Inspiring change in heritage interpretation

Abstract

The author studied 33 professional interpreters from 21 heritage tourist agencies across North America via dialogue through Internet-based World Café focus groups. Her work on education and tourism is groundbreaking in its approach, which is only partly based on education delivery. The overarching framework is one of environmental sustainability and tourism but blends the study of the politics of tourism, economic sustainability, cultural studies, and history. She discusses the importance of inspiration and heritage tourism with a focus on the foundational characteristics: inspiration is contagious, positive, individual, transcendent, unexpected, and holistic; and requires receptivity, which may be cultivated. The role of provocation and the ability of interpreters to meet their agencies’ requirements, particularly the need for measurement and research emerged as central foci.