Interpreting place and past in narratives of Dutch heritage tourism

This essay examines the role of place in creating and supporting heritage tourism narratives, through a case study of the Netherlands. Focusing on late medieval and especially early modern cities including Amsterdam, Gouda, Leiden and Haarlem, it explores the significance of place to the kinds of historic narratives that can be told, and analyses the ways in which tourism providers ask tourists to utilise place as evidence for interpretations of the past. We articulate the meanings underpinning these uses and readings of place and past, arguing that tourism may be an important context through which historians can reconsider their own understandings about the past. © 2010 Taylor & Francis.