Role of Visitor Management for Enhanced Visitor Experience at UNESCO World Heritage Sites: A Case Study of Qutub Minar and Humayun’s Tomb

Abstract

For the tourism sites in India, Visitor Management is a recent but highly sought after management tool. This paper explores the linkage between visitor management and visitor experience in architectural UN World Heritage Sites (WHS), in the light of the fall of a pillar at Hampi Group of Monuments in Karnataka, a World Heritage Site due to increased visitors’ pressures and a lack of proper visitor management plan. For the purpose of this Research Paper the researcher has concentrated on only two World Heritage Sites in Delhi – Qutub Minar and Humayun’s Tomb. The role of visitor management in terms of heritage interpretation, conservation and preservation along with the management of visitor experience at the chosen sites were studied. This paper has tried to examine the physical and environmental carrying capacity of the sites to formulate and propose a plausible working plan of visitor management at these two sites. Research methodology involved, sampling to understand the need and the satisfaction at three levels: a) Visitors level b) Travel Agents, Tour operators, and other allied stake holders, c) Conservation managers, Environmentalist’s and Government agencies. Primary data were collected through personnel interviews with the employees of Government and private organizations involved in tourism activities at the two sites along with interaction with the visitors at the site through a structured questionnaire. Secondary data were collected from records of Government and Non-Government organizations involved in running the management of these Heritage Sites. Some references were also collected from important heritage site globally wherein visitor management has been successfully implemented, so as to understand whether the same can be replicated in the chosen site.