Spirit of Place toward Tourist Attraction at Maimun Palace

Abstract

Spirit of place is important in reflecting the uniqueness of a place. The existence of the spirit of place gives meaning to a place, creates uniqueness, and differentiates a place from other places. The uniqueness of a place is what can increase the tourist attraction in a place. Tourists come to see the uniqueness that exists. One type of tourism that is growing and increasing in demand by tourists is heritage tourism. Maimun Palace is one of the heritage tourist destinations in Medan City. Established in 1888, Maimun Palace has a strong spirit of place and is still maintained today. In addition, the Maimun Palace is the only palace of the Malay Sultanate which is still standing and open to the public. Apart from the spirit of place, which has always existed at the Maimun Palace and still exists today, Maimun Palace also has a new spirit of place which is an addition to the existing spirit of place. So the old spirit of place is still there and still surviving, but there is an addition in the form of a new spirit of place at Maimun Palace, which makes this place more and more visited by tourists. This study uses phenomenology to investigate the influence of the spirit of place on tourist attraction at Maimun Palace. This research aims to determine the effect of the spirit of place on tourist attraction at Maimun Palace.