1743-873X/07/02 094-16 $20.00/0 © 2007 A.K. Soper JOURNAL OF HeRitAge tOURiSm

Vol. 2, No. 2, 2007

Developing Mauritianness:

National Identity, Cultural Heritage Values and Tourism

Anne K. Soper

Bloomington, Indiana, USA

Mauritius is a nation of immigrants who have harmoniously come together, working to make their new homeland an economic success story. To continue this unprece-dented economic growth Mauritius is consciously aware of the need for diversification in all its industries, including tourism. Known for being a quintessential beach

v acation destination, Mauritius desires to expand the tourism sector to include aspects of cultural heritage tourism. To accomplish this task several questions must be answered about the meaning of Mauritianness and its relationship to tourism. Here it is argued that in order to further develop cultural heritage tourism in Mauritius, the understanding of Mauritian national identity must also be advanced.doi: 10.2167/jht032.0

Keywords: mauritius, tourism, cultural heritage, national identity

Introduction

As a developing country, mauritius has come a long way in a relatively short period of time. Since its independence from Britain in 1968, mauritius has embraced industrialisation and by the early 1980s was endeavouring to diversify its sugar monoculture, expand its export processing and further build upon its seaside resort brand of tourism (for thorough treatment of the origins of seaside resort tourism see Demetriadi, 1997; Hassan, 2003; Walton, 1983; Walvin, 1978). Having become a well-established island paradise for wealthy european holiday makers, mauritius now seeks to expand its tourism portfolio beyond its core product of high-end sun, sea and sand tourism to include cultural heritage tour-ism. to accomplish this goal, it is necessary for mauritius to designate and develop a number of socially and historically significant sites for tourist consumption.this paper examines the interconnectivity of national identity and emerging cultural heritage tourism in mauritius. it argues that the defining of tourist sites and the discourse on what it means to be mauritian go hand-in-hand and that the mauritian experience appears to apply equally well to other parts of the developing world, particularly newly independent states, where a multi-ethnic national identity is being negotiated.

Background

Of volcanic origins, the island of mauritius lies in the indian Ocean approxi-mately 500 miles east of madagascar and is small with an area of just over 700

square miles. the island is surrounded by a coral fringe reef which provides for

mauritian history is summarised by many years of european colonialism. the Dutch were the first to establish a colony on the uninhabited island, but in 1710 the Dutch vacated the colony and shortly thereafter, the French settled in mauritius transforming it into trading base for the French east india Company. the Napoleonic Wars, followed by the treaty of Paris in 1814 awarded mauritius to the British, who developed the island into a sugar monoculture system. it was the British who eventually granted mauritian independence which resulted in a Hindu-dominated democratic political system.

the composition of mauritian society is extremely complex. Because there were no humans indigenous to the island, massive immigration is responsible for, as many scholars say, ‘coloring the mauritian rainbow’ (Carter, 1998; Dinan, 1986). As a result of colonialism, slavery and indentured labour, mauritius became a multi-ethnic society comprised of Asian, African, european and Chinese cultural groups. these cultural groups are further broken down into five distinct ethnic categories – Hindus, muslims, Creoles (of African descent and mixed race), Franco-mauritians, and Sino-mauritians. While slightly more than 50% of the population is indian, several socio-cultural subdivisions of an ethno-linguistic nature divide the indian cultural group.

Post-colonial mauritius continued to be a sugar producing economy, but in the face of over population, high unemployment, and rising inflation, the g overnment recognised an urgent need for economic diversification. typical of small islands, mauritius has few natural resources to exploit. An obvious s olution was to utilise mauritius’ sandy coastline and develop it as a premier tourism destination. At the same time, following the Singapore model of d evelopment, mauritius created an extremely profitable export processing zone for textile manufacturing and became ‘the tiger of the indian Ocean’ (Bequette, 1996: 43; Bunwaree, 2002: 3; Durbarry, 2002: 862). more recently mauritius has established an offshore financial center and launched a new global technology centre labelling the island a cybercity. However, earnings from sugar, the b ackbone of the mauritian economy, have been dwindling for several years and the export processing industry is not as lucrative as it once was, leaving tourism to pick up the slack.

Tourism and the Nation

the global demand for tourism continues to be high despite international t errorism (especially acts using passenger planes), military conflicts, and the spread of deadly diseases such as avian flu. Although the years 2001 – 2002 did see a slight drop (0.6%) in international tourist arrivals the world over, tourism rebounded in 2004 and remains the largest and perhaps most powerful industry in the world with 763 million recorded international travellers – an 11% increase over 2003 (Belau, 2003: 2; Hollinshead, 1994; World tourism Organization, 2006). it is expected that by 2020 the number of persons travelling will rise to an astounding 1.56 billion (World tourism Organization, 2006). mauritius, like many other destinations, expects to benefit from increasing tourist arrivals and96Journal of Heritage Tourism has yet to set a cap on the number of visitors. Numbers this high give the impression that the industry is singularly driven by tourists (Chambers, 1997: 4). When looking beyond the tourist however, it is clear that others are involved in the production of tourism.

However, scholars are coming to recognise that local stakeholders at receiving destinations who are supplying tourism products, are also an important, but commonly overlooked part of the tourism equation (Chambers, 1997: 2). governments, private agencies, local communities and individual workers hold a great deal more power in deciding the path of tourism as demonstrated by the fundamental acts of designing, building and marketing tourist space (Davis, 2001: 129). it is the synthesis of power between supply, and demand, produc-tion and consumption, which forms the reality of tourism (Squire, 1994: 5). much of the existing tourism literature centres on either economic cost/ benefits of tourism or on the tourist – who the tourist is, what the tourist expects, and whether or not the tourist is a satisfied customer. even some definitions of t ourism support this way of examining the field. Scholars such as mathieson and Wall (1982: 1), and Ryan (1991: 6), have constructed conceptual definitions of tourism which accentuate the role of the tourist to the extent that other p articipants in the tourism process are excluded. Ryan defines tourism as: ... the means by which people seek psychological benefits that arise from experiencing new places, and new situations that are of temporary dura-tion, while free from the constraints of work, or normal patterns of daily life at home. (Ryan, 1991: 6)

the focus of the research presented here shifts the focus from the tourist, or ‘demand’ side of tourism and looks instead at functions of a receiving destina-tion or the ‘supply’ side of the equation, which is much more in keeping with aspects of Jafari’s (1977) definition of tourism which includes the tourist and also ‘... the industry which responds to his needs, and of the impacts that both he and the industry have on the host socio-cultural, economic, and physical environments’. it is asserted here that local populations are not passive actors in tourism development, but are just as important, if not more important, than tourists in shaping cultural heritage tourism.

As a sub-category of tourism, cultural tourism, is often combined with herit-age tourism. it is an area of tourism which has been on the rise for several years and shows no sign of slowing with over 92 million cultural heritage tourists in the United States alone (Advisory Council for Historic Preservation, 2002; Nicholls et al., 2004; Prentice, 1994). the definitions and scholarly debates sur-rounding cultural tourism, heritage tourism and cultural heritage tourism abound in the literature (see garrod & Fyall, 2001; mcKercher & du Cros, 2002; Poria et al., 2001; timothy & Boyd, 2003; tunbridge & Ashworth, 1996). Cultural tourism is commonly regarded as tourism with the main purpose of viewing tangible representations such as historic and cultural elements of the built envi-ronment (e.g. colonial architecture, monuments, houses of worship) and the physical landscape, but also includes intangible components including myths, folksongs and value systems, for example (Halewood & Hannam, 2001: 566; Prentice, 1993: 8; Smith, 19: 5; timothy & Boyd, 2003: 4). Combining the notions of culture and heritage, the international Commission on monuments and Sites (iCOmOS) offers the following definition stating cultural heritage:Mauritius’ National Identity, Culture and Tourism 97 includes the natural as well as the cultural environment. it encompasses landscapes, historic places, sites and built environments, as well as bio-diversity, collections, past and continuing cultural practices, know-ledge and living experiences. it records and expresses the long processes of historic development, forming the essence of diverse national, regional, indigenous and local identities. (iCOmOS, 1999)

iCOmOS goes on to acknowledge that cultural heritage is a building block for tourism yet cautions that cultural heritage tourism should in no way harm communities. it should work to instill pride in locals and encourage them to preserve their culture and heritage.

this form of tourism can be a vehicle for nation building whereby local inhabi-tants involved in the development of cultural heritage tourist attractions become increasingly familiar with shared pasts of the variety of people who make up a single nation. this greater sense of attachment to place and feeling of belonging, go a long way to build national identity and can benefit multi-ethnic nations such as mauritius immensely.

tourism and national identity are closely tied when nations use aspects of their unique history and cultural heritage to draw in international tourists. identity and significance are revealed through the events of the past – the history of a place and people (Best & Kellner, 1991: 20). Under the poststructuralist premise, politics and present-day lived experiences, otherwise known as power and culture, become parties in the determination of meaning (Best & Kellner, 1991: 20, 24). those who are identifying and labelling places, things, texts, etc., and the signified objects are on unequal footing with constantly changing r elationships and communications (Soper et al., 2003), the implication being that what is signified is subject to the forces of creation, re-creation and even contestation (mitchell, 2001). in tourism a poststructural approach is particu-larly applicable to tourism spaces and the changes in meaning and significance these spaces experience over time (Davis, 2001: 129). macCannell (1976) described this process in tourism when he noted the relationship between signs and markers. He identifies tourist attractions, a form of cultural production, as signs – representations of something with meaning. Any information about a site, in addition to, but not limited to the predictable plaque labelling a site, is a marker. For example, the Lincoln memorial Reflecting Pool on the National mall in Washington DC, can be considered a sign under macCannell’s (1976) construction. the pool, as a part of the Lincoln memorial, was legitimised in 1966 when it was designated as a national monument and has since been the location for events ranging from presidential inaugurations, political protests and viewing springtime cherry blossoms. the significance of the pool will vary according to scale ranging from the national level with officially sanc-tioned storylines to individuals who ascribe their own meanings based on personal experiences, as noted in other contexts by Poria et al.(2006). the websites, guidebooks, informational plaque or tour guides stand as markers and disseminate information about the pool. Regardless of the specific place, be it a monument, museum, musical score or mountain, the representation, interpretation and consumption of tourist events and spaces is a social proc-ess which involves past and present, signifier and signified and ever shifting meanings.98Journal of Heritage Tourism the nation, nationalism and the notion of national identity as concepts have been the subject of complex theororisation by many. the traditional Western definition of a nation describes a people who have throughout history shared a common origin and culture, to include a shared physical territory, political system, customs, language and myths. Anderson (1983), for example, believes that nations began as things of the intellectual’s imagination, whereby observa-tions of communities and perception play a major role in linking together of people and imparting a sense of belonging to a common nation. Anderson’s understanding of the nation is that it is a social construction in which people have the imagined belief or feeling that they belong together by sharing and accepting an understanding of their common history. this agreed upon history, in Hobsbawm and Ranger’s (1983) view, is another social production unto itself and is accompanied by invented traditions which further the sense of belonging to, and belief in, the nation. in subsequent works, Hobsbawm (1992: 9), refers to the increasing importance of ‘technological and economic development’ in a llowing the nation to evolve and decreasing importance on having a lengthy shared history (Hobsbawm, 1992: 182). this point is particularly relevant in the case of mauritius where the common goal among mauritians at independence was continued economic success and modernisation.

the Western approach to the nation is not applicable in mauritius, which is a relatively young republic consisting of people from many different origins who do not share a long history of commonality. in this aspect mauritius is not alone. Similar multicultural nations have developed throughout Latin American and the Caribbean where indigenous peoples, europeans and Africans remained part of society in the post-colonial period (see Howard, 2001 for treatment of the Dominican Republic). Likewise, multicultural nations have evolved contrary to the Western model in Singapore (Hill & Fee Lian, 1995; Kong & Yeoh, 2003) and Fiji (Bossen, 2000; Otto & thomas, 1997) to give a couple of examples. For each plural nation the footprint has been different based on the number of people in each ethnic category, the balance of power between groups, the length of time under colonial influence, post-colonial g overnment policies and a multitude of other factors specific to every place and time. As Hookoomsing (2000) reveals about mauritius, there is a very t emporally limited collective memory among mauritians. With so many compo-nent ethnic groups and subgroups, nation building is a challenging task that must include elements from all groups to form a truly mauritian population. indeed, it is difficult to define a mauritian, or what conclusively represents mauritianness. Ramharai (1998) calls for a mauritian identity that embraces all its composite ethnic groups. ‘this cross-cultural vision of the mauritian iden-tity should be considered as an ever-evolving process in which fixity and an assertive homogeneous identity have no place’ (Ramharai, 1998: 107). However, to take this multiplicity of visions and distill their essence to create a sense of the mauritian nation is no simple task. the fact remains that

[p]luri-ethnic and polylingual mauritius does not have a well-defined and planned cultural policy. instead the slogan ‘unity in diversity’ has been systematically used since independence and the state has adopted a ‘do not touch’ policy when it comes to language, culture and religion.Mauritius’ National Identity, Culture and Tourism 99 According to many people, the principle of unity functions at the level of the nation. the principle of diversity recognises the existence of group specificity in terms of language, culture and religion. the principle of unity recognises the existence of the individual enjoying equal rights as a citizen living in a free, democratic and secular state. these two principles have been complementary, not conflictual in their interaction, which explains the remarkable degree of peaceful co-existence within the plural framework which has characterised post-independence mauritius.

(government of mauritius, 1997: 1.17)

indeed, mauritius has experienced a remarkably peaceful existence; how-ever, there remains an undercurrent of tension that occasionally comes to the surface.

Investigating the Mauritian Nation and Tourism

the 1960s mark the official start of mauritian tourism (Alladin, 1993; government of mauritius, 1988: 1). Yet in the 1970s, after observing the large scale, mass tourism developments in other parts of the world, mauritius made a conscious decision to avoid those problems and shoot for the smaller, upscale tourism market. it was intent upon using the island’s natural beauty to attract a smaller, but wealthy clientele in order to turn larger profits and deter the ‘riff raff of the consuming society’ from gravitating to mauritius (government of mauritius, 1988: 2).

today mauritian tourism is largely dominated by French, British and Reunionnaise tourists (table 1) between 20–40 years of age, many of whom can afford luxury accommodations. indeed, it was the tropical image and beaches which attracted approximately 76% of tourists to mauritius, according to the results of the 2000 Survey of Outgoing tourists (table 2) while less than 3% reported sports, history and/or culture as a motivational factor for their travels. Alladin contends that european tourists prefer the idea of an untouched p hysical environment, a tropical paradise, over a colourful cultural landscape and hence many have chosen mauritius over other destination, unaware,

Table 1 tourist arrivals by country of origin (top five)

19901995200020012002200320042005 Country

of origin

France53, 170116, 701198, 423197, 595202, 869200, 229210, 411220, 421 Reunion73, 310 78, 431 86, 945 91, 140 96, 375 95, 67996, 51099, 036 United

21, 920 31, 324 74, 488 77, 888 80, 667 91, 21092, 65295, 407 Kingdom

germany19, 680 41, 637 52, 869 50, 866 53, 762 53, 97052, 27755, 983 South

41, 860 42, 653 48, 683 47, 882 42, 685 45, 75652, 60958, 446 Africa

Source: government of mauritius (2005).

p

erhaps, of its cultural complexities (Alladin, 1993: 135). this appears to hold true with less than 7% reporting sports, history and/or culture as a motivational factor for their travels in 2000, but with the global demand for cultural heritage tourism increasing, mauritius may be able to capitalise on its rich culture and heritage to see a rise in this number. more than half (63%) of tourists had

p urchased package tours, and the average size of the travelling party in 2000 was two persons.

History, heritage and culture will likely never be key factors motivating

t ourists to travel to mauritius, but they are primed to augment the existing tour-ism product. Heritage and culture have always been a part of mauritian tourism dating back to the first time a visitor to the island witnessed an African dance or Asian religious ceremony, but despite government intentions, only certain aspects of mauritian culture have become popular tourist attractions. So the question remains as to why, with such a vibrant culture and support of govern-ment, is progress in the area of cultural heritage tourism in mauritius so slow. the answer lies in the interconnection between national identity and tourism.Since there is no agreement on how to define the mauritian nation or mauritianness, the task of identifying and developing aspects of mauritian

h istory and culture for tourism becomes increasingly difficult. A detailed

s tructured questionnaire was used to investigate the degree to which mauritians felt their identity as a nation was represented through sites that may be marketed to international tourists. A total of 1200 structured questionnaires consisting of 42 questions were administered. the questions pertained to interactions with international tourists, perceptions of the roles of local cultural institutions,

p ersonal connections to places promoted for cultural heritage tourism by inter-national tourists, and how these sites relate to a sense of mauritian identity. Of the 1200 questionnaires completed, 1198 were used in this study.

Questionnaires were administered by 30 off-duty statisticians from the mauritius Central Statistical Office. each interviewer was assigned to one of nine enumeration districts. Quota samples were drawn from the stratification of certain descriptors of a population such as sex, age and occupation, using data from the 2000 national population census for the Republic of mauritius. Once the sample had been drawn interviewers were given a ‘quota’ based on the criteria desired. As prescribed by Sellitz et al. (1965: 582–583), the interviewer

Table 2 Distribution of respondents by motivation factor Motivational factor for visit Percent of visitors surveyed

tropical image 46%Beaches 30%Accessibility 9%the people 6.6%History/culture

2.6%

Source : government of mauritius, Survey of Outgoing tourists (2000).

in the questionnaire, the Likert scale, a method for judging intensity toward a given statement, was used to measure mauritian attitudes toward local culture, representations of cultural heritage and cultural connections to the tourist land-scape. Using Likert scaling, respondents were to evaluate statements using a scale ranging from ‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree’, or another scale of similar structure. multiple choice question format was also used to judge respondent perceptions of places and events in addition to attitude measuring questions. A small number of dichotomous questions were asked where the respondents were guided to give a ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘don’t know’ answer. in order not to exclude any part of the local population the questionnaire was designed in english, but was also translated into the lingua franca, Kreol. Regardless of the language of delivery, the interviewer read each question to the respondent and marked the survey instrument with the corresponding response. Questionnaire results were cross-tabulated and subjected to chi-square tests.

to augment the quantitative data gathered from the structured question-naires, qualitative methods including semi-structured oral interviews based on opened-ended questions, informal inquiries, informal interviews in the form of spontaneous research related conversations, detailed field notes, and site specific documents were also utilised.

What Mauritians Say About Themselves, Their Cultural Heritage

and Tourism

For many years now mauritians have been actively trying to answer the ques-tion ‘where does mauritius fit in?’ mauritius’ place in the world has changed dramatically over the 400 years since its discovery. in 1968, mauritius gained its independence, and the Hindu majority has led the democratic country ever since. today mauritius’ place in the world is still being questioned by mauritians just as much as anyone else. Besides questioning mauritius’ place in the world, another question also plagues the small island nation: ‘Who are we as mauritians?’ Associated issues concern how mauritian culture is defined or if there even is such a thing as mauritian culture. When asked about mauritian culture, motee Ramdass, the minister of Arts and Culture, says that a mauritian culture does exist and it is based on the experiences of immigrants to the island and the cultural attributes that were brought with them from their homelands. Although the minister enthusiastically believes a mauritian culture does exist, this statement is widely disputed in a country of multiple ancestral origins. When discussed during oral interviews, most mauritians stated there was no such thing as a collective mauritian culture. However, data gathered through the structured questionnaires revealed that 74% of respondents indicated they felt an overall mauritian culture exists on the island. indeed, it is difficult todefine a mauritian, or what conclusively represents mauritianness. With so many component ethnic groups and subgroups, nation building is a complex task that must include elements from all groups to form a truly mauritian p opulation. the call is for mauritianness to be a culmination of past wisdom, behaviours and experiences brought to mauritius by each immigrant ethnic group. the model of nation building being undertaken by mauritius is not one of assimilation where all mauritians should dress, worship, talk and act alike, but is a model of diversity which respects the differences of the mauritian p opulation. to promote this brand of national identity, the government has made use of the slogan ‘Unity in Diversity’ and advertised it widely (Hills, 2002: 2). the campaign has been effective in that the population of mauritius readily responds to ‘Unity in Diversity’ with a high degree of familiarity and 82.2% of the population agrees that there is truth to the saying.

Since identity in mauritius is still being negotiated and is a nebulous concept, it was first necessary to determine what mauritians felt should be part of mauritian identity. According to the survey results, 82% of mauritians felt that identity and religion should be separate. mauritian society is no different than any other modern society where religion can dominate the lives and behaviours of people. Although religion is a foundational part of culture and identity, mauritians feel that their national identity and religious beliefs should be kept separate. Religion is part of individual identity. this, according to the survey results, holds true regardless of educational level, occupation and age. mussai (1999) also found it to be true after asking fellow mauritians for bio-data to complete her study and was informed that data on religion was unimportant because her respondents were all mauritian. the present survey recorded s imilar reactions, but not to the same extent that mussai encountered.

in the capital of Port Louis the sentiment is strongest for the separation between religion and identity, reflecting a more cosmopolitan way of thinking which may further be influenced by proximity to the seat of government and the more ethni-cally mixed population of cities. the question of whether country of ancestral origin is important in defining national identity met with different results. the majority, 69%, believed that ancestral roots were important to determining national identity in mauritius. this was an unexpected result, but can be explained when examining the wording of the statements put to respondents. mauritians believe that identity should ideologically be independent of religious belief. However, the perceived reality is that ancestral origins are a factor, not whether ancestral origins should be a factor. When asked if all cultures are p romoted equally in mauritius, 56% felt that they were, but only 8% strongly agreed with the statement. A large minority, 28%, disagreed that all cultures were promoted equally in mauritius, and 11% strongly disagree strongly d isagreed, indicating that the gap between those who do feel cultures are p romoted equally and those who feel cultures are not, is not particularly wide. in examining the question of identity and what it means to be a mauritian, respondents were asked to respond to factors that may play a role in deter-mining how mauritianness is ascertained (table 3). mauritians are a multi-l ingual people and it is their ability to speak multiple languages, especially colonial languages, which enables them to participate to a greater extent in the global economy. However, speaking english and French was not a matter of

importance according to the survey, but rather were the least important factors in mauritian identity. mauritian Kreol, a language unique to mauritius and not spoken elsewhere, did prove a significant factor in being considered a true mauritian. Kreol is an integral thread in fabric of mauritian culture and identity, functioning as a unifying force among mauritians. At present Kreol is not given much credence by the government which maintains english as the official

l anguage and French as the language of the press.Being a multilingual country encourages potential tourists who might other-wise be intimidated by being in a country where they do not speak the language. mauritians who already speak Kreol, French, english and possibly an ancestral language are adding german and italian language skills to relate to foreigners better, especially tourists.

Having been born in mauritius is the number one factor for being considered a true mauritian. Nearly 94% of the population indicated it was important to some degree to be born in country. Being born in mauritius gives one the right to call themselves mauritian, but birthright alone is not always enough to be accepted as a part of mauritian society. For example, a person who is born in mauritius, but does not speak Kreol is not considered a true mauritian. this sometimes happens when mauritian born children grow up overseas and do not learn Kreol in the home. Similarly, others may not learn French at home or in school and upon return to mauritius are an anomaly.

those who do not speak Kreol or French may stand out in mauritian society and have difficulty communicating with others. Children suffer teasing and academic challenges in school. this may lead to feeling like an outsider – a non-mauritian. to feel mauritian is another important aspect of being mauritian, but the feeling is hard to define. in all likelihood, ‘feeling’ mauritian probably has as much to do with an innate sense of belonging as it does to demonstrating

Table 3 importance of factors in determining mauritian-ness (in percent)How important are the following factors for being considered a true Mauritian?

Very important Somewhat important Not very important

Not at all important

to have been born in mauritius 80.713.0 4.7 1.4to have mauritian citizenship 68.623.3 6.1 1.8to have lived in mauritius most of one’s life 54.330.112.9 2.5to feel mauritian

78.415.4 4.6 1.2to be able to speak: english 17.924.741.715.5French 19.630.636.013.7Kreol

77.418.9 2.3.9to be able to speak at least two languages

31.7

31.6

26.8

9.6

Citizenship legally sets forth the definition of a mauritian, but again, it does not make a person a true mauritian. Citizenship can be acquired through birth, marriage, by making a significant financial investment in mauritius or by appli-cation. Citizenship does not make one feel mauritian, imply that one currently lives or has in the past lived in mauritius or speaks any of the languages of mauritius. therefore, it is understandable that having mauritian citizenship, while important, is not essential to being a true mauritian.

As the literature suggests, national identity is a combination of many factors – belonging to a physical territory, speaking a shared language, believing in a political system and having a shared set of values and norms. For mauritians, being born in the country, feeling mauritian, and speaking Kreol create the tight bonds necessary for being a true mauritian.

taking this investigation to the next step and examining the connection between mauritianness and its representation through tourism, citizens were given a list of 33 sites and cultural events derived from printed materials for tourists such as brochures, guidebooks, and websites. each site or event was subjectively rated according to what mcKercher and du Cros (2002) term the ‘simplified asset audit procedure’ whereby each cultural heritage ‘asset’ is e valuated based on variables such as location, accessibility, degree of marketing, overall popularity, national/global significance, the ability to draw visitors and the appeal of storylines associated with the place or event. Additionally, the list included sites or events representing each of mauritius’ ethnic groups regard-less of perceived cultural heritage value from a marketing perspective. the majority of mauritians responded that any reflection of mauritian culture or history through tourism was important to their identity. table 4 illustrates how the sites were ranked according to the respondents. Of the 33 entries, only three (the Blue Penny museum in Port Louis, the martello tower in La Preneuse, and the Photography museum in Port Louis), did not have a majority indicate they were important to mauritian identity. even obscure sites (such as St geran monument, Balaclava Ruins, the Chinese Pagoda and Company gardens) were viewed as important.

Sites were important regardless of ethnicity or race. For example, the overall population felt strongly about Aapravasi ghat, a holy lake surrounded by s everal temples and revered by Hindus, as well as the Jummah mosque (the island’s main mosque located in downtown Port Louis), a muslim site. there were obviously some sites for which one religious or ethnic group felt very strongly, but there was no evidence that the rest of the population did not i dentify with that particular place. Sites with high name recognition were viewed as being most important to identity. On the other hand, some recently developed sites (such as the Blue Penny museum), were not well known despite being state-of-the-art construction and occupying central locations. Proximity to a given site was often a factor in how people reacted to it. the closer the site was to a population center, the better the name recognition.

Residents of economically disadvantaged districts were least likely to be aware of tourism sites. going hand-in-hand with poverty was lack of education. Knowledge of and perceived importance of sites went up significantly with level of education attained. Awareness of sites went down markedly with age and gender. the elderly, retirees and women often were not aware that certain sites existed.

Of the sites classified as being ‘somewhat important’, many of were not pop-ular or widely recognised because of lack of site development or lack of market-ing. Other ‘somewhat important’ places are in remote locations that can be difficult to locate without guidance or are not particularly enticing.

Just as important as the existing demonstrations of cultural heritage are the aspects of mauritius’ cultural heritage that are not being represented. When compared to cultural heritage sites commemorating colonialism mauritius and the Hindu population, exhibits and sites pertaining to African heritage, Chinese heritage and muslim identity are largely absent from the tourism landscape (Hookoomsing, 2000; teelock, 1999: 81). this is a statement of fact, not to be implied as criticism or a call to develop these areas for the purposes of

c ommodification for tourist consumption.Table 4 Perceive

d importanc

e o

f heritage sites and events Very important Somewhat important Not aware

Aapravasi ghat Balaclava Ruins

Blue Penny museum Central market

Black River National Park martello tower Chamarel Coloured earths Company gardens Photography museum

Chinese Pagoda Creole Architecture grand Bassin Domaine du Chasseur Jummah mosque Domaine les Pailles Le Reduit

Fort Adelaide mahatma gandhi institute ile aux Aigrettes Natural History museum Place d’Armes Naval museum Postal museum Pere Laval Shrine Robert e. Hart museum Religious celebrations St. geran monument Sega

tamarind Falls

SSR Botanical garden Sugar Chimneys troux aux Cerf Crater

Although respondents were asked to respond as mauritians and not as members of a particular community, it was expected that some of the popular tourist sites would be more meaningful to some sectors of society than others. For example, it was anticipated that Hindus would feel that grand Bassin was more important to their identity than the Chinese Pagoda. Likewise, Pere Laval’s shrine was expected to be more important to Christians and Jummah mosque would rate highest with muslims. the more commercial establish-ments such as Domaine les Pailles and Domaine du Chasseur were not expected to be important contributors to mauritian identity. the same is true with sites that are not popular such as Company gardens, Balaclava ruins, and the Citadel. it was surmised that neutral ground for mauritians might be found in the natural heritage sites such as Black River National Park, ile aux Aigrettes and the Natural History museum. Lastly, it was the sega and mauritian r eligious celebrations which were anticipated to be ranked highest. As it turns out, the sites with the greatest popularity were the ones considered most important. to have familiarity with these venues, even the most unknown and obscure, is part of being a mauritian, it feeds into the sense of belonging to the mauritian nation and feeling mauritian.

Conclusion

in the end, it is the discourse regarding mauritian national identity and its intersection with cultural heritage tourism that is the focal point of this work. in the absence of a cohesive national identity, mauritians have found commona-lity in pursuit of economic development. the drive to succeed in the global economy still exists among mauritians but is no longer enough to sustain this small, isolated island with few natural resources. Building upon the already established economic drive, one of the assets mauritius can use to sustain e conomic growth is found within its people and the multiplicity of cultural pasts found on the island. mauritius is in the initial stages of developing and implementing a comprehensive programme to enhance cultural heritage t ourism, but it has not yet achieved a position of importance. Several cultural heritage projects are underway which have the potential to raise awareness of mauritian national heritage and make some progress toward identifying what it means to be mauritian. this foreshadows the elevation of certain places to tourism status. For those already a part of the tourism landscape, they will gain a higher degree of legitimacy. in the future there will be more cultural diversity among the noteworthy sites, which will more accurately reflect the multi-ethnic nature of mauritius. it is expected that sites relating to indian Hindu culture and heritage are next in line for development followed by African and Chinese heritage sites. Progress will continue to be especially slow with respect to African heritage since much was lost shortly after the arrival of the slaves in mauritius and because of the impoverished state of the Creole population. Like in many other parts of the world where dissonance is present in the c ontext of heritage (tunbridge & Ashworth, 1996), the data here demonstrate that mauritians have the capacity to think across ethnic lines when evaluating tourist sites deemed to represent their collective identity, but some aspects of heritage are still areas of conflict where one cultural group may be pitted against others. this is part of the exploration and negotiation in nation building that isan essential and ongoing process. As these cultural clashes are resolved the sig-nificance of people, places and activities is clarified for the people of mauritius and the development of future tourist sites. Clearly, the development of a mauritian national identity must come from within mauritius and mauritians. As a function of national identity, the construction of cultural heritage tourism is centered upon the local ‘supply’ side and not on the focused on the ‘demand’ side of tourism. However, it goes without saying that the perspectives of all stakeholders must arrive at the confluence of power and culture to make mauritian cultural heritage tourism a viable addition to the tourism portfolio. Culture and heritage are webs connected by threads of shared meanings. For mauritius to achieve the common culture of mauritianness there is a necessity for all segments of society to arrive at these meanings collaboratively. this is no small feat, yet one that the mauritian government seems willing to tackle. Because cultural heritage tourism development is a mechanism of national identity, it can be implied that like the development of this form of tourism in mauritius, the construction of mauritianness is similarly incomplete. Since mauritius has consciously decided to develop a national identity based on diversity the common process of cultural heritage tourism building and nation building should mean that when a mauritian national identity that is truly diverse is realised, it can be assumed that there will also be a more represen-tative sample of cultural heritage tourism sites available as future destinations.

Correspondence

Any correspondence should be directed to Anne K. Soper, 2201 Laurelwood Drive, Bloomington, indiana 47401, USA (asoper@sprynet.com).

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