ABSTRACT

The Heritage Walk of Ahmedabad was launched by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) in association with CRUTA Foundation, an NGO, on 19th November 1997, during World Heritage Week with the singular intention of showcasing the essence of the city to the citizens and visitors. The walk has been running successfully for the last 18 years every morning from Old Swaminarayan Temple to Jamma Mosque. With changing time and context, it is losing its charm with changing expectations of participants and volunteers. However, the walk has been facing issues and challenges of volunteers and of continuing to get the support of the local body the AMC. It is a matter of sustainability of the walk in the long run. Whether this walk should be kept under the AMC or handed over the management to an agency? If the walk will be given to an agency, how will the AMC identify and hand over the management to an agency to continue the service of the walk; and how to upgrade and, train volunteers, assure maintenance and management of the route to assure a quality experience for the visitors. These challenges and issues lead to a question; whether the objective of the walk is still relevant and how the perception related to the walk has changed with time. As many other organizations have started heritage walks on different routes and different themes; whether it is time to redesign the walk? What will be included and excluded while redesigning it?

Relevance: This case can be used for various courses in heritage management in undergraduate, masters and executive programs. It can be used for Heritage Tourism, Heritage Old City Revival and Renewal and Products and Services related Heritage courses. It may also be used in courses focusing on Public Policy and Urban Development, Entrepreneurship in Heritage, Art, and Culture. It has elements of issues and challenges of sustainability of initiatives and activities related to heritage. It also covers the importance of environmental scanning, responding to the environmental change, understanding competition, the implication of governmental policy, expectations of various stakeholders on heritage management related activities and future course of actions.

Keywords: Ahmedabad , heritage walk, tourism, heritage