Cultural and Heritage Tourism
Cultural and Heritage Tourism
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Raymond A. Rosenfeld
Eastern Michigan University
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The Challenge
Tourism is widely recognized for its tangible outcomes (job creation, tax revenues)
as well as its less tangible outcomes (quality of life). It may be built upon a wide
variety of attractions, including agritourism, arts tourism, cultural and heritage
tourism, destination tourism, fairs, events and conferences, sports teams,
recreation, and more. International tourism is the world’s largest export earner
and an important factor in the balance of payments in most nations (United
Nations World Tourism Organization 2007). The primary focus of this tool to attract
visitors is “cultural and heritage tourism.”
Demand for High Standards: The global scale of tourism has created a series of
challenges for many communities. With the growing uniformity of hotel
architecture, restaurant chains, street furniture, etc, communities must safeguard
local identities while meeting tourist quality and standards expectations. It is
important not to compromise conservation and cultural values, and to balance
sociocultural needs with economic gains (Nasser 2003).
The issue of authenticity is one that comes up again and again in cultural and
heritage tourism, and this presents many local challenges. The natural instinct is
to protect and preserve the “built” environment, but a good argument can be made
that to rebuild may be a more appropriate way to accurately reflect a period or
culture. These may be political decisions depending upon which period is being
rebuilt and which period is being overridden or which values are being reflected.
But heritage tourism has an exploitive dimension which is in conflict with
conservation and cultural values. Tourist interest in religious institutions may
make it difficult for them to operate as religious institutions rather than museums or
tourist destinations. Clearly, sustainable tourism must contribute to both
conservation and development objectives along with social equity and cultural
values.
Reflecting the economic importance of tourism in general and cultural and heritage
tourism in particular, there are many national and international organizations that
provide expertise and support for these activities in both developed and
developing nations. These include the United Nations World Tourism
Organization (UNWTO), the European Commission, the European Regional
Development Fund (ERDF), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO), World Travel and Tourism Council, Organization
of World Heritage Cities.
Europe is the world’s top tourist destination and cultural and heritage tourism is a
central dimension. In the last twenty years tourism in Europe has more than
doubled to 12% of the GDP from tourism and tourism-related activities. It
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accounts for approximately twenty million jobs, mostly in small and medium sized
enterprises. And most importantly, tourism is expected to double in Europe in the
next twenty-five years (European Commission 2002). This growth is attributed to
the adoption of the Euro which has made travel simpler, liberalization of transport
(airlines), new information technology which makes it easier for tourists to plan
their trips, and the growth of new markets in Central and Eastern European
countries. In fact the ten new member states of the European Union combined
may generate $62 billion of travel and tourism GDP and 3.0 million jobs by
achieving average EU results (World Travel and Tourism Council 2004). Clearly,
this area of the economy has the potential to speed the integration of new member
states, particularly in areas of high structural unemployment.
Typical culture tourism in Europe includes festivals and events, banquets, music,
theatre, shows, village and rural life (e.g. farms, Sunday markets), gastronomy,
visiting/tasting local products, general sightseeing, village buildings and
“atmosphere,” visiting historic and religious monuments or vernacular buildings
and ruins, and famous people in the region (European Commission 2002).
Within the European Union, cultural tourism plays a particularly important role for
German tourists. EU studies suggest that German culture tourists tend to be 45-
64, above average income, mostly couples, better educated, more broadly
traveled, more quality conscious, and regularly take holidays outside normal peak
seasons. They travel independently rather than through tour operators or holiday
packages, and stay seven days or less. We also know that German tourism is
strongly influenced by quality and type of accommodation and food offered.
Surveys suggest that one-half of German tourists expect small accommodations,
businesses run by locals, and 41% expect local cuisine with local ingredients.
They are looking for two and three-star accommodations rather than large luxury
hotels (European Commission 2002).
The concepts of cultural and heritage tourism may include a wide variety of
strategies and services.
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One framework for place promotion is through the Organization of World Heritage
Cities (OWHC), consisting of the 215 cities in which UNESCO World Heritage
sites are located. This includes seven in Africa, 38 in Latin America, 20 in Asia
and the Pacific, 125 in Europe and North American, and 25 in Arab states. OWHC
provides information and training for municipal managers on issues related to both
historic preservation and tourism development. Another example is the “European
City of Culture” or the “European Capital of Culture” program which has
recognized communities in which there was “special cultural events of European
and international importance” (European Institute of Cultural Routes).
Closely related to place promotion is the concept of “hard branding” a cultural city
based upon mega events such as a World Fair or a sporting event or a major
annual festival. The European City of Culture competition is one example. The
use of a “star architect” to design new facilities such as I. M. Pei’s Louvre, or
Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum in Balboa may bring substantial attention to a
community’s cultural and heritage potential (Evans 2003).
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castles, country manors and houses, landscape, cultural parks and tourist
cultural itineraries and a tourist-hotel industry. These districts may be based
upon music, arts and crafts, figurative and plastic arts and designed goods.
Examples include the Piedmont-Langhe and Tuscany-Chianti districts in Italy.
Legacy Tourism. While heritage tourism is important, its boundaries are not
at all clear. Heritage may include connections to history, art, science, lifestyles,
architecture and scenery (McCain and Ray, 2003). It may be a part of a collective
history and thus have broad appeal, but there is a subset referred to as “legacy
tourism” where travel is linked to genealogical interests and a search for
information or a desire to feel connected to ancestors and ancestral roots. In this
case the tourist motivations need to be understood for marketing purposes, and
local resources must be developed accordingly.
Cultural and Heritage Routes. The Council of Europe has provided support
for the development of European cultural routes as a vehicle for tourism since
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Like all economic development tools, a community would be well served to begin
its efforts in developing cultural and heritage tourism with some of the key
elements o f strategic planning in order to fully understand local conditions and
opportunities and to set a strategic direction. The locality should empower an
individual and an organization to take leadership in this strategic planning effort.
This should include a SWOT analysis of a community’s strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats.
There are a variety of steps and considerations that communities should take to
effectively implement the tool of cultural and heritage tourism. Some of these will
be taken up as a part of a comprehensive strategic planning process; others are a
part of good program management. These focus on the cultural and heritage
products themselves, support services, public works, education and training,
marketing, planning, management and assessment/evaluation, and public policy
actions.
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• develop special events and festivals (chamber music, opera, ballet and
dance, arts and crafts, ethnic heritage, special holidays, modern music,
ethnic music)
• make all sites accessible for all people including those with physical
handicaps; new lifts and entrances; discounts to children and pensioners
and persons with disabilities
Public Works
• develop water and sewer services appropriate for hotels and restaurants
• design and construct p ublic plazas and parks appropriately located for
tourists
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• signage
• educate and train local population in cultural areas (conservatory, youth and
college-level music, arts and crafts programs)
Marketing
• brand, market and promote the city, its cultural/heritage sites and events as
well as related tourism services
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• market internationally
• develop a tourism master plan (airport, hotel complex, roads, sports and
leisure facilities and development of cultural activities to encourage
medium-stay tourism),
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• address seasonality challenges – unlike sand and surf tourism, cultural and
heritage tourism has the potential of providing year-round attractions that
are not weather dependent
• advance plan all special events (2 years) in order for tourist organizations to
take advantage
• review food and drink quality regulations to be sure that they are pragmatic
to allow samples of local cuisine and local beverages
• create financial instruments and tax policies that stimulate the development
of cultural tourism, such as abolishing real estate tax for a period of time if a
building is preserved, renovated and restored, and if it’s considered a
monument of national significance with local cultural, historical and
architectural interest; motivate owners to add value and keep
building/monuments in good technical condition; local government loans;
VAT refund for foreign tourists for purchases; quid pro quo for public access
to at least a part of a building and appropriate times of access
• review, adopt and implement laws to protect cultural heritage from other
pressures
• apply for grants and loans from other level governments and organizations
• introduce design rules for new construction so that new buildings harmonize
with their surroundings
Cultural and heritage tourism has become a major source of revenue for many
communities and states across the globe. Not only does it create jobs, but it has
the potential of bringing in needed revenue from outside the community and
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stimulating the local economy beyond the capacity of its own residents. There are
many conditions and resources that are needed for success. Here we will
highlight the most essential components.
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a reasonable amount of research into potential client interests and the link to local
opportunities. Each community needs to develop its own “brand” and to sell that
brand in its web sites, advertisements and all marketing tools.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Agyei-Mensah, Samuel. “Marketing its Colonial Heritage: A New Lease of Life for
Cape Coast, Ghana?” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 30:3
(2006): 705-716.
European Commission. Using Natural and Cultural Heritage for the Develoipment
of Sustainable Tourism in Non-Traditional Tourism Destinations . 2002.
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/services/tourism/studies_heritage.htm.
McCain, Gary and Nina M. Ray. “Legacy Tourism: the Search for Personal
Meaning in Heritage Travel.” Tourism Management, 24 (2003): 713-717.
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Nel, Etienne and Tony Binns. “Place Marketing, Tourism Promotion, and
Community based Local Economic Development in Post-Apartheid South Africa:
The Case of Still Bay—The "Bay of Sleeping Beauty." Urban Affairs Review, 38
(2002): 184.
Newman, Peter and Ian Smith. “Cultural production, place and politics on the
South Bank of the Thames.” International Journal of Urban and Regional
Research, 24: 1 (2000): 9-24.
Poria, Yaniv, Richard Butler and David Airey. “The core of Heritage Tourism.”
Annals of Tourism Research, 30:1 (2003): 238-254.
Silberberg, Ted. “Cultural Tourism and Business Opportunities for Museums and
Heritage Sites.” Tourism Management 16: 5 (1995): 361-365.
World Travel and Tourism Council. Positions: Welcoming the New EU Member
States with Jobs and Growth: A Practical Manifesto from the Travel & Tourism
Private Council. 2004. http://www.wttc.travel/bin/pdf/temp/eumanifesto2004.html
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