shiny new buildings, heritage properties can attract a substantial premium, despite higher maintenance costs and potential restrictions on alterations and redevelopment.

George Town Harbour (credit: Hajotthu)

As reported this week by The Star Online, the value of heritage properties in UNESCO-designaed George Town, a British colonial era city on the Straits of Malacca in Malaysia dating from the late 18th century, has increased by 37 to 157 percent since 2008. With surging prices the result of strong demand from Malaysians living overseas and Singaporeans, local residents risk being priced out of the market - an all too common problem for those who reside in or near a world heritage site.

Shedding light on how money is spent from heritage site ticket sales

When you hand over your money to enter a heritage site do you ever wonder where your money goes?

Anyone imagining that money from ticket sales is plowed into archaeological research or heritage preservation activities will be saddened to learn the truth, at least as far as Myanmar's famed Bagan Archaeological Area is concerned. Bagan is one of the country's top tourist attractions and on UNESCO's tentative list of world heritage sites since 1996.

Bagan pagoda (credit G. Kipling)

However, as revealed in a recent tender, the agreement reached between the Government and the Myanmar Tourism Federation (MTF), which took over ticket sales for the Archaeological Area at the beginning of March, provides for only two percent of revenues to be spent on conservation and maintenance. The remainder is split between the state's coffers (90 percent) and MTF (8 percent).

Reportedly, the site attracted more than 240,000 visitors in the past year, generating USD4.1 million in ticket sale revenues.

Bagan pagoda (credit G. Kipling)

Given the poor state of repair of many pagodas in Bagan - not to mention renovations of a dubious quality - it is a shame that the Myanmar government did not see to reinvest more in the preservation of this unique site.

Palmyra's predecessors: This weeks marks the 15th anniversary of the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas

While so-called Islamic State (IS) has distinguished itself among Islamist militant outfits with the ferocity of its attacks on the ancient cultural heritage of Syria and Iraq, it is worth recalling that IS is merely following in the footsteps of  fellow-travellers such as the Taliban of Afghanistan.

And in this regard tomorrow (March 2, 2016) marks a particularly inauspicious anniversary: it will be precisely 15 years since Taliban fighters began the process of destroying two massive statues of Buddha that had been carved into a hillside in Bamiyan Valley in Central Afghanistan more 1,500 years ago. Recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage site in 2003, the archaeological remains and cultural landscape of Bamiyan Valley contain many ancient Buddhist monasteries and sanctuaries, as well the two Buddhas, which stood 55m and 38m high respectively.

Bamiyan Valley, Afghanistan (credit: Mr Afghanistan*)

Following the issuance of an edict in late February 2001 by Taliban spiritual leader Mullah Omar to destroy all idolatrous statues throughout the country, fighters embarked on a two-week campaign to demolish the Buddha statues, employing rocket-propelled grenades, anti-aircraft cannon and tank shells in the process.

While the destruction was widely condemned at the time, who would have imagined that the world would be in exactly the same situation a decade and a half later, standing by powerlessly as narrow-minded militants in locales as diverse as Timbuktu in Mali and Palmyra in Syria engaged in similarly wanton acts of destruction of the world's cultural and religious heritage.

* https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11024747

Bureaucratic inertia stymies restoration work at Elephanta Caves in Mumbai Harbour

Elephanta Caves, a world heritage site on a small island in the Sea of Oman near Mumbai, boast an impressive archaeological legacy dating to the 2nd century BCE. Associated with the cult of Shiva, the caves feature rock carvings and sculptures.

While the prospect of electricity being brought to Elephanta Island prompted lots of publicity last year, money set aside for restoration work at the site in last year's budget has yet to translate into any concrete action.

Temple at Elephanta, 1907

  

While work at Elephanta Caves was supposed to include landscape restoration, installation of signage and interpretation centres, improved access for disabled people and improved visitors’ amenities, nothing has actually been done apart from a "project teport." In classic bureaucratic fashion, restoration work has reportedly been stymied by the fact that responsibility for the site overlaps between the Archaeological Survey of India and the Forest Department.

It is sad to think that red tape alone is enough to stop important restoration work, despite the required funds being available.

Two-tiered heritage protection in Australia strikes the wrong note

The Government of Western Australia has made itself look tin-eared at best and racist at worst in reportedly tabling draft legislation that would reinforce a two-tiered system of heritage protection in the state. In effect, the law - if enacted - would ensure that sites whose significance derives from their connection with Aboriginal tradition or culture are not subject to protection under the Heritage Act. Instead, the recognition and care of Aboriginal sites fall under another piece of legislation, the Aboriginal Heritage Act.

Wandjina Rock Art, The Kimberley, Western Australia

 

According to the WA Heritage Minister, the move is motivated simply by a desire to avoid unnecessary duplication of regulation. However, archaeologists and Aboriginal community leaders note that the two laws are not comparable and the protection available under the Aboriginal Heritage is considerably weaker than that which protects European sites.

Although perhaps well-intentioned, the result is a government which appears ready to perpetuate the notion that Aboriginal culture is somehow "second-class." Given the legacy of colonialism and exploitation of Aboriginal people in Australia, there must surely be a better way to cut back on red tape.

Indian Tourism Ministry enlists tech in its struggle against litterbugs and vandals

While heritage-related technology news has lately foccused on the use of imaging and remote sensing to preserve world heritage sites - if only virtually - that are threatened by the iconoclasts of so-called Islamic State and their ilk, India's Ministry of Tourism has enlisted technology in its longstanding fight against litterbugs.

The Times of India reported this week on the launch of a smart phone app that will allow users to take photos of graffiti, garbage and other "violations" and upload them to a "control room" manned by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), whose mandate include upkeep of monuments.

The app will initially focus on 25 monuments, including world heritage sites such as the Red Fort, Qutub Minar and Taj Mahal.

Hopefully the Ministry of Tourism will undertake an evaluation of the app's effectiveness. While I suspect the impact of "crowdsourcing" public services is often overrated, this app may just appeal to smart phone users who seem never to miss an opportunity to pull out their device.

Heritage preservation a (non-)priority in Penang

While the conservation of built heritage is much trumpeted by municipal authorities, practices often fall short of principles when the promise of a shiny new development is on offer.

The most recent case in point was the Runnymede Hotel in George Town, a historic city and world heritage site on Malaysia's Straits of Malacca. Built in 1921, the Runnymede is located near the site of Thomas Stamford Raffles' home, dating to the early 19th century. Parts of the building complex, notably the historic Raffles bungalow, were hurriedly razed during Chinese New Year last week to clear the way for a new mixed-used development on the site.

Stamford Raffles, founder of Singapore *

Notwithstanding the site's significance and proximity to the nearby George Town world heritage district, local authorities were quick to justify the demolition. For their part, heritage groups expressed dismay regarding the manner in which Penang Island City Council had acted, and in particular their failure to demonstrate the political will necessary to safeguard the area's heritage buildings.

Historic George Town (credit: Hajotthu)

 

As other jurisdictions with world heritage sites (e.g. Edinburgh) have discovered to their cost, a lax attitude to heritage protection can be enough to cause serious political headaches as one's world heritage designation comes into question.

* George Arents Collection, The New York Public Library. Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles. Retrieved from http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47de-60a5-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Angry bees attack tourists at Sun Temple in India's Orissa State

Fifteen tourists visiting the Sun Temple at Konârak, on the shores of the Bay of Bengal, suffered bee stings this week, after being swarmed by bees reportedly angered by monkeys' destruction of their beehive on the temple grounds.

Sun Temple, Konarak (credit: Ajaydubedi)

Authorities closed its ticket counters following the swarming, which was the second incident in as many days. Built in the 13th century CE, the temple is outstanding for its scale, architecture and art, and features a remarkable representation of the sun god Surya's chariot. The temple was inscribed as a world heritage site in 1984.

Undoubtedly tourists unable to enter the site are hoping that the temple's errant bees will be quickly rehoused.

Smoking ban comes into force at Temple of Confucius world heritage site

In a country where almost half the male population smokes, officials have taken the bold step of banning smoking at the temple, family mansion and cemetery of Confucius, a world heritage site in China's Shandong Province.

 

Apricot Platform in the central courtyard of the Confucius Temple in Qufu (credit: Rolf Müller)

Confucius' temple was built to commemorate him in 478 BCE, and has been rebuilt several times over the centuries. Meanwhile, his cemetery contains the remains of as many as 100,000 of his descendants.

The world heritage site attracts approximately four million visitors each year, and there is no word yet on visitors' reaction to the ban, which was reportedly put in place for fire prevention reasons. In doing so, local officials have got a leg up on the national government, which has yet enact legislation governing smoking in public places.

Heritage campaigners score a victory in Lahore

Heritage campaigners in Lahore, Pakistan scored a victory this week in their ongoing struggle to stop the government from building an elevated tram-line near Lahore Fort and Shalamar Gardens, part of a royal complex established in the 16th century under Mughal rule and today a UNESCO world heritage site.

Lahore Fort, ca 1889 (see citation below) *

 
On January 28, 2016 the Lahore High Court reportedly issued an injunction suspending all work within 60 meters of both sites. This ruling follows an intervention by UNESCO last week calling on the government to consider alternate routes that would not risk damaging the site.

Congratulations to those involved in stopping an ill-considered plan; we can only hope that the government accepts the ruling and explores alternate routes.

* Photography Collection, The New York Public Library. Lahore Gate, entrance to the fort at Delhi. Retrieved from http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47d9-6246-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Questionable restoration work threatens ancient pagoda at Myanmar's Mrauk-U

"Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Spanish philosopher George Santayana's words seem an apt characterization of the Myanmar Department of Archaeology as it pushes forward with questionable restoration work at Mrauk-U in Rakhine State. Mrauk-U was the capital of the Arakanese kingdom between the 15th to the 18th century, and boasts more 1,500 ancient pagodas.

Couloir-Koe-Thaung by Nils PERBET

As reported by the Myanmar Times this week, the Mrauk-U Heritage Trust has raised the alarm over the rebuilding of historic pagodas without regard for the original design, abandoning any pretence of historical authenticity. This follows on the heels of the reported destruction of part of the heritage zone some years ago for the construction of a railway.

While some continue to hold Mrauk-U as a potential world heritage site, the experience of Bagan does not offer much cause optimism. Impressive by any measure and undoubtedly one of Myanmar's top tourist attractions, Bagan's 1996 nomination as a world heritage was rejected by UNESCO, in part due to the prevalence of inauthentic restorations.

Pagodas at Bagan

We can only hope that the Rakhine State Government heeds the Mrauk-U Heritage Trust's warnings.

Treasure trove of world heritage sites in Japan

Given that my firsthand experience of Japan is limited to the interior of Narita International Airport, I appreciated the Japan Times' overview this week of the country's world heritage sites. While Himeji Castle, a 17th century fortified complex in Hyogo Prefecture receives pride of place, the article also includes a link to a useful map (reproduced below) showing all 19 of the country's world heritage sites. A handy resource for anyone interested in cultural heritage who is planning a trip to Japan!

Government takes over ticket sales at Angkor Wat

In what hopefully will prove to be a positive development for Angkor, a world heritage site in Cambodia and one of the most important archaeological sites in South-East Asia, the government assumed responsibility for ticket sales at the site effective January 1, 2016.

The takeover, formally announced by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in November, marks the end of a 17-year concession to the Sokimex Group, a politically connected firm which also operates a national grid of fuel stations, hotels and resorts. Sokimex has been the focus of corruption accusations in its handling of the concession. According to opposition politician Son Chhay the company was involved in an arrangement whereby visitor numbers and revenue were under-reported, resulting in large amounts of money being unaccounted for.

With 2.1 million foreigner visitors to Angkor in 2015 (up to 2 percent over 2014), the site reportedly generated USD60 million in revenue last year. Given the poverty faced by many ordinary Cambodians, not to mention the critical importance of continued investment in the preservation of the Angkor archaeological site, let's hope that the new arrangements closes a chapter on the misappropriation of Angkor ticket sale revenues.

Hué: A world heritage site in Vietnam not to be missed

When Vietnam's war with the United States effectively ended in 1975, who would have imagined that the country would one day become a magnet for Western tourists? Yet that is exactly what is happening as more and more visitors discover the amazing cultural and natural attractions on offer, including eight world heritage sites. And every indication suggests that visitor numbers will only continue to increase, as government authorities tirelessly promote Vietnam as a tourism destination, both regionally within Asia and further afield in Western Europe.

While my own feelings about visiting Vietnam are a little conflicted - on the one hand I met many kind and welcoming people, yet on the other I felt I had to constantly on guard against rip-offs and scams - its history and heritage are second to none, of which Hué, the country's former capital under the Nguyen dynasty and world heritage site, is truly outstanding.

And clearly I'm not alone in thinking so: Hué ranked tenth in a recent survey of "top destinations on the rise in Asia" by TripAdvisor. Furthermore, the city reportedly welcomed more than 2 million visitors in 2015, an increase of 13 percent over the previous year.

Notwithstanding the on-again off-again rain during my visit in August 2011, the complex of administrative and imperial monuments at Hué took me the better part of a day to visit, and I left feeling I could have spent even longer.

Not only was the site remarkable for its layout, which was designed according to precepts of ancient oriental philosophy, but the state of preservation of the citadel walls, palaces and other buildings was impressive. That being said, excavation and restoration work is ongoing, and war damage is still very much in evidence, including shell craters and bullet-pocked walls.

Still, this doesn't detract from the site and I look forward to my next visit...

Armed attack at popular world heritage site in Russia's North Caucasus

Details are emerging of an armed attack at the Fortress of Derbent, part of a world heritage site complex located in Dagestan, near the Caspian Sea. The Fortress, dating from the 5th century CE, guarded the northern frontier of the Sasanian Persian Empire. Today, the North Caucasus region is known for its political instability and Islamist-linked violence.

The attack on December 30, 2015, which left one person dead and ten (or eleven) injured, including two border guards, was reportedly carried out by local Islamist militants with links to the so-called Islamic State.

While Derbent with tourists, this incident will likely dent the number of visitors to the site, in a pattern which has become all too familiar of late in countries in the region affected by Islamist violence.

The mystery of Queen Victoria's disappearance at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Railway Terminus

Without a doubt the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), formerly known as Victoria Terminus Station, is one Mumbai's most iconic buildings and an outstanding example of Victorian Gothic Revival architecture in India. Inscribed as a world heritage site in 2004, CST continues to serve as a key transportation hub for Mumbai, with three million commuters passing through its doors daily!

While the terminus featured most recently in international news headlines in 2008 when it was the site of a bloody attack in which gunmen killed 58 people and injured more than 100, a new intrigue is playing out at the CST this week as the disappearance of a

a new (if much lesser) indignity has been visited on the CST with the coming to light of the mysterious disappearance of the station's imposing statue of Queen Victoria.

While the statue had been relocated from the CST in the 1950s as part of a national campaign to rid the country of its colonial vestiges, it was being kept in the grounds of a nearby zoo until it vanished without a trace, and railway officials contacted by the Indian Express newspaper are reportedly "clueless", not only as to the statue's whereabouts but even when it was taken.

Historians and conservationists are understandably worried, and it is widely assumed that the statue has been spirited away and sold.