Page 154 - JCAU-7-3

Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Cultural tourism and lessons from China

• Tangible heritage: Questions in this section focused frequency distribution of the cultural heritage dimensions,
on evaluating community perceptions of the value and classifying them into tangible and intangible heritage,
conservation status of key material heritage elements, as well as the tourism development dimensions, which
such as tourist attractions, ancestral customs, and encompass environmental, social, and economic aspects.
Uchuraccay’s distinctiveness with respect to other In the second stage, inferential statistics were used to
localities. explore the correlation between cultural heritage and
• Example question: “How would you rate the state tourism development variables. The objective was to
of conservation of Uchuraccay’s main tourist determine the nature and extent of their relationship,
attractions?” assessing their mutual influence and interdependence. This
• Intangible heritage: These questions explored the analysis allowed for data-driven conclusions regarding
importance of intangible cultural elements, such how cultural heritage contributes to tourism development
as poetry, traditional rituals, and interaction with and vice versa.
tourists.
• Example question: “Do you consider that the 4.6. Ethical considerations
traditional rituals of Uchuraccay are being This study adhered to ethical research principles, ensuring
respected by tourists?” the confidentiality and informed consent of all participants.
• Tourism development: Questions in this section Personal information and survey responses were handled
covered three key dimensions, namely environmental, confidentially and were used exclusively for research purposes.
social, and economic. They sought to measure how
residents perceive tourism’s impact, including the 5. Results
opportunities it creates and its economic effects at the The questionnaire was administered to 520 residents,
local level. providing valuable insights into their perceptions of
• Example question: “How do you consider tourism cultural heritage and tourism development in Uchuraccay.
has affected job creation in Uchuraccay?”
5.1. Residents’ perception of the dimensions of the
Each question was formulated with the purpose of
capturing residents’ perceptions of key cultural heritage cultural heritage variable
aspects and their integration into tourism development. The results concerning cultural heritage offer a critical
The tangible and intangible heritage questions focused perspective on how the residents perceive the state of cultural
on preservation, knowledge transmission, and tourist– resources in the region. Notably, 39% of respondents rated
community interactions, while the tourism development the condition of tangible heritage as “fair.” This indicates
questions assessed sustainability, employment generation, that a considerable portion of the population does not
environmental preservation, and economic impact (Table perceive monuments, historic buildings, and other physical
A1) . elements as being in a remarkable state, but neither do
they consider them to be in critical condition. This rating
To facilitate response analysis, a three-point Likert scale suggests that, although these tangible resources are present,
(good, fair, poor) was used. This simple and intuitive scale they may require restoration or improved management to
enabled clear and quick evaluations, facilitating comparisons achieve higher levels of preservation and cultural relevance.
across responses and providing a comprehensive overview In contrast, 41% of respondents rated intangible heritage
of community perceptions regarding the state of the cultural as “poor.” This result raises serious concerns regarding
heritage and the impact of tourism. the preservation of intangible aspects of heritage, such as

4.5. Data analysis traditions, ancestral knowledge, and cultural expressions.
The negative perception suggests that a significant part
The collected data were organized into a tabulation matrix of the community feels that these essential elements of
and processed using the Statistical Package for the Social their cultural identity are being neglected or are at risk of
Sciences v25 (IBM, United States) and Microsoft Excel disappearing, which could undermine the sustainability
(Microsoft, United States). To evaluate the reliability of the and value of intangible heritage in the region (Figure 2).
data, Cronbach’s alpha reliability test was applied, yielding
a value of 0.798 for the cultural heritage and tourism 5.2. Residents’ perceptions of the dimensions of the
development variable. This result indicates a high level of tourism development variable
internal consistency in the measurement instruments. The results related to tourism development offer a critical
The analysis was carried out in two stages. In the first perspective on how residents perceive progress in this
stage, descriptive statistics were applied to analyze the sector. Notably, 42% of respondents rated the environmental

Volume 7 Issue 3 (2025) 8 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.5862