Luong La's family fled communist rule in Vietnam in 1979. Now a father of three living in Santa Barbara, California, he and his wife decided to spend one of their family vacations bringing the children back to his native country to learn more about him.
So they spent a month on a heritage tourism trip in the Southeast Asian country to visit not only the traditional tourist sites but also the places where he grew up in the Mekong Delta.
“My husband thought that by seeing the places he grew up… the children would understand him better,” said Luong's wife, Michelle Robin La. “My husband's extended family carries on his legacy in America with the food, language and celebrations like Lunar New Year. Traveling to Vietnam for a month, we immersed the children in the place where these traditions originated.
Their family trip to Vietnam is an example of heritage tourism, which the National Trust for Historic Preservation defines as a journey to experience a place, artifacts, and activities that authentically represent the stories and people of the past and present.
Heritage tourism sites can be as varied as a revitalized downtown or a Civil War Trail. “For several years the idea was to build highways and get people where they were going, and then people gradually began to realize they were missing something: authentic experiences,” said the National's Carolyn Brackett. Trust for Historic Preservation's. Cultural Heritage Program. “And it’s a word we hear over and over again: People want a feeling of authenticity, which means they want a feeling of belonging.”
As travelers became more interested in authentic experiences, communities and officials began to take notice, wondering what they could do to share their story, Brackett said.
A 2013 national survey by Mandala Research showed that 76 percent of all leisure travelers in the United States will take part in some sort of cultural or heritage activity during their trip, Brackett said. This represents 130 million people.
Tourist offices and sites are taking note. In Oklahoma, the state Department of Tourism and Recreation has published a guide and web portal on the state's African American history and heritage. The Texas Historical Commission has released a free 100-page guide to the state's Hispanic heritage sites.
Besides well-known destinations such as the Alamo, the Texas guide, organized by geographic regions and released in May, also includes off-the-beaten-path sites, said Chris Florance, a spokesman for the Texas Historical Commission.
“Hispanic cultures have left their mark on the state for 500 years, and it has impacted almost every aspect of Texas culture – certainly our history, our architecture, our music. It’s such a vital and important part of our history, of where we are today and where we’re going as a state,” he said.
The commission also released a mobile app allowing visitors to access themed tours, including one focused on African American heritage sites in Texas.
“There is huge interest in heritage tourism. It’s a very important part of the Texas tourism economy,” he said, adding that an economic impact study found that about 10 percent of travel to Texas is related to cultural heritage.
Maresa Thompson has completed several cultural heritage-based trips, including a trip to Ireland and England to see rock formations and other ancient sites.
Thompson's ancestors were Queen Victoria's Irish bodyguards, she said, and she describes herself as being more interested in museums, history and culture than other types of tourism. Thompson's grandfather emigrated from Czechoslovakia and she hopes to next take a trip to the region to learn more about this part of her family's heritage.
“All travel enriches your life, but artificial travel – Las Vegas, Disneyland and all that – doesn't appeal to me as much as thinking that I have ancestors or people in my lineage who came and would have pu. I've stayed here before,” said Thompson, who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and is the creative director of Heritage Hotels & Resorts, a group of hotels that highlight history, l “I think it's just a deeper, more holistic travel experience.”
