Abstract:
This paper examines the typical ways in which mass tourism has
utilized cultural heritage as a salient asset for development. Tourism
has long focused on extraordinary, exotic and grand heritage assets at
the expense of ordinary, mundane elements the human past that are
part of the everyday lives of ordinary people. The paper argues that
there are numerous ways in which ordinary heritage should be
researched better in South Asia, how it might be used as a tourism
resource, and as a tool for community empowerment. The paper focuses
on language, Indigenous minorities, religion, traditional livelihoods,
and food as exemplars of ordinary heritage with significant potential
for tourism and for heritage protection.
