Heritage Tourism Within a Capital City: Symbolism and Dissonance

Tourists visiting the National Mall and Memorial Parks, an urban park located in the capital of the US, Washington, DC, are predominantly engaged with monuments, memorials, museums, and other historic sites. Current challenges facing this heritage destination are linked to significant deferred maintenance that has negatively impacted the visual appeal of popular sites, facilities, and green-space. Using a mixed-methods approach framed within symbolic interactionism and cognitive dissonance, researchers examined the meanings visitors attributed to the destination, comparing national and international tourists. National tourists were more likely to indicate that the visit evoked strong emotional responses ranging from pride to embarrassment, consistently noting that maintenance shortcomings reflected poorly on their country as a whole. The findings inform destination management in capital cities.