Cultural Routes and Heritage Trails - Tourism and Trails: Cultural, Ecological and Management Issues - page 43

Purposive cultural routes
Early examples of purposive routes can be found throughout the world.
One forerunner to these was the medieval Grand Tour, where young British
and French elites followed somewhat prescribed routes on their journeys
through Italy, France and other countries to learn high culture from the
masters and via visits to the art cities of Rome, Venice, Florence and others.
Likewise, some of the earliest picturesque tours of the British Isles during
the 1700s led cultured travelers on prescribed walking and buggy routes
through regions of high literary and artistic value (Hayes & MacLeod,
2007: 48).
An interesting and useful trend to note here is that some types of purpo-
sive heritage trails come and go. While there are presently thousands of these
trails in all parts of the world, and some of them have existed for decades,
many will certainly dissipate in the years to come. As well, additional trails
will assuredly appear on the tourism map. Purposive trails fizzle out for
several reasons, but the most common cause is a lack of will to cooperate for
the greater good of the connected region or community. A common feature
among failed routes is that some businesses or locations fail to do their part
in espousing the goals and purposes of the trail, thereby allowing the devel-
oped network to collapse (Scott et al. , 2008). A few villages or individual
firms end up carrying a heavier marketing or management load than others,
creating conflict within the circuit. Other partners forsake trail programs
because they feel they are not receiving the promised rewards outlined at the
trail's inception. Regardless of the ephemeral nature of some planned routes,
they are an important tourism resource.
Unlike organic trails, which demonstrate some common characteristics
and for which certain types can be identified based on their historical
contexts, purposive routes can don any form and be concocted along any
cultural heritage theme. As a result, there are as many purposive heritage trail
types as there are types of heritage resources! The rest of this chapter aims
to describe some of the more prominent ones found in the literature and in
regional promotional campaigns.
Short trails at historic sites and gardens
As the first chapter made clear, scale is an important principle in the
realm of cultural paths. At the smallest scale, perhaps, are the thousands of
heritage trails that exist within archaeological sites, historical parks, outdoor
museums and heritage gardens (Benfield, 2013; MacLeod, 2004) (Figure 2.8).
Nearly all outdoor heritage sites have some sort of planned tracks that lead
visitors from one location to the next. These are important heritage manage-
ment instruments, as they provide excellent venues for interpretive programs
(they are sometimes referred to as interpretive trails), they can help guide
visitors away from the most sensitive areas of an archaeological site, facilitate