Promoting Tourism through Sustainable Adaptive Reuse of Heritage Buildings in Lower-Income Countries

Abstract

Abstract One of the most prevalent and fastest-growing segments of the tourism business today is the heritage tourism, especially in lower-income countries. However, many heritage buildings are neglected and demolished due to environmental and urbanization factors. As a result, the tourism rate deteriorates which in turn affects economic prosperity. This deterioration could be controlled by implementing sustainable adaptive reuse strategies for heritage buildings. These strategies are based on innovative design techniques, developing policies, community involvement and aligning the maintenance goals with the building’s purpose to increase its heritage value. This research aims to investigate sustainable adaptive reuse principles and strategies and their relationship with minimising challenges encountered by heritage tourism in lower-income countries. To attain this, a qualitative approach is used. Firstly, literature is reviewed to investigate concepts on which this study is built upon. These are tourism, heritage buildings, lower-income countries and sustainable adaptive reuse, its principles & design strategies. Adding to this, a relationship matrix is proposed between the studied concepts based on the previous literature to serve as a tool for architects to identify the suitable strategies for their projects. Finally, a case study is analysed to investigate the effectiveness of the adoption of these strategies in minimising the challenges of heritage tourism in lower-income countries. When comparing the research’s literature outcome with the case study analysis, the results corresponded. Hence this presents an initial validation for the proposed matrix, initiating the first step for further research to develop.