Emerging built heritage commodification of boutique hotels in world heritage site: Evidence from George Town, Penang, Malaysia

Abstract

Although heritage, by its very nature, has been in existence for a long time, an understanding of the ways in which heritage products can be used is relatively recent. The increasing number of boutique hotels in George Town has contributed to the distinctiveness of lodging accommodation. In many cases, this has led to the commodification of the built historic environment and its history into a form of tourism product. This study sought to investigate the process of the built heritage commodification of boutique hotels in George Town. A semi-structured interview was conducted among boutique hotel managers and entrepreneurs in George Town, Penang. The findings revealed that external factors such as the global recognition of George Town as a World Heritage Site and the setting of the historic city are the pull factors for investors to purchase premises in the city centre. These built heritage resources (tangible heritage) and intangible values have been assimilated with their contemporary uses to be commodified into different types of boutique hotels. The attempt to establish a built heritage commodification model will contribute to the empirical data on the process and the factors that lead to the built heritage commodification of boutique hotels in heritage city.