Value Creation in Cultural Tourism Experiences Along with Local Stakeholders: A Case Study of Lalbagh Fort at Dhaka, Bangladesh

Abstract

This article investigates the capacity of Heritage Tourist Attraction (HTA) managers to partner with host communities to co-innovate cultural tourism products and co-create value. The research report focuses on site management and the local community in building meaningful visitor engagement, the case study site is the Lalbagh Fort, a major heritage site in Bangladesh. A qualitative research approach was employed and 15 semi-structured interviews were conducted with five stakeholder groups: site management, the local community, media and public representatives, tourism agencies, and academics/researchers. Results show that co-operation between site management and local stakeholders has the potential to significantly improve the quality of visitor experiences, create stronger stakeholder networks, and sustainable heritage tourism development. In addition, the results demonstrate that community involvement, stakeholder participation, marketing innovation, and collaboration with tourism organizations contribute to facilitating value co-creation in the context of cultural tourism. This plays a part in the development of the theories of Service-Dominant Logic, Consumer Culture Theory, and Value Co-creation Theory in that it demonstrates the importance of stakeholder collaboration in heritage tourism management. The results indicate that stakeholders’ meaningful participation contributes to the formation of genuine and memorable cultural tourism experience.