Visitor Awareness of World Heritage Emblem in Developing Countries

The world heritage emblem is a sign of protection and preservation of destinations recognized as World Heritage sites. However, the World heritage emblem is becoming a promoting brand to pull visitors to the World Heritage sites. This paper aims to examine whether the world heritage emblem communicates any message to domestic visitors to avoid misused and promote the UNESCO emblem's right meaningful. The research context is in developing countries that have an increasing growth rate focus on the tourism-driven economy.  The researcher collected data from Vietnam, Philippine, Thailand, and conducted lengthy, semi-structured interviews with visitors at the World Heritage sites. Each interview lasted about 30 minutes with recording and transcribing. The findings could support the local government in promoting UNESCO's right spirit to visitors’ awareness and destination management organizations and tourism businesses.

Keywords: Visitor awareness, World Heritage Emblem, Developing countries, Heritage sites