Visitors management plan for world heritage site, Rani ki Wan, Patana, Gujrata

Abstract

Cultural tourism has emerged as a potential form of alternative tourism among both international visitors as well as domestic visitors in India. The Rani-ki-Vav is located 2 km north-west of the historic city of Patan anciently known as Anahilwad Patan on bank of the seasonal river Saraswati which is a dry bed, Patan District Gujarat, India. It was Built in the 11th Century CE, by Queen Udayamati as a memorial to her deceased husband Solanki King, Bhimadeva (10- 1064 CE), It is a subterranean structure which marks the zenith in technological, engineering, architectural and artistic development of step well from a functional form to a distinct category, evident only in North-Western region of the Indian Sub-continent The Rani-ki-Vav (Queen’s Stepwell), Patan, Gujarat was conferred the World Heritage Site status by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2014. The thesis is aimed at analyzing the relationship between the visitors’ demographics, attitude and behavior toward the property of the Rani-ki-Vav and identifying the property’s quality and attributes that could influence the visitor’s satisfaction and experience as well as visitors’ behavior towards built heritage and other resources which can affect the OUV of the built heritage and its protection. A primary questionnaire survey was conducted to determine the perception of visitors on the various attributes of the built heritage of the Rani-ki-Vav and the site. Foreign and local visitors’ interviews were taken and a response of each age group is compared. General site observations and analysis of questionnaire are leading towards the identification of key-issues of safety of visitors as well as built heritage. Built heritage is threatened by human vandalism due to lack of site interpretation. Interpretation is an integral part of the visitors’ management to orient visitors and raise awareness among visitors. A lack of good interpretation management is leading to negative effects of visitation on built heritage and visitors’ understanding about the heritage. Analysis of questionnaire interprets that most visitors’ are not satisfied with their trip and would not revisit the site of Rani-ki-Vav again, especially the local visitors apart from Gujarat region. Visitors’ satisfaction can be achieved by improving the quality of the service attributes and at the same time enhance the visitors experience through managing site interpretation so that cultural visitors can continue to experience the unique cultural heritage at the World Heritage Site of, “Rani-ki-Vav”, Patan, Gujrat.