Cultural Routes and Heritage Trails - Tourism and Trails: Cultural, Ecological and Management Issues - page 46

Wales Memorial Walk in London is dedicated to the memory of the late
princess. It is marked on the ground with heraldic roses and goes through
several parks and greenbelts, and passes by important sites associated with
her life (Clarence House, St James' Palace, Buckingham Palace, Spencer
House and Kensington Palace). Boston's 4 km, red brick Freedom Trail
memorializes the colonial and revolutionary heritage of the US by linking
17 sites in the old city where important events occurred in America's 18th-
century independence crusade (Ioannides & Timothy, 2010). It is one of
Boston's most popular tourist attractions and is a substantial part of the
Boston National Historical Park. Singapore is home to several urban heritage
trails that highlight many elements of the city state's varied past, including
its ethnic heritages, its colonial and administrative past, World War II,
nature and industrial development. Eight urban walking trails are currently
promoted by the Singapore Tourism Board as the best way to explore the
city: Little India Heritage Trail, Fort Canning Trail, Chinatown Trail, Bukit
Timah Trail, Peranakan Trail, Kampong Glam Trail and the Civic District
Trail (Henderson, 2011; Singapore Tourism Board, 2012).
Literary, fi lm and music trails
Literary tourism involves visiting places associated with the actual lives
of literary figures, as well as the places and sites mentioned in poetry, novels
and other writings (Herbert, 2001; Puczkó & Rátz, 2007; Timothy & Boyd,
2003). It can also be extended to include the arts, music and movies, and the
people associated with them. Some literary trails focus on the life stories of
the authors themselves, from their birthplaces to their burial plots, including
the places that influenced their writings in between. As well, novels can
create literary trails based on their descriptions of places, even imaginary
places, which fans will want to explore and experience what Johnson
(2004: 91) refers to as 'the urban geographies of everyday life'.
When enough places exist within a region that associates with a specific
fictional figure or the author himself/herself, literature itineraries are fairly
easy to develop. Fans can follow these trails, whether marked and organized
or on their own, to understand periods of time in the author's life or events
in a book (Yiannakis & Davies, 2012).
Several literary figures have been the focus of the development of literary
routes. The Catherine Cookson Trail, the Cromwell Trail and the Robert
Burns Trail are popular paths that join elements of the lives of famous
authors and poets (MacLeod, 2004). Fans of the Little House on the Prairie
topics can travel by car through the upper Midwest in the US to discover a
mix of locations mentioned in Laura Ingalls Wilder's series, which were
based upon the places she actually lived in Wisconsin, Minnesota and South
Dakota. Various Lord of the Rings trails have been developed by a handful of
tour operators in New Zealand to provide itineraries that link fans with
movie locations and Middle Earth. The Beatles Trail guides visitors to 18 sites