Now that Kyoto is to all intents "Kyotoland," it might be instructive to turn to other countries and look at how they run their own "heritage industries." One good example would be Thailand, which realized early on that since tourism constitutes a major source of revenue, heritage-conservation policies must inevitably conform to this reality.
The influence of tourism has, in all countries, resulted in an "improved version of the past," since the political act of conferring heritage status on something often means denying it to something else. The end product also constitutes a kind of cultural nationalism, as it represents the way the country wishes to be seen, both by other nations and by its own citizens. This sometimes results in an "invention of tradition."
A recent example might be "traditional" emblems of Scotland -- kilts, haggis and the rest, all of which have been revealed to be of a much less ancient origin than is popularly supposed. There is nothing sinister in this -- a historical narrative of some sort is chosen because it has to be.