Page 207 - sustainable tourism-- Dr.Aya

perceived as rural, semi urban or vernacular

heritage by the conservationists and

protagonists and consumers of cultural

heritage tourism may be looked at as a vestige

from poorer times by the locals. As a result of

their economic empowerment, the traditional

communities automatically begin to imitate the

lifestyle and construction technologies of their

global or neighboring ‗modern‘ counterparts

as introduced to them through media or

personal visits due to employment

opportunities in other areas.

The transformation from the characteristic

traditional construction with locally made roof

tiles, masonry walls with mud plaster and

timber roof framework to generic reinforced

cement concrete frame structures with brick

walls and cement plaster in the villages of

Central India is one such example. The

changing character that results from these

transformations are perceived as negative by

the cultural heritage tourism promoting

participants and positive by the local

communities. It is worth mentioning here that

217