difference between tourism and heritage

Discover The Distinction: Cultural Vs. Heritage Tourism

Short Answer for What Is the Difference Between Cultural and Heritage Tourism?

Cultural tourism focuses on engaging with the living culture and traditions of a place, while heritage tourism emphasizes the exploration of a place’s historical significance and past.

Imagine standing at the crossroads of time, where every choice leads you on a journey through the vibrant tapestry of the world’s cultures and histories. The difference between cultural and heritage tourism is not just a choice between two travel styles; It’s an invitation to explore the essence of human civilization itself, whether through the eyes of our ancestors or the heartbeat of today’s communities. This comparison embarks on a quest to unravel the unique allure of each path, guiding you to your next unforgettable adventure.

Cultural tourism thrusts you into the vivacity of the present, where you actively participate in local traditions, savor unique cuisines, and dance to the rhythm of new music, making every moment an immersive experience. It’s all about embracing the ‘now’ and connecting with communities on a deep, personal level.

On the flip side, heritage tourism invites you on a grand exploration of the past, leading you through ancient ruins, historic sites, and museums that narrate the profound stories of yore. It’s an educational pilgrimage that seeks to discover the roots and understand the narratives that have shaped the world as we know it today.

By delving into the core of what drives us to venture beyond our frontiers, this comparison sheds light on two captivating journeys, each offering its unique flavor and insight. Whether your heart yearns for the thrill of cultural immersion or the awe-inspiring revelations of our shared heritage, the journey starts here, with us, today.

Heritage Tourism is characterized by a focus on historical significance and place-based resources, emphasizing the exploration of ruins, historical sites, and museums to learn and absorb history.

Cultural Tourism centers around living culture and immersive experiences, encouraging travelers to engage in current traditions and customs through local foods, music, and festivals.

The Nature of Experience in heritage tourism is more educational, concentrating on learning about historical significance and details from the past, whereas cultural tourism is immersive, involving participation in cultural traditions.

Visitor Motivation in heritage tourism is driven by discovery and a desire to explore the past, while cultural tourism is motivated by adventure and experiencing the “now” in cultures.

Role of Location: Heritage tourism is place-based with a significant emphasis on specific locations where history unfolded, while the location in cultural tourism is more flexible, focusing on the experience rather than the specific place.

Heritage Tourism and Cultural Tourism: Understanding the Fundamentals

Heritage tourism and cultural tourism are two distinct yet interrelated forms of travel focusing on experiencing the authentic essence of a place. Heritage tourism is centered around places of historical, cultural, or natural significance, highlighting the tangible aspects like monuments, landscapes, and artifacts, alongside the intangible ones such as traditions and stories. On the other hand, cultural tourism delves into the living culture of a location, offering immersive experiences with local traditions, music, dances, and cuisine, emphasizing the active participation in contemporary cultural practices.

Defining heritage tourism: Emphasis on historical significance and place-based resources

Heritage tourism, folks, is huge. It’s all about that historical significance and, of course, place-based resources. You’re traveling to see the authentic America, the real deal, like our great monuments and places that tell the story of how we became so fantastic. It’s the kind of tourism that puts a spotlight on places with historical, cultural, or natural significance. We’re talking about the places that make you say, ‘Wow, America really is the greatest country in the world.’

Defining cultural tourism: Focus on living culture and immersive experiences

Now, cultural tourism, on the other hand, is about getting up close and personal with the living culture. It’s immersive, it’s engaging, and it’s all about today’s culture.

You’re not just seeing the culture, folks, you’re living it. You’re diving into local traditions, experiencing the food, the music, the dances, and maybe even learning a word or two in the local language.

It’s genius.

The interplay between tangible and intangible elements in heritage and cultural tourism

Here’s where it gets interesting. There’s this interplay, right, between the tangible and intangible elements in both heritage and cultural tourism. The tangible, that’s the stuff you can touch – buildings, artifacts, the landscape. Then you’ve got the intangible – the traditions, the stories, the music. They’re both important, folks. You can’t have one without the other. It’s what makes tourism so fantastic.

How is the Difference Between Cultural and Heritage Tourism Defined?

The difference between cultural and heritage tourism is primarily defined by the visitor’s motivation and the nature of the experience. Cultural tourism is driven by a desire for adventure and immersion in the “now” of cultures through engaging in local traditions, foods, music, and festivals, with a focus on the experience rather than the specific location. In contrast, heritage tourism is motivated by a quest to discover and learn from the past, focusing on exploring ruins, historical sites, and museums, with the significance of place being paramount, offering education on historical significance and details from the past.

Key distinctions based on visitor motivation and the nature of the experience

When we’re talking about the difference between cultural and heritage tourism, we’re really talking about something incredible, folks. People who opt for cultural tourism are usually the adventurous types, looking for the “now” in cultures. They dive into local foods, music, and festivals with a gusto that’s frankly, impressive. For example, you want to learn salsa in Cuba or eat sushi in Tokyo right from the hands of the masters. On the flip side, heritage tourism aficionados? They are the great detectives of our time, seeking out the mysteries of the past. They’re all about exploring ruins, historical sites, and museums. Their motivation is to learn and absorb history. Like detectives solving the mysteries of the pyramids in Egypt or walking the ancient streets of Rome.

The role of location in heritage tourism versus the experiential focus in cultural tourism

Now, let’s talk locations and experiences, which are huge, let me tell you. Heritage tourism is heavily tied to specific locations, it’s “place-based”. Think about the significance of being in the actual location where history unfolded – like standing right where the Declaration of Independence was signed. There’s a link to the past that’s tangible and, might I say, pretty powerful. Heritage tourism is often “place-based”, focusing on the significance because of their location. Meanwhile, cultural tourism? It’s all about the experience. It doesn’t matter where you are; what matters is what you’re doing. You could be anywhere in the world experiencing local traditions which are alive and well. From the Rio Carnival in Brazil to celebrating Diwali in India, it’s the experiences that draw you in.

Analyzing the educational versus immersive approaches in heritage and cultural tourism

Let’s break it down even further – educational vs. immersive, big differences folks. Heritage tourism often takes more of an educational approach. It’s like going back to school, but in the most fascinating way possible. You learn about the historical significance, the why’s and how’s, delving into the details that shaped our present. It’s very much about absorbing knowledge, maybe through a guided tour or a well-placed plaque that tells a thousand words about the past. On the flip side, cultural tourism immerses you. You’re not just learning about culture; you’re living it. It’s real-time learning, experiencing and participating in customs and traditions. It’s one thing to read about Dia de los Muertos, but it’s another to paint your face in a Calavera mask and join a Mexican street parade.

When looking at the difference between cultural and heritage tourism, it’s like comparing a thrilling novel to a fascinating history book. Both incredible, but catering to different tastes and experiences. What’s clear though, is that whether you’re soaking in the vibrant energy of a cultural fest or tracing the footsteps of ancient civilizations, the world is an open book, waiting to be explored. And frankly, it’s tremendous.

So, to sum up folks, whether it’s the pull of the past or the vibrancy of the present, cultural and heritage tourism offer paths to understanding that are as diverse as the travelers on them. The key is knowing what you’re looking for – the educational depth of heritage tourism or the immersive dive into the living culture of your destination.

Either way, you’re in for an experience that’s nothing short of fantastic.

Forms of Cultural Heritage Tourism

Cultural heritage tourism encompasses exploring architectural masterpieces like the Taj Mahal and works by Antoni Gaudí, immersing oneself in the gastronomic heritage through culinary delights like Mediterranean cuisine and aromatic Indian spices, and engaging with intangible cultural facets such as Flamenco dancing in Spain or the art of Chinese calligraphy. These forms allow tourists to traverse through time, embracing the historical, artistic, and culinary achievements that have shaped human society and its diverse cultures. This multifaceted approach to tourism offers a gateway to understanding and preserving the rich tapestry of global heritage and traditions, enriching travelers’ experiences by connecting them deeply with the essence of different cultures.

Architectural Heritage: Exploring historical constructions and landmarks

When we talk about architectural heritage in cultural heritage tourism, we’re diving into the grandeur of historical constructions that have stood the test of time. Think about the bewitching Taj Mahal in India, an epitome of love and a UNESCO World Heritage site, attracting millions with its sublime beauty. Or the meticulously designed Works of Antoni Gaudí in Spain, where each structure tells a story of innovation and artistic brilliance. These landmarks are not just buildings; they are a bridge to our past, showcasing the zenith of human creativity and ingenuity. Architectural heritage allows us to witness the evolution of societies, the artistic endeavors, and the architectural achievements that have shaped human history.

Gastronomic Heritage: Engaging with cultural identity through food

The gastronomic heritage is a delicious aspect of cultural heritage tourism that indulges your taste buds while offering a deep dive into a region’s culture. For example, the traditional recipes and dining etiquette found in every corner of the world tell tales of history, geography, migrations, and values. Food is a universal language, transcending borders and connecting people. From the aromatic spices of Indian cuisine to the simplistic and wholesome approach of Mediterranean dishes, every bite offers insight into the cultural identity of a place. Gastronomic heritage is not just about what we eat but also how we prepare it, share it, and the rituals that surround it, making it a sumptuous journey of discovery and connection.

Intangible Cultural Heritage: Preserving traditions, rituals, and performing arts

The intangible cultural heritage is where the heart and soul of a community truly lie. It encompasses traditions, rituals, music, dances, and crafts that have been passed down through generations. The intangible is what makes a culture unique; it’s the practices and expressions that define our humanity. For instance, the UNESCO Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage include the flamboyant Flamenco of Spain, the meticulous art of Chinese calligraphy, and the vibrant Samba of Brazil. These traditions are the threads that weave the fabric of societies, rich with meaning and emotion. Engaging with intangible cultural heritage allows us to experience the essence of different cultures, forging deeper connections and understanding.

Embracing cultural heritage tourism is like embarking on a journey across time and space. It’s a path to understanding the diverse tapestry of human existence, offering insights into the differences between cultural and heritage tourism through lived experiences.

By exploring architectural marvels, relishing the gastronomic delights, and immersing in the intangible aspects of cultures, we not only preserve these treasures for future generations but also enrich our own lives with unparalleled depth and understanding.

Summarizing the intrinsic values and differences between cultural and heritage tourism

Cultural tourism and heritage tourism, both invaluable assets to global tourism, invite us into a deep, enriching dive into what makes societies uniquely mesmerizing. Cultural tourism focuses on experiencing the living culture, traditions, and practices of a place – think savoring handmade pasta in a small Italian village or dancing to flamenco in Spain. Heritage tourism, on the other hand, is like stepping into a time machine; it’s about historical sites, monuments, and landmarks that tell tales of the past. Places like the pyramids of Egypt or the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru stand as testaments to the awe-inspiring civilizations before us.

Reflecting on the importance of preserving both forms of tourism for future generations

Preservation is key. It’s not just about saving bricks, artifacts, or intangible cultural practices for the sake of it. It’s about safeguarding our global heritage and culture for future generations, allowing them to learn, appreciate, and be inspired. Initiatives like UNWTO’s efforts in preserving cultural identities highlight this commitment. Preservation benefits everyone – from local communities who gain economically and socially, to tourists seeking authentic, memorable experiences that deepen their understanding of the world.

Encouraging a deeper engagement and understanding among tourists

Lastly, we must foster deeper engagement and understanding among tourists. Going beyond the surface to truly immerse in and appreciate a culture or the history of a place enriches the tourist experience manifold. It’s about participating in local traditions, understanding the significance behind heritage sites, and respecting the local ways of life. This not only adds depth to the tourism experience but also contributes to the sustainable preservation of these cultural and historical treasures.

In essence, the difference between cultural and heritage tourism is a tapestry of “living” versus “bygone” experiences, each fascinating in its own right. Both forms of tourism offer a gateway to understanding and appreciating the diversity and richness of our world. By preserving, respecting, and deeply engaging with both, we ensure they remain vibrant and meaningful for those who wander into them tomorrow.

Cultural tourism and heritage tourism, each with its own unique allure, fundamentally differ in how they connect us to a place. Cultural tourism draws us into the vibrant, living traditions of today-immersing us in the current expressions, rituals, and the everyday life of a community. Conversely, heritage tourism acts as a bridge to the past, focusing on historical sites, monuments, and stories that have shaped civilizations. These forms, though distinct, are both crucial in offering a comprehensive understanding of the world’s diverse cultures.

Preserving both forms of tourism is not just about safeguarding landmarks or traditions; it’s about securing the legacy and lessons for future generations. By maintaining these sites and practices, we provide a tangible link to humanity’s shared history and a rich tapestry of cultural identity that spans the globe.

This preservation is essential for fostering a deeper respect and appreciation for both our differences and shared human experience.

Encouraging a deeper engagement and understanding among tourists goes beyond mere observation. It’s about promoting active participation and genuine interaction with local cultures and histories. By doing so, we bridge gaps, build connections, and nurture a more profound, mutual respect. This, in turn, enriches the travel experience, making it more meaningful and transformative for both the visitor and the host community.

Jonathan B. Delfs

I love to write about men's lifestyle and fashion. Unique tips and inspiration for daily outfits and other occasions are what we like to give you at MensVenture.com. Do you have any notes or feedback, please write to me directly: [email protected]

Recent Posts

Embrace Detours: Finding Opportunity In Unexpected Turns

Uncover the shift in "what happened to embracing detours," revealing how unforeseen paths lead to unexpected opportunities and growth.

What Really Happened To Elton John's Brother Daniel

Discover the truth behind what happened to Elton John's brother Daniel, unveiling the events that shaped their relationship and lives.

What is the difference between Cultural Tourism and Heritage Tourism?

The United National World Tourism Organization defines  Cultural Tourism  as “movements of persons for essentially cultural motivations such as study tours, performing arts and cultural tours, travel to festivals and other cultural events, visits to sites and monuments, travel to study nature, folklore or art, and pilgrimages.”

Heritage Tourism , as defined by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, is “traveling to experience the places, artifacts, and activities that authentically represent the stories and people of the past and present. It includes visitation to cultural, historic, and natural resources.”

Heritage tourism is often “place-based” – the resources are specific to, and significant because, of their location (for example, an author’s home, a landmark where an important event occurred, etc.) Cultural tourism is often “people-based” through engagement and learning of local traditions, but also can include a blockbuster exhibit at an art museum or a music concert at an amphitheater.

The motivation of the visitor, and what activities they engage in during their trip, distinguish their profile as a “cultural tourist” or “heritage tourist.” The agency or entity overseeing the program also may emphasize heritage tourism (preservation, historical societies, state tourism, or rural destination marketing organizations) or cultural tourism (arts, cultural organizations, state tourism, urban destination marketing organizations) to define their focus. However, research has revealed that visitors engaging in historic and cultural activities are similar in profile. This commonality in the market profile has led to a more inclusive segment of “cultural heritage tourism” or “cultural & heritage tourism.”  Hargrove International, Inc. recognizes the importance of history and culture to travel experiences and focuses on an inclusive approach to asset-based economic development with history, culture, and nature as the foundation for sustainable tourism.

Cheryl Hargrove

Get updates and stay connected subscribe to our newsletter, guiding principles:.

• Deliver Customized and Quality Products
• Provide Practical Instruction for Measurable Results
• Apply Creativity and Innovation to Design Custom Solutions
• Demonstrate Enthusiasm and Integrity
• Our Clients

Hargrove International, Inc.

P.O. Box 20463 St. Simons Island, GA 31522

Destination Assessments – Strategic/Business Plans – Cultural Heritage Tourism – Thematic Trails – Keynote Speaker – Presentations – Workshops – Nonprofit Consulting – Resources

Web Design & Development by ForeSite Consulting

How Heritage Tourism Helps People Unlock the Past

Heritage tourism provides a great way to learn about the past, but what exactly is it? Check out this guide to learn about this new travel trend!

Throughout the past decade or so, people have begun to look at travel in a completely different way. Experiential travel has become a new buzzword to describe travel with that little extra something to it. This new way of traveling looks different for everyone whether you prefer outdoor activities, cultural exchanges, history, or a bit of everything!

This travel revolution means there are more and more opportunities to shape a trip around your particular interests. History buffs will be happy to know that heritage tourism has emerged as one of the new types of travel, and many different destinations and private organizations are focusing on creating their own heritage tourism programs to help cater to this growing tourism market!

Take a step back in time with Let’s Roam .

Here at Let’s Roam, we have no shortage of history buffs on our staff! Our knowledgeable team has created a range of exciting scavenger hunts that will help you explore the biggest tourist attractions and the hidden gems in a destination. These are all accessible via our handy Let’s Roam app . Plus, the Let’s Roam Explorer blog features hundreds of articles to help make trip planning easy!

Exploring the Past through Heritage Tourism 

Below you’ll find a guide to heritage tourism and how it can help you unlock the past. We’ve included a description of what heritage tourism is and how it helps local communities. In addition, we’ve included a short list of some of our favorite heritage travel destinations!

What is heritage tourism?

The term heritage tourism has become a bit of a buzzword in recent years. However, you may find yourself wondering what exactly heritage tourism is. According to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, heritage tourism is “traveling to experience the places, artifacts, and activities that authentically represent the stories and people of the past and present.” This means spending time visiting historic places, museums, and archeological attractions. 

However, heritage tourism is more than simply visiting an attraction and checking it off a long to-do list. It means taking the time to truly understand what you’re seeing as well as the impact it has on people. Who lived or worked there? What did their daily lives look like? How did they interact with others?

Heritage tourism is often linked with sustainability since it conveys a more conscious way of traveling. This type of travel generally goes hand in hand with using fewer natural resources. It can also be a great opportunity for tourism development in off-the-beaten-track destinations. This can then be a major contributor to broader economic development and a higher quality of life. Since this type of travel is generally different than mass travel, it also helps promote sustainable development and caring responsibly for cultural resources, historic resources, and natural resources.

What is the purpose of heritage tourism?

 In the words of George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Heritage tourism serves as a way to connect us to the past. It helps us understand how people lived, loved, and laughed. Knowing this can help us better understand the world that we are currently living in. It can also help us analyze why certain things happened in history and how we can learn from it.

On a more personal level, heritage tourism can help people more closely identify with their own ancestors and heritage. There are many different tour operators that offer itineraries full of cultivated experiences that have a special emphasis on culture and history. A good example of this is Birthright, the program that sends young Jewish people to Israel to learn more about Judaism. 

However, you don’t need to go on an organized tour for this. Instead, you can shape your own itinerary so that it incorporates certain aspects that you want to learn more about. For instance, as an American of German and British descent, I’ve made many trips to Germany and the United Kingdom to learn more about my family background. 

How does heritage tourism impact destinations?

When placed under the stewardship of ethical institutions, nonprofit organizations, and partnerships with key stakeholders, heritage tourism has a much gentler approach than other types of tourism. It can offer many economic benefits to destinations. Case studies have shown that heritage tourists tend to stay longer in a destination. They also spend more money while they’re there. This means the economic impact of heritage tourists is greater than other types of tourists.

One of the most obvious economic benefits is that heritage tourism provides employment opportunities. These could range from historians to tour guides as well as support employees at the heritage sites. The tourism industry has one of the lowest barriers to entry when it comes to employment. Heritage tourism can create jobs that are likely to go to the local population. This means that the money stays in the local communities that need it most. 

This, in turn, helps the local economy in numerous ways by allowing more money to be spent at local businesses. In some parts of the world, this could mean the difference between someone being able to stay in their hometown with their friends and family vs. having to go to a big city and look for work. This usually ensures that people have a wider support network nearby which is crucial to their well-being. 

The money generated from tickets can also help preserve the monuments, artifacts, and heritage sites that you’re seeing. This is an incredibly important aspect of conservation. Many of the world’s most important historic sites are falling into disrepair due to unstable economies, civil wars, and other domestic issues. The revenue from ticket sales could make a huge difference in the upkeep and maintenance of the monuments. 

What are some tips and tricks for heritage tourism?

If you’re trying to learn more about the past when visiting historic sites, make sure that you have at least a rough idea as to why the site is important. Although most places will provide enough information to piece together a basic idea, spending the time to read up on it before you go will make your experience much more fulfilling. 

It’s also important to allow yourself plenty of time at each destination. This is the only way that you can truly immerse yourself in it. Also, try to avoid going to historic sites during peak travel hours. Having fewer tourists around makes it much easier to imagine what the places would have looked like. 

What are some of the best destinations for heritage tourism?

Below you’ll find a list of some of our favorite heritage tourism destinations. While this list is in no way exhaustive, it does give you an idea of what types of things fall under the umbrella of heritage tourism. We’ve also included a short section on important things that you should know when visiting any of these destinations.

As one of the oldest civilizations in the world, India has a slew of heritage sites. These can give a comprehensive look into how it transformed from the Indus Valley civilization to the livable, chaotic country we know and love today. The country is full of UNESCO World Heritage sites so this is a good place to start your planning.

Where to go? 

Most visitors begin their trip in Delhi. This is perfect for history buffs. Not only is Delhi the capital of India, but it’s also the location of many previous ancient cities. You can still find vestiges of these in the many forts and tombs in South Delhi as well as the winding streets of Old Delhi. 

Old Delhi was designed by Shah Jahan of Taj Mahal fame. As you wander through the tiny streets crammed full of shops, eateries, and chai-wallahs, it feels like little has changed in the past few centuries. From Delhi, you can easily get on a train to Agra to see the Taj Mahal or Jaipur within a few hours. If you’re interested in religious history, you should also check out Amritsar in the northern state of Punjab. This is the heart of Sikhism and is the home of the breathtaking Golden Temple. 

Alternatively, an overnight train ride will get you to the lakeside city of Udaipur or the spiritual capital of Varanasi where people deposit the bodies or ashes of their deceased family members in the holy Ganges River.

If you’re willing to brave the overnight bus, you can also head to Rishikesh. Sitting in the foothills of the Himalayas, Rishikesh was the birthplace of yoga and a very popular destination for spiritual and yoga-oriented retreats. 

A short flight from Delhi will get you to Mumbai or Calcutta. These two cities were important economic and political centers for the British Raj. This is where you’ll find many colonial-era buildings that look like they could be straight out of London. 

Important things to know . 

The history of India is very long and complex. As you travel, it’s a good idea to jot things down as you go. This is particularly useful for keeping track of Hinduism’s most important gods and kings.  

Also, India can be an extremely stressful and uncomfortable country to travel through. Virtually everywhere you go will be crowded, and it will feel like half of the population is trying to get a photo with you. Rather than stressing out about it, just try and take a deep breath and learn to enjoy the chaos. It will make your experience there much more enjoyable. With a more laid-back attitude, you’re also more likely to see how incredibly kind and welcoming most Indians are and what a great sense of humor they have. 

Why go?  

When it comes to tourist destinations, Thailand has pretty much everything you could possibly want. With the beaches of Koh Samui, the vibrant nightlife of Bangkok, and the green rolling hills of Chiang Mai, there is something for everyone here. Best of all, it’s full of amazing heritage sites that give a fascinating look into Thailand’s history and culture.

As one of the only countries in Southeast Asia that was never colonized, Thailand doesn’t really have the same European-style architecture that you find in neighboring countries. Bangkok is a vibrant capital city that is as sparkly as they come. The city is also home to incredible palaces and temples, including the famous Wat Pho which holds an enormous reclining Buddha. While you’re there, make sure not to miss the vibrant Grand Palace. We guarantee it’s not like any palace you have ever seen before!

Lying just a short train ride from Bangkok, the former capital city of Ayutthaya. It was once one of the biggest cities in the world with a population of nearly one million people. Today, you’ll find it mostly destroyed but even in its current state, it’s still breathtaking. The complex is famous for its 67 temples and ruins.

In the northern section of the country, Chiang Mai is famous for its myriad of temples. These tell an important story of the impact that Buddhism has had on the local population. This bustling city is the largest urban area in northern Thailand and has been a hub for remote workers and backpackers for decades. It’s a great place to base yourself if you want to enjoy some of Thailand’s gorgeous natural landscapes or visit one of the local hill tribes.

Important things to know.

In the late 90s and early 2000s, Thailand basically exploded onto the tourism scene. This huge influx of mass tourism brought with it a few problems. Sex tourism has become very prevalent and can sometimes include underage people. It also comes with drugs and other social issues. When you travel there, it’s best to avoid any of these things. This not only keeps you out of possible trouble but also shows respect for Thai culture. 

New Zealand

New Zealand has long been famous for its beautiful scenery and outdoor activities. Despite its location in the middle of nowhere, they have also managed to develop into one of the world’s bucket list destinations. 

There are many reasons to visit the Land of the Long White Cloud. Perhaps one of the world leaders when it comes to cultural heritage tourism, New Zealand proudly embraces its Maori culture, and the government has created many initiatives to help educate people on the country’s history. You will be greeted with a hearty Kia Ora from the moment your flight lands at Auckland Airport, and the opportunities to learn more about the indigenous population are endless. 

Where to go?

Most long-haul flights fly into the city of Auckland on New Zealand’s North Island. Although there’s little in the way of historic sites here, a quick visit to the imposing Auckland Museum will teach you some important aspects of Maori culture. 

From Auckland, you can take a bus or rent a car to visit various Maori sites located across the North Island. These include the Te Pā Tū Māori Village , the Waitangi Treaty Grounds where one of New Zealand’s founding documents was signed, and the Waipoua Forest, one of the oldest forests in New Zealand which plays an important role in Maori culture.

New Zealand is an amazing destination to visit but it can be painfully expensive to travel through. If you’re traveling on a budget, we highly recommend renting a campervan that you can sleep in. This can help save a lot of money rather than staying in expensive hotel rooms. 

It’s hard to think of heritage tourism and not imagine Italy. The ancient ruins of the Coliseum and the Roman Forum stand testament to an advanced society that thrived over two millennia ago. Meanwhile, the Duomo and Uffizi Museum in Florence holds some of the world’s most spectacular art. 

One of the great things about traveling through Italy is that it has a little bit of everything. And everything they have is magical. From small towns lined with cobblestone streets that have barely changed for hundreds of years to bustling metropolises that have historic sites hidden behind every corner, there is always something interesting for history buffs to explore. As the icing on the cake, the gastronomic scene is incomparable. 

The major cities of Rome, Venice, and Florence should be the first stop on a heritage tourism tour. If you want to focus on smaller towns and villages, you can always visit the spell-binding villages of Cinque Terre National Park or hang around some of the smaller towns of Tuscany. Italy has heritage sites virtually everywhere so you really can’t go wrong! Find out more about exploring this beautiful country on our detailed guide of how to spend a week in Italy !

Italy is full of tourists all year round. However, it’s literally bursting at the seams during the high season. Try to avoid going in the summer if you can. It will make your overall trip much more enjoyable since you won’t be battling crowds or wasting precious vacation time standing in lines. 

What other places should you go?

While we’ve provided just a short list of great destinations for heritage tourism, there are still many more! Mexico , Egypt, Morocco, Japan, the Czech Republic, Sudan, and Iran are also all great options. They’re all full of cultural heritage sites that are sure to wow even the most jaded history buff!

Are you ready to roam?

We hope this guide to heritage tourism has left you inspired to take a step back into the past! As always, we would love to hear your feedback, and please let us know of any tips, tricks, or destinations we may have missed! 

If you’d like to find more information about these destinations mentioned above, make sure to check out the Let’s Roam Explorer blog . Here you’ll find hundreds of destination guides, must-see lists, and travel blogs that will help make your vacation planning easier. Don’t forget to download the Let’s Roam app before you go. This gives you access to all of our great scavenger hunts , ghost walks, art tours, and pub crawls. 

Frequently Asked Questions

The purpose of heritage tourism is to explore the past by visiting archeological sites, museums, and historic attractions. Read more about heritage tourism at the Let’s Roam Explorer blog !

Activities normally associated with heritage tourism could be visiting the ancient ruins of Rome or Mexico , going to a local museum, or even going on a walking tour focusing on unique architecture.

Heritage tourism is different than tourism because it focuses on activities and attractions that are dedicated to preserving the past.

Understanding our heritage is important because it’s easier to understand the world around us. Heritage tourism can play a key role in unlocking the past and bringing it back to life.

If you’re looking for a fascinating heritage tourism destination , look no further than India, Thailand, Italy , New Zealand, Mexico, Morocco, or Egypt!

Featured Products & Activities

UN Tourism | Bringing the world closer

Ethics, Culture and Social Responsibility

• Global Code of Ethics for Tourism
• Accessible Tourism

Tourism and Culture

• Women’s Empowerment and Tourism

share this content

• Share this article on facebook
• Share this article on twitter
• Share this article on linkedin

The convergence between tourism and culture, and the increasing interest of visitors in cultural experiences, bring unique opportunities but also complex challenges for the tourism sector.

“Tourism policies and activities should be conducted with respect for the artistic, archaeological and cultural heritage, which they should protect and pass on to future generations; particular care should be devoted to preserving monuments, worship sites, archaeological and historic sites as well as upgrading museums which must be widely open and accessible to tourism visits”

UN Tourism Framework Convention on Tourism Ethics

Article 7, paragraph 2

This webpage provides UN Tourism resources aimed at strengthening the dialogue between tourism and culture and an informed decision-making in the sphere of cultural tourism. It also promotes the exchange of good practices showcasing inclusive management systems and innovative cultural tourism experiences .  

About Cultural Tourism

According to the definition adopted by the UN Tourism General Assembly, at its 22nd session (2017), Cultural Tourism implies “A type of tourism activity in which the visitor’s essential motivation is to learn, discover, experience and consume the tangible and intangible cultural attractions/products in a tourism destination. These attractions/products relate to a set of distinctive material, intellectual, spiritual and emotional features of a society that encompasses arts and architecture, historical and cultural heritage, culinary heritage, literature, music, creative industries and the living cultures with their lifestyles, value systems, beliefs and traditions”. UN Tourism provides support to its members in strengthening cultural tourism policy frameworks, strategies and product development . It also provides guidelines for the tourism sector in adopting policies and governance models that benefit all stakeholders, while promoting and preserving cultural elements.

Recommendations for Cultural Tourism Key Players on Accessibility 

UN Tourism , Fundación ONCE and UNE issued in September 2023, a set of guidelines targeting key players of the cultural tourism ecosystem, who wish to make their offerings more accessible.

The key partners in the drafting and expert review process were the ICOMOS International Cultural Tourism Committee and the European Network for Accessible Tourism (ENAT) . The ICOMOS experts’ input was key in covering crucial action areas where accessibility needs to be put in the spotlight, in order to make cultural experiences more inclusive for all people.

This guidance tool is also framed within the promotion of the ISO Standard ISO 21902 , in whose development UN Tourism had one of the leading roles.

Download here the English and Spanish version of the Recommendations.

Compendium of Good Practices in Indigenous Tourism

The report is primarily meant to showcase good practices championed by indigenous leaders and associations from the Region. However, it also includes a conceptual introduction to different aspects of planning, management and promotion of a responsible and sustainable indigenous tourism development.

The compendium also sets forward a series of recommendations targeting public administrations, as well as a list of tips promoting a responsible conduct of tourists who decide to visit indigenous communities.

For downloads, please visit the UN Tourism E-library page: Download in English - Download in Spanish .

Weaving the Recovery - Indigenous Women in Tourism

This initiative, which gathers UN Tourism , t he World Indigenous Tourism Alliance (WINTA) , Centro de las Artes Indígenas (CAI) and the NGO IMPACTO , was selected as one of the ten most promising projects amoung 850+ initiatives to address the most pressing global challenges. The project will test different methodologies in pilot communities, starting with Mexico , to enable indigenous women access markets and demonstrate their leadership in the post-COVID recovery.

This empowerment model , based on promoting a responsible tourism development, cultural transmission and fair-trade principles, will represent a novel community approach with a high global replication potential.

Visit the Weaving the Recovery - Indigenous Women in Tourism project webpage.

Inclusive Recovery of Cultural Tourism

The release of the guidelines comes within the context of the International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development 2021 , a UN initiative designed to recognize how culture and creativity, including cultural tourism, can contribute to advancing the SDGs.  

UN Tourism Inclusive Recovery Guide, Issue 4: Indigenous Communities

Sustainable Development of Indigenous Tourism

The Recommendations on Sustainable Development of Indigenous Tourism provide guidance to tourism stakeholders to develop their operations in a responsible and sustainable manner within those indigenous communities that wish to:

• Open up to tourism development, or
• Improve the management of the existing tourism experiences within their communities.

They were prepared by the UN Tourism Ethics, Culture and Social Responsibility Department in close consultation with indigenous tourism associations, indigenous entrepreneurs and advocates. The Recommendations were endorsed by the World Committee on Tourism Ethics and finally adopted by the UN Tourism General Assembly in 2019, as a landmark document of the Organization in this sphere.

Who are these Recommendations targeting?

• Tour operators and travel agencies
• Tour guides
• Indigenous communities
• Other stakeholders such as governments, policy makers and destinations

The Recommendations address some of the key questions regarding indigenous tourism:

Download PDF:

• Recommendations on Sustainable Development of Indigenous Tourism
• Recomendaciones sobre el desarrollo sostenible del turismo indígena, ESP

UN Tourism/UNESCO World Conferences on Tourism and Culture

The UN Tourism/UNESCO World Conferences on Tourism and Culture bring together Ministers of Tourism and Ministers of Culture with the objective to identify key opportunities and challenges for a stronger cooperation between these highly interlinked fields. Gathering tourism and culture stakeholders from all world regions the conferences which have been hosted by Cambodia, Oman, Türkiye and Japan have addressed a wide range of topics, including governance models, the promotion, protection and safeguarding of culture, innovation, the role of creative industries and urban regeneration as a vehicle for sustainable development in destinations worldwide.

Fourth UN Tourism/UNESCO World Conference on Tourism and Culture: Investing in future generations. Kyoto, Japan. 12-13 December 2019 Kyoto Declaration on Tourism and Culture: Investing in future generations ( English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian and Japanese )

Third UN Tourism/UNESCO World Conference on Tourism and Culture : For the Benefit of All. Istanbul, Türkiye. 3 -5 December 2018 Istanbul Declaration on Tourism and Culture: For the Benefit of All ( English , French , Spanish , Arabic , Russian )

Second UN Tourism/UNESCO World Conference’s on Tourism and Culture: Fostering Sustainable Development. Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. 11-12 December 2017 Muscat Declaration on Tourism and Culture: Fostering Sustainable Development ( English , French , Spanish , Arabic , Russian )

First UN Tourism/UNESCO World Conference’s on Tourism and Culture: Building a new partnership. Siem Reap, Cambodia. 4-6 February 2015 Siem Reap Declaration on Tourism and Culture – Building a New Partnership Model ( English )

UN Tourism Study on Tourism and Intangible Cultural Heritage  

The first UN Tourism Study on Tourism and Intangible Cultural Heritage provides comprehensive baseline research on the interlinkages between tourism and the expressions and skills that make up humanity’s intangible cultural heritage (ICH). 

Through a compendium of case studies drawn from across five continents, the report offers in-depth information on, and analysis of, government-led actions, public-private partnerships and community initiatives.

These practical examples feature tourism development projects related to six pivotal areas of ICH: handicrafts and the visual arts; gastronomy; social practices, rituals and festive events; music and the performing arts; oral traditions and expressions; and, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe.

Highlighting innovative forms of policy-making, the UN Tourism Study on Tourism and Intangible Cultural Heritage recommends specific actions for stakeholders to foster the sustainable and responsible development of tourism by incorporating and safeguarding intangible cultural assets.

UN Tourism Study on Tourism and Intangible Cultural Heritage

• UN Tourism Study
• Summary of the Study

Studies and research on tourism and culture commissioned by UN Tourism

• Tourism and Culture Synergies, 2018
• UN Tourism Study on Tourism and Intangible Cultural Heritage, 2012
• Big Data in Cultural Tourism – Building Sustainability and Enhancing Competitiveness (e-unwto.org)

Outcomes from the UN Tourism Affiliate Members World Expert Meeting on Cultural Tourism, Madrid, Spain, 1–2 December 2022

UN Tourism and the Region of Madrid – through the Regional Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Sports – held the World Expert Meeting on Cultural Tourism in Madrid on 1 and 2 December 2022. The initiative reflects the alliance and common commitment of the two partners to further explore the bond between tourism and culture. This publication is the result of the collaboration and discussion between the experts at the meeting, and subsequent contributions.

Relevant Links

• 3RD UN Tourism/UNESCO WORLD CONFERENCE ON TOURISM AND CULTURE ‘FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL’

Photo credit of the Summary's cover page:  www.banglanatak.com

Take advantage of the search to browse through the World Heritage Centre information.

Sustainable Tourism

UNESCO World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Programme

The UNESCO World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Programme represents a new approach based on dialogue and stakeholder cooperation where planning for tourism and heritage management is integrated at a destination level, the natural and cultural assets are valued and protected, and appropriate tourism developed.

World Heritage and tourism stakeholders share responsibility for conservation of our common cultural and natural heritage of Outstanding Universal Value and for sustainable development through appropriate tourism management.

Facilitate the management and development of sustainable tourism at World Heritage properties through fostering increased awareness, capacity and balanced participation of all stakeholders in order to protect the properties and their Outstanding Universal Value.

Focus Areas

Policy & Strategy

Sustainable tourism policy and strategy development.

Tools & Guidance

Sustainable tourism tools

Capacity Building

Capacity building activities.

Heritage Journeys

Creation of thematic routes to foster heritage based sustainable tourism development

A key goal of the UNESCO WH+ST Programme is to strengthen the enabling environment by advocating policies and frameworks that support sustainable tourism as an important vehicle for managing cultural and natural heritage. Developing strategies through broad stakeholder engagement for the planning, development and management of sustainable tourism that follows a destination approach and focuses on empowering local communities is central to UNESCO’s approach.

Supporting Sustainable Tourism Recovery

Enhancing capacity and resilience in 10 World Heritage communities

Supported by BMZ, and implemented by UNESCO in collaboration with GIZ, this 2 million euro tourism recovery project worked to enhance capacity building in local communities, improve resilience and safeguard heritage.

Policy orientations

Defining the relationship between world heritage and sustainable tourism

Based on the report of the international workshop on Advancing Sustainable Tourism at Natural and Cultural Heritage Sites (Mogao, China, September 2009), the World Heritage Committee at its 34th session adopted the policy orientations which define the relationship between World Heritage and sustainable tourism ( Decision 34 COM 5F.2 ).

World Heritage and Tourism in a Changing Climate

Providing an overview of the increasing vulnerability of World Heritage sites to climate change impacts and the potential implications for and of global tourism.

Sustainable Tourism Tools

Manage tourism efficiently, responsibly and sustainably based on the local context and needs

People Protecting Places is the public exchange platform for the World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Programme, providing education and information, encouraging support, engaging in social and community dialogue

The ' How-To ' guides offer direction and guidance to managers of World Heritage tourism destinations and other stakeholders to help identify the most suitable solutions for circumstances in their local environments and aid in developing general know-how.

English French Russian

Helping site managers and other tourism stakeholders to manage tourism more sustainably

Capacity Building in 4 Africa Nature Sites

A series of practical training and workshops were organized in four priority natural World Heritage sites in Africa (Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe) with the aim of providing capacity building tools and strategies for site managers to help them manage tourism at their sites more sustainably.

Learn more →

15 Pilot Sites in Nordic-Baltic Region

The project Towards a Nordic-Baltic pilot region for World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism (2012-2014) was initiated by the Nordic World Heritage Foundation (NWHF). With a practical approach, the project has contributed to tools for assessing and developing sustainable World Heritage tourism strategies with stakeholder involvement and cooperation.

Supporting Community-Based Management and Sustainable Tourism at World Heritage sites in South-East Asia

Entitled “The Power of Culture: Supporting Community-Based Management and Sustainable Tourism at World Heritage sites in South-East Asia", the UNESCO Office in Jakarta with the technical assistance of the UNESCO World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Programme and the support from the Government of Malaysia is spearheading the first regional effort in Southeast Asia to introduce a new approach to sustainable tourism management at World Heritage sites in Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia.

Cultural tourism is one of the largest and fastest-growing global tourism markets. Culture and creative industries are increasingly being used to promote destinations and enhance their competitiveness and attractiveness.

Many locations are now actively developing their cultural assets as a means of developing comparative advantages in an increasingly competitive tourism marketplace, and to create local distinctiveness in the face of globalization.

UNESCO will endeavour to create networks of key stakeholders to coordinate the destination management and marketing associated with the different heritage routes to promote and coordinate high-quality, unique experiences based on UNESCO recognized heritage. The goal is to promote sustainable development based on heritage values and create added tourist value for the sites.

UNESCO World Heritage Journeys of the EU

Creating heritage-based tourism that spurs investment in culture and the creative industries that are community-centered and offer sustainable and high-quality products that play on Europe's comparative advantages and diversity of its cultural assets.

World Heritage Journeys of Buddhist Heritage Sites

UNESCO is currently implementing a project to develop a unique Buddhist Heritage Route for Sustainable Tourism Development in South Asia with the support from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). South Asia is host to rich Buddhist heritage that is exemplified in the World Heritage properties across the region.

Programme Background

In 2011 UNESCO embarked on developing a new World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Programme.

The aim was to create an international framework for the cooperative and coordinated achievement of shared and sustainable outcomes related to tourism at World Heritage properties.

The preparatory work undertaken in developing the Programme responded to the decision 34 COM 5F.2 of the World Heritage Committee at its 34th session in Brasilia in 2010, which requested

“the World Heritage Centre to convene a new and inclusive programme on World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism, with a steering group comprising interested States Parties and other relevant stakeholders, and also requests the World Heritage Centre to outline the objectives and approach to the implementation of this programme".

The Steering Group was comprised of States Parties representatives from the six UNESCO Electoral Groups (Germany (I), Slovenia (II), Argentina (III), China (IV), Tanzania (Va), and Lebanon (Vb)), the Director of the World Heritage Centre, the Advisory Bodies (IUCN, ICOMOS and ICCROM), the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the Swiss Government as the donor agency.

The Government of Switzerland has provided financial support for specific actions to be undertaken by the Steering Group. To coordinate and support the process, the World Heritage Centre has formed a small Working Group with the support of the Nordic World Heritage Foundation, the Government of Switzerland and the mandated external consulting firm MartinJenkins.

The World Heritage Committee directed that the Programme take into account:

• the recommendations of the evaluation of the concluded tourism programme ( WHC-10/34.COM/INF.5F.3 )
• the policy orientation which defines the relationship between World Heritage and sustainable tourism that emerged from the workshop Advancing Sustainable Tourism at Natural and Cultural Heritage Sites (Mogao, China, September 2009) ( WHC-10/34.COM/INF.5F.1 )

Overarching and strategic processes that the new World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Programme will be aligned with include the Strategic Objectives of the World Heritage Convention (the five C's) ( Budapest Declaration 2002 ), the ongoing Reflections on the Future of the World Heritage Convention ( WHC-11/35.COM/12A ) and the Strategic Action Plan for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention 2012-2022 ( WHC-11/18.GA/11 ), the Relationship between the World Heritage Convention and Sustainable Development (WHC-10/34.COM/5D), the World Heritage Capacity Building Strategy ( WHC-10/34.COM/5D ), the Global Strategy for a Representative, Balanced and Credible World Heritage List (1994), and the Evaluation of the Global Strategy and PACT initiative ( WHC-11/18.GA/8 - 2011 ).

In addition, the programme development process has been enriched by an outreach to representatives from the main stakeholder groups including the tourism sector, national and local governments, site practitioners and local communities. The programme design was further developed at an Expert Meeting in Sils/Engadine, Switzerland October 2011. In this meeting over 40 experts from 23 countries, representing the relevant stakeholder groups, worked together to identify the overall strategic approach and a prioritised set of key objectives and activities. The proposed Programme was adopted by the World Heritage Committee in 2012 at its 36th session in St Petersburg, Russian Federation .

International Instruments

International Instruments Relating to Sustainable Development and Tourism.

Resolutions adopted by the United Nations, charters adopted by ICOMOS, decisions adopted by the World Heritage Committee, legal instruments adopted by UNESCO on heritage preservation.

Resolutions adopted by the United Nations

• Report by the Department of Economics and Social Affairs: Tourism and Sustainable Development: The Global Importance of Tourism at the United Nations’ Commission on Sustainable Development 7th Session (1999)
• Resolution A/RES/56/212 and the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism adopted by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (1999)

Charters adopted by ICOMOS

• The ICOMOS International Cultural Tourism Charter (1999)
• The ICOMOS Charter for the Interpretation and Presentation of Cultural Heritage Sites (2008)

Decisions adopted by the World Heritage Committee

• Decision (XVII.4-XVII.12) adopted by the World Heritage Committee at its 25th Session in Helsinki (2001)
• Decision 33 COM 5A adopted by the World Heritage Committee at its 30th Session in Seville (2009)
• Decision 34 COM 5F.2 adopted by the World Heritage Committee at its 34th Session in Brasilia (2010)
• Decision 36 COM 5E adopted by the World Heritage Committee at its 36th Session in Saint Petersburg (2012)

Legal instruments adopted by UNESCO on heritage preservation in chronological order

• Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (1970)
• The Recommendation for the Protection of Movable Cultural Property (1978)
• The Recommendation on the Safeguarding of Traditional Culture and Folklore (1989)
• The Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural heritage (2001)
• The Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005)

Other instruments

• Other instruments OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2012 (French forthcoming)
• Programme on Sustainable Consumption and Production (In English)
• Siem Reap Declaration on Tourism and Culture 2015 – Building a New Partnership Model

Decisions / Resolutions (5)

The World Heritage Committee,

• Having examined Document WHC/18/42.COM/5A,
• Recalling Decision 41 COM 5A adopted at its 41st session (Krakow, 2017) and Decision 40 COM 5D adopted at its 40th session (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016), General:
• Takes note with appreciation of the activities undertaken by the World Heritage Centre over the past year in pursuit of the Expected Result to ensure that “tangible heritage is identified, protected, monitored and sustainably managed by Member States, in particular through the effective implementation of the 1972 Convention ”, and the five strategic objectives as presented in Document WHC/18/42.COM/5A; 
• Welcomes the proactive role of the Secretariat for enhancing synergies between the World Heritage Convention and the other Culture and Biodiversity-related Conventions, particularly the integration of relevant synergies aspects in the revised Periodic Reporting Format and the launch of a synergy-related web page on the Centre’s website;
• Also welcomes the increased collaboration among the Biodiversity-related Conventions through the Biodiversity Liaison Group and focused activities, including workshops, joint statements and awareness-raising;
• Takes note of the Thematic studies on the recognition of associative values using World Heritage criterion (vi) and on interpretation of sites of memory, funded respectively by Germany and the Republic of Korea and encourages all States Parties to take on board their findings and recommendations, in the framework of the identification of sites, as well as management and interpretation of World Heritage properties;
• Noting the discussion paper by ICOMOS on Evaluations of World Heritage Nominations related to Sites Associated with Memories of Recent Conflicts, decides to convene an Expert Meeting on sites associated with memories of recent conflicts to allow for both philosophical and practical reflections on the nature of memorialization, the value of evolving memories, the inter-relationship between material and immaterial attributes in relation to memory, and the issue of stakeholder consultation; and to develop guidance on whether and how these sites might relate to the purpose and scope of the World Heritage Convention , provided that extra-budgetary funding is available and invites the States Parties to contribute financially to this end;
• Also invites the States Parties to support the activities carried out by the World Heritage Centre for the implementation of the Convention ;
• Requests the World Heritage Centre to present, at its 43rd session, a report on its activities. Thematic Programmes:
• Welcomes  the progress report on the implementation of the World Heritage Thematic Programmes and Initiatives,  notes  their important contribution towards implementation of the Global Strategy for representative World Heritage List, and  thanks  all States Parties, donors and other organizations for having contributed to achieving their objectives;
• Acknowledges  the results achieved by the World Heritage Cities Programme and calls States Parties and other stakeholders to provide human and financial resources ensuring the continuation of this Programme in view of its crucial importance for the conservation of the urban heritage inscribed on the World Heritage List, for the implementation of the Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape and its contribution to achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals related to cities as well as for its contribution to the preparation of the New Urban Agenda, and further thanks to China and Croatia for their support for the implementation of the Programme;
• Also acknowledges the results achieved of the World Heritage Marine Programme, also thanks Flanders, France and the Annenberg Foundation for their support, notes the increased focus of the Programme on a global managers network, climate change adaptation strategies and sustainable fisheries, and  invites  States Parties, the World Heritage Centre and other stakeholders to continue to provide human and financial resources to support for the implementation of the Programme;
• Further acknowledges the results achieved in the implementation of the World Heritage Sustainable Tourism Programme, in particular the development of the Sustainable Tourism and Visitor Management Assessment tool and encourages States Parties to participate in the pilot testing of the tool, expresses  appreciation for the funding provided by the European Commission and  further thanks the Republic of Korea, Norway, and Seabourn Cruise Line for their support in the implementation of the Programme’’s activities;
• Further notes the progress in the implementation of the Small Island Developing States Programme, its importance for a representative, credible and balanced World Heritage List and building capacity of site managers and stakeholders to implement the World Heritage Convention , thanks furthermore Japan and the Netherlands for their support as well as the International Centre on Space Technology for Natural and Cultural Heritage (HIST) and  the World Heritage Institute of Training & Research for the Asia & the Pacific Region (WHITRAP) as Category 2 Centres for their technical and financial supports and also requests the States Parties and other stakeholders to continue to provide human, financial and technical resources for the implementation of the Programme;
• Takes note of the activities implemented jointly by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and ICOMOS under the institutional guidance of the World Heritage Centre, in line with its Decision 40 COM 5D, further requests the World Heritage Centre to disseminate among the States Parties the second volume of the IAU/ICOMOS Thematic Study on Astronomical Heritage and renames this initiative as Initiative on Heritage of Astronomy, Science and Technology;
• Also takes note of the progress report on the Initiative on Heritage of Religious Interest, endorses the recommendations of the Thematic Expert Consultation meetings focused on Mediterranean and South-Eastern Europe (UNESCO, 2016), Asia-Pacific (Thailand, 2017) and Eastern Europe (Armenia, 2018), thanks the States Parties for their generous contribution and reiterates its invitation to States Parties and other stakeholders to continue to support this Initiative, as well as its associated Marketplace projects developed by the World Heritage Centre;
• Takes note of the activities implemented by CRATerre in the framework of the World Heritage Earthen Architecture Programme, under the overall institutional guidance of the World Heritage Centre, and of the lines of action proposed for the future, if funding is available;
• Invites  States Parties, international organizations and donors to contribute financially to the Thematic Programmes and Initiatives as the implementation of thematic priorities is no longer feasible without extra-budgetary funding;
• Requests furthermore  the World Heritage Centre to submit an updated result-based report on Thematic Programmes and Initiatives, under Item 5A: Report of the World Heritage Centre on its activities, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 44th session in 2020.

1.   Having examined document WHC-12/36.COM/5E,

2.  Recalling Decision 34 COM 5F.2 adopted at its 34th session (Brasilia, 2010),

3.  Welcomes the finalization of the new and inclusive Programme on World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism and notes with appreciation the participatory process for its development, objectives and approach towards implementation;

4.  Also welcomes the contribution of the Steering Group comprised of States Parties representatives from the UNESCO Electoral Groups, the World Heritage Centre, the Advisory Bodies (IUCN, ICOMOS, ICCROM), Switzerland and the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) in the elaboration of the Programme;

5.   Thanks the Government of Switzerland, the United Nations Foundation and the Nordic World Heritage Foundation for their technical and financial support to the elaboration of the Programme;

6.   Notes with appreciation the contribution provided by the States Parties and other consulted stakeholders during the consultation phase of the Programme;

7.   Takes note of the results of the Expert Meeting in Sils/Engadin (Switzerland), from 18 to 22 October 2011 contributing to the Programme, and further thanks the Government of Switzerland for hosting the Expert Meeting;

8.   Adopts the World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Programme;

9.   Requests the World Heritage Centre to refine the Draft Action Plan 2013-2015 in an Annex to the present document and to implement the Programme with a Steering  Group comprised of representatives of the UNESCO Electoral Groups, donor agencies, the Advisory Bodies, UNWTO and in collaboration with interested stakeholders;

10.   Notes that financial resources for the coordination and implementation of the Programme do not exist and also requests States Parties to support the implementation of the World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Programme;

11.  Further requests the World Heritage Centre to report biennially on the progress of the implementation of the Programme;

12.   Notes with appreciation the launch of the Programme foreseen at the 40th Anniversary of the World Heritage Convention event in Kyoto, Japan, in November 2012

1. Having examined Document WHC-10/34.COM/INF.5F.1 and WHC-10/34.COM/INF.5F.3,

2. Highlighting that the global tourism sector is large and rapidly growing, is diverse and dynamic in its business models and structures, and the relationship between World Heritage and tourism is two way: tourism, if managed well, offers benefits to World Heritage properties and can contribute to cross-cultural exchange but, if not managed well, poses challenges to these properties and recognizing the increasing challenges and opportunities relating to tourism;

3. Expresses its appreciation to the States Parties of Australia, China, France, India, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, and to the United Nations Foundation and the Nordic World Heritage Foundation for the financial and technical support to the World Heritage Tourism Programme since its establishment in 2001;

4. Welcomes the report of the international workshop on Advancing Sustainable Tourism at Natural and Cultural Heritage Sites (Mogao, China, September 2009) and adopts the policy orientation which defines the relationship between World Heritage and sustainable tourism ( Attachment A );

5. Takes note of the evaluation of the World Heritage Tourism Programme by the UN Foundation, and encourages the World Heritage Centre to take fully into account the eight programme elements recommended in the draft final report in any future work on tourism ( Attachment B );

6. Decides to conclude the World Heritage Tourism Programme and requests the World Heritage Centre to convene a new and inclusive programme on World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism, with a steering group comprising interested States Parties and other relevant stakeholders, and also requests the World Heritage Centre to outline the objectives and approach to implementation of this programme, drawing on the directions established in the reports identified in Paragraphs 4 and 5 above, for consideration at the 35th session of the World Heritage Committee (2011);

7. Also welcomes the offer of the Government of Switzerland to provide financial and technical support to specific activities supporting the steering group; further welcomes the offer of the Governments of Sweden, Norway and Denmark to organize a Nordic-Baltic regional workshop in Visby, Gotland, Sweden in October 2010 on World Heritage and sustainable tourism; and also encourages States Parties to support the new programme on World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism including through regional events and the publication of materials identifying good practices;

8. Based upon the experience gained under the World Heritage Convention of issues related to tourism, invites the Director General of UNESCO to consider the feasibility of a Recommendation on the relationship between heritage conservation and sustainable tourism. 

Attachment A

Recommendations of the international workshop

on Advancing Sustainable Tourism at Natural and Cultural Heritage Sites  

Policy orientations: defining the relationship between World Heritage and tourism

1. The tourism sector

The global tourism sector is large and rapidly growing, is diverse and dynamic in its business models and structures.

Tourists/visitors are diverse in terms of cultural background, interests, behaviour, economy, impact, awareness and expectations of World Heritage.

There is no one single way for the World Heritage Convention , or World Heritage properties, to engage with the tourism sector or with tourists/visitors.

2. The relationship between World Heritage and tourism

The relationship between World Heritage and tourism is two-way:

a. World Heritage offers tourists/visitors and the tourism sector destinations

b. Tourism offers World Heritage the ability to meet the requirement in the Convention to 'present' World Heritage properties, and also a means to realise community and economic benefits through sustainable use.

Tourism is critical for World Heritage:

a. For States Parties and their individual properties,

i. to meet the requirement in the Convention to 'present' World Heritage

ii. to realise community and economic benefits

b. For the World Heritage Convention as a whole, as the means by which World Heritage properties are experienced by visitors travelling nationally and internationally

c. As a major means by which the performance of World Heritage properties, and therefore the standing of the Convention , is judged,

i. many World Heritage properties do not identify themselves as such, or do not adequately present their Outstanding Universal Value

ii. it would be beneficial to develop indicators of the quality of presentation, and the representation of the World Heritage brand

d. As a credibility issue in relation to: i. the potential for tourism infrastructure to damage Outstanding Universal Value

i. the threat that World Heritage properties may be unsustainably managed in relation to their adjoining communities

ii. sustaining the conservation objectives of the Convention whilst engaging with economic development

iii. realistic aspirations that World Heritage can attract tourism.

World Heritage is a major resource for the tourism sector:

a. Almost all individual World Heritage properties are significant tourism destinations

b. The World Heritage brand can attract tourists/visitors,

i. the World Heritage brand has more impact upon tourism to lesser known properties than to iconic properties.

Tourism, if managed well, offers benefits to World Heritage properties:

a. to meet the requirement in Article 4 of the Convention to present World Heritage to current and future generations

b. to realise economic benefits.

Tourism, if not managed well, poses threats to World Heritage properties.

3. The responses of World Heritage to tourism

The impact of tourism, and the management response, is different for each World Heritage property: World Heritage properties have many options to manage the impacts of tourism.

The management responses of World Heritage properties need to:

a. work closely with the tourism sector

b. be informed by the experiences of tourists/visitors to the visitation of the property

c. include local communities in the planning and management of all aspects of properties, including tourism.

While there are many excellent examples of World Heritage properties successfully managing their relationship to tourism, it is also clear that many properties could improve:

a. the prevention and management of tourism threats and impacts

b. their relationship to the tourism sector inside and outside the property

c. their interaction with local communities inside and outside the property

d. their presentation of Outstanding Universal Value and focus upon the experience of tourists/visitors.

a. be based on the protection and conservation of the Outstanding Universal Value of the property, and its effective and authentic presentation

b. work closely with the tourism sector

c. be informed by the experiences of tourists/visitors to the visitation of the property

d. to include local communities in the planning and management of all aspects of properties, including tourism.

4. Responsibilities of different actors in relation to World Heritage and tourism

The World Heritage Convention (World Heritage Committee, World Heritage Centre, Advisory Bodies):

a. set frameworks and policy approaches

b. confirm that properties have adequate mechanisms to address tourism before they are inscribed on the World Heritage List

i. develop guidance on the expectations to be include in management plans

c. monitor the impact upon OUV of tourism activities at inscribed sites, including through indicators for state of conservation reporting

d. cooperate with other international organisations to enable:

i. other international organisations to integrate World Heritage considerations in their programs

ii. all parties involved in World Heritage to learn from the activities of other international organisations

e. assist State Parties and sites to access support and advice on good practices

f. reward best practice examples of World Heritage properties and businesses within the tourist/visitor sector

g. develop guidance on the use of the World Heritage emblem as part of site branding.

Individual States Parties:

a. develop national policies for protection

b. develop national policies for promotion

c. engage with their sites to provide and enable support, and to ensure that the promotion and the tourism objectives respect Outstanding Universal Value and are appropriate and sustainable

d. ensure that individual World Heritage properties within their territory do not have their OUV negatively affected by tourism.

Individual property managers:

a. manage the impact of tourism upon the OUV of properties

i. common tools at properties include fees, charges, schedules of opening and restrictions on access

b. lead onsite presentation and provide meaningful visitor experiences

c. work with the tourist/visitor sector, and be aware of the needs and experiences of tourists/visitors, to best protect the property

i. the best point of engagement between the World Heritage Convention and the tourism sector as a whole is at the direct site level, or within countries

d. engage with communities and business on conservation and development.

Tourism sector:

a. work with World Heritage property managers to help protect Outstanding Universal Value

b. recognize and engage in shared responsibility to sustain World Heritage properties as tourism resources

c. work on authentic presentation and quality experiences.

Individual tourists/visitors with the assistance of World Heritage property managers and the tourism sector, can be helped to appreciate and protect the OUV of World Heritage properties.  

Attachment B

Programme elements recommended by the Draft Final Report of the Evaluation of the World Heritage Tourism Programme by the UN Foundation:

1. Adopt and disseminate standards and principles relating to sustainable tourism at World Heritage sites;

 2. Support the incorporation of appropriate tourism management into the workings of the Convention ;

 3. Collation of evidence to support sustainable tourism programme design, and to support targeting;

 4. Contribution of a World Heritage perspective to cross agency sustainable tourism policy initiatives;

 5. Strategic support for the dissemination of lessons learned;

 6. Strategic support for the development of training and guidance materials for national policy agencies and site managers;

 7. Provision of advice on the cost benefit impact of World Heritage inscription;

 8. Provision of advice on UNESCO World Heritage branding.

1. Having examined Documents WHC-09/33.COM/5A, WHC- 09/33.COM/INF.5A.1, WHC-09/33.COM/INF.5A.2, and WHC-09/33.COM/INF.5A.3 ,

2. Recalling Decision 32 COM 5 adopted at its 32nd session (Quebec City, 2008),

3. Takes note with appreciation of the activities undertaken by the World Heritage Centre over the past year in pursuit of the Committee's five Strategic Objectives;

4. Takes also note of the findings of the study undertaken by UNESCO's Internal Oversight Service on the mapping of the workload of the World Heritage Centre presented in Document WHC-09/33.COM/INF.5A.3;

5. Notes with satisfaction that the World Heritage Centre is working with the secretariats of intergovernmental committees of related conventions such as the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage , and the Convention for the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage-2001 and recommends that such cooperation be encouraged as this would further strengthen the work of the Centre;

6. Requests the World Heritage Centre to prepare a document on the World Heritage Convention and its cooperation and exchange with other conventions and programmes in the field of cultural heritage for discussion at the 34th session of the World Heritage Committee (2010);

7. Also requests the World Heritage Centre, in future reports on activities undertaken, to further strengthen the information and analysis available to States Parties by:

a) Retaining the current format to report activities and including an update on progress with implementing the Committee's decisions,

b) Describing the criteria by which the World Heritage Centre makes decisions as to which activities under the Convention it undertakes,

c) And including, on a discretionary basis, analysis of strategic issues and new directions;

8. Further requests the World Heritage Centre to produce, on an experimental basis, an indexed audio verbatim recording of the proceedings of the 33rd Session in addition to the standard summary records (as produced since the 26th session of the World Heritage Committee);

9. Notes the outline provided by the World Heritage Centre of its roles and the roles of the Advisory Bodies and agrees that this topic be further discussed at the 34th session of the Committee in 2010 under a separate agenda item;

10. Requests furthermore the World Heritage Centre to outline the forward direction of the World Heritage thematic programmes and initiatives, to enable an understanding of how these themes connect with and integrate into general programmes, and how they might be resourced;

11. Notes that the Centre already proactively engages women in its Heritage Programmes in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean as part of its gender balance policy and the provision of equal opportunity to all, and recommends that gender balance and community involvement be prioritized in the Centre's programmes;

12. Adopts the World Heritage Thematic Programme on Prehistory presented in Annex 1 of document WHC-09/33.COM/5A ;

13. Requests the World Heritage Centre to reconsider the term "prehistory", to better recognize the continuing cultures of indigenous communities, to ensure global representation in the identification and conservation of related properties, and to present a report on progress in developing an Action Plan on Prehistory and World Heritage at its 34th session in 2010;

14. Notes with concern the ongoing destruction of some of these fragile sites, including the recent destruction of the Rock Art sites of Tardrat Acacus in Libya, and requests the State Party to take immediate action and other measures as necessary to address the problem in consultation with the World Heritage Centre and to invite a joint World Heritage Centre / ICOMOS mission;

15. Expresses its gratitude to the Governments of Bahrain, South Africa and Spain for the financial and technical support for the various international scientific encounters, and recognizes the proposal of the Government of Spain in establishing a centre for the research of Prehistory;

16. Recalling the Decision of the World Heritage Committee 31 COM.21C to carry out a programme of sustainable development concerning the conservation of earthen architecture, thanks the Governments of Italy and France for their support of the programme on earthen architecture in Africa and the Arab States in particular, and requests the potential financial donors and the States Parties to support the implementation of activities and further requests the World Heritage Centre to submit a progress report at its 35th session in 2011;

17. Takes note of the progress report on the World Heritage Tourism Programme;

18. Thanks the Governments of Australia, China, France, India, Switzerland and United Kingdom, who have worked in close collaboration with the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies, the World Tourism Organization and other partners, for contributing to the Initiative of Sustainable Tourism;

19. Expresses its gratitude to the Governments of Australia and China for the organization of a workshop on sustainable tourism at the World Heritage site, Mogao Caves, China, in September-October 2009 and requests that the following elements be submitted to the Committee for examination at its 34th session in 2010:

a) A report on the workshop,

b) The subsequent recommendations of the workshop regarding the adoption of best practices policy guidance, and concerning the changes proposed for the Operational Guidelines for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention ,

c) A document concerning the progress of the World Heritage Programme on Tourism;

20. Finally requests the Director of the World Heritage Centre to identify supplementary sources of funding to put into place a sufficient number of staff and resources at the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies in order to continue to efficiently contribute to the resolution of problems related to World Heritage conservation.

XVII.8 The Secretariat provided the following justifications for the selection: 

• Tourism - growing threats on World Heritage sites from tourism which, if sustainably managed could offer socio-economic development opportunities;
• Forests - since close to 60 of the natural sites on the World Heritage List are forests and that the lessons being learned from the large-scale UNESCO-UN Foundation projects in the tropical forest sites in the Democratic Republic of the Congo can serve as case studies to enrich the programme;
• Cities - since close to 200 of the cultural sites on the List are historic centres or entire cities, and because 20% of the Fund's international assistance have served to address the challenge of urban heritage conservation;
• Earthen structures - since some 30 of the cultural sites on the List are included in this category, and due to the particularity of conservation of earthen heritage, and threats.

XVII.10 The Committee expressed its appreciation for the clarity of the presentation and the justifications provided. Indicating strong support for the overall programming approach, the Committee however indicated the need for the programme to respond to the priorities established by the Committee and to create strong links with the results of the Global Strategy actions and Periodic Reporting. The Committee approved the four proposed themes of the programmes in this first series of initiatives and authorized the Centre to proceed in their development.

What is the Difference Between Cultural Tourism and Heritage Tourism?

David Johnson

Updated on: 23. May 2023

Cultural tourism and heritage tourism are two terms that are often used interchangeably, but they have different meanings. Cultural tourism involves travel to experience the customs, traditions, arts, and other manifestations of a particular culture.

Heritage tourism, on the other hand, is more focused on the physical artifacts and sites of a particular culture, such as historical buildings, monuments, and landmarks. In this blog post, we will explore the differences between these two types of tourism and their significance in the field of culture.

Cultural tourism and heritage tourism have both become increasingly popular in recent years, as people have become more interested in learning about different cultures and histories. These types of tourism can offer unique and authentic experiences that allow visitors to immerse themselves in the local culture and heritage of a particular destination.

However, it is important to understand the differences between cultural tourism and heritage tourism in order to choose the type of experience that best suits your interests and preferences.

Cultural tourism can include a wide range of experiences, from attending traditional festivals and concerts to visiting museums and galleries. This type of tourism is often focused on the living culture of a particular destination, and may involve interacting with local people and learning about their customs and traditions. Cultural tourism can be particularly appealing to travelers who are interested in the arts, music, dance, cuisine, and other aspects of a particular culture.

Heritage tourism, on the other hand, is more focused on the physical manifestations of a particular culture’s history and heritage . This type of tourism often involves visiting historical sites, such as castles, temples , ruins, and other landmarks. Heritage tourism can be particularly appealing to travelers who are interested in the history and architecture of a particular destination, and who want to learn more about the people who lived there in the past.

In the following sections, we will explore the differences between cultural tourism and heritage tourism in more detail, including their benefits and challenges, and how they can contribute to the preservation and promotion of cultural heritage.

Table of Contents

What is Cultural Tourism?

Cultural tourism refers to travel that involves exploring the culture, arts, and history of a destination. Cultural tourism can include visiting museums, attending cultural festivals , and exploring historical sites. It aims to provide visitors with an immersive experience that allows them to learn about a place’s traditions, beliefs, and customs. Cultural tourism can also help to promote intercultural understanding, respect, and appreciation.

Cultural tourism can take many forms, from visiting ancient ruins to attending music festivals. It can be a solo adventure or a group tour, and can be tailored to suit various interests and budgets. Cultural tourism can also benefit local communities by creating jobs and generating revenue through tourism-related activities.

One of the key aspects of cultural tourism is the opportunity to learn from and engage with local people. This can involve participating in cultural activities, attending workshops or classes, and interacting with local artists, musicians, and craftspeople. By engaging with locals, travelers can gain a deeper understanding of a place’s culture and heritage.

However, it is important to note that cultural tourism can also have negative impacts if not managed responsibly. Over-tourism can lead to damage to cultural sites and disruption to local communities. It is essential to promote sustainable cultural tourism that balances the needs of visitors with the needs of local people and the environment.

What is Heritage Tourism?

Heritage tourism is a form of tourism that focuses on visiting places, sites, or attractions that have cultural or historical significance. These may include museums, historical landmarks, or natural sites. The goal of heritage tourism is to promote an understanding and appreciation of the history, culture, and traditions of a particular place or region.

Heritage tourism can be seen as a subset of cultural tourism, which encompasses a wider range of experiences related to the arts, history, and traditions of a particular place. Unlike cultural tourism, which may encompass contemporary arts and events, heritage tourism typically focuses on the preservation and promotion of historical sites and artifacts.

Heritage tourism has become increasingly popular in recent years, as travelers seek out authentic and meaningful experiences that allow them to connect with the past. Many countries and regions have developed marketing campaigns to attract heritage tourists, promoting their historical and cultural assets as unique and valuable.

One of the key benefits of heritage tourism is its potential to stimulate local economies. By attracting visitors to historical sites and attractions, heritage tourism can create jobs and support local businesses. However, it is important to balance the economic benefits of tourism with the need to preserve and protect historical sites and artifacts for future generations.

What Are the Similarities Between Cultural Tourism and Heritage Tourism?

Cultural tourism and heritage tourism have a lot in common, as both are related to traveling to learn and experience different cultures. Cultural tourism involves exploring and experiencing the culture of a particular destination, including its traditions, customs, arts, and history. Heritage tourism, on the other hand, focuses on the preservation and promotion of cultural and historical sites, such as museums, monuments, landmarks, and other tangible assets of cultural significance.

One of the key similarities between cultural tourism and heritage tourism is that both offer an opportunity for visitors to immerse themselves in the local culture, traditions, and way of life. Both types of tourism involve experiencing the local cuisine, participating in cultural events and festivals, visiting museums and historical sites, and interacting with locals to gain a better understanding of their culture.

Another similarity is that both cultural and heritage tourism have a significant impact on the local economy, generating revenue and creating jobs for people in the tourism industry. In addition, both forms of tourism can contribute to the preservation of cultural heritage by increasing awareness and appreciation of local culture and history.

Moreover, both cultural and heritage tourism require careful planning and management to ensure sustainable tourism development that balances the needs of visitors, locals, and the environment. This includes managing visitor flow, protecting cultural sites and artifacts, and preserving the natural environment.

Despite the similarities, there are also differences between cultural and heritage tourism. While cultural tourism is often focused on experiencing the local culture and way of life, heritage tourism emphasizes the preservation and promotion of tangible cultural heritage sites and artifacts. In this sense, heritage tourism is more focused on history and preservation, while cultural tourism is more focused on the present and experiencing local culture.

In conclusion, while cultural and heritage tourism share many similarities, they also have distinct differences. Both forms of tourism offer a unique opportunity to learn and experience different cultures, while also contributing to the local economy and cultural preservation.

What Are the Differences Between Cultural Tourism and Heritage Tourism?

Cultural tourism and heritage tourism are two closely related concepts that are often used interchangeably. While both involve travel to experience cultural and historical aspects of a destination, there are distinct differences between the two.

Cultural tourism refers to the act of visiting a place to experience its unique culture, traditions, and ways of life. This type of tourism involves immersing oneself in the local customs, language, food, and art forms of a particular place. Cultural tourism often includes activities such as attending festivals, visiting museums, and participating in workshops.

On the other hand, heritage tourism is focused on the historical and cultural landmarks of a destination. Heritage tourism involves visiting places that have significant historical or cultural value, such as UNESCO World Heritage sites, ancient ruins, or cultural monuments. This type of tourism often includes activities such as visiting historical museums, archaeological sites, and religious sites.

One key difference between cultural tourism and heritage tourism is their focus. While cultural tourism is more focused on the living culture of a place, heritage tourism is focused on the historical and cultural landmarks. Another difference is that cultural tourism is often more immersive and experiential, while heritage tourism is more informative and educational.

Additionally, cultural tourism is often associated with local communities and their traditions, while heritage tourism is often associated with the preservation and protection of historical and cultural landmarks.

In conclusion, while cultural tourism and heritage tourism share similarities, such as their focus on cultural and historical aspects of a destination, they are two distinct concepts with different emphases and objectives. Understanding the differences between the two can help travelers choose the type of experience that best fits their interests and preferences.

Conclusion: Cultural Tourism Vs. Heritage Tourism

In conclusion, both cultural tourism and heritage tourism offer valuable opportunities for travelers to experience different cultures and learn about their histories.

Cultural tourism focuses on experiencing the living culture of a place, while heritage tourism focuses on the physical artifacts and landmarks of a place’s past. Both types of tourism can have positive impacts on local economies and communities when managed responsibly. However, it is important to recognize the potential negative impacts of tourism, such as exploitation of cultural practices and environmental degradation.

It is also important to note that the distinction between cultural and heritage tourism can be blurry, as many destinations offer a mix of both. Additionally, both types of tourism can complement each other and offer a more holistic experience for travelers. Ultimately, the key is to approach tourism with respect and awareness, and to prioritize sustainable and responsible practices that benefit both visitors and the local communities.

most recent

Entertainment , Miscellaneous

What is the difference between theme park and amusement park.

What is the Difference Between Party and Gathering?

What is the Difference Between Concert and Gig?

What is the Difference Between Festival and Celebration?

What is the Difference Between Dance and Movement?

What is the Difference Between Comedy and Humor?

SimilarDifferent

© 2024 SimilarDifferent.com

• Scholarly Community Encyclopedia
• Log in/Sign up

Video Upload Options

• MDPI and ACS Style
• Chicago Style

The integration of the cultural/creative and tourism industries is one way to present different types of regional cultural heritage to the world. With the growth of scenic towns and the revitalization of rural areas due to mass tourism, intangible cultural heritage has become an important tourism and cultural resource. The numbers of domestic and foreign tourists visiting these traditional cultural resources are on the rise every year. Many areas with rich cultural resources rely on tourism to alleviate poverty and achieve revitalization. However, a region’s tourism resources are not always proportional to its cultural heritage. It is important to carefully study the methods of regional tourism resource development, while also fully integrating cultural resources.

1. Cultural Heritage and Tourism

2. intangible cultural heritage.

• Dolnicar, S. A review of data-driven market segmentation in tourism. J. Travel Tour. Mark. 2002, 12, 1–22.
• Stylianou-Lambert, T. Gazing from home: Cultural tourism and art museums. Ann. Tour. Res. 2011, 38, 403–421.
• Turok, I. The distinctive city: Pitfalls in the pursuit of differential advantage. Environ. Plan. A 2009, 41, 13–30.
• Richards, G. Production and consumption of European cultural tourism. Ann. Tour. Res. 1996, 23, 261–283.
• Van der Duim, R.; Ren, C.; Thór Jóhannesson, G. Ordering, materiality, and multiplicity: Enacting Actor–Network Theory in tourism. Tour. Stud. 2013, 13, 3–20.
• Du Cros, H. New Models of Travel Behavior for Independent Asian Youth Urban Cultural Tourists; Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore: Singapore, 2014.
• Packer, J.; Ballantyne, R. Conceptualizing the visitor experience: A review of literature and development of a multifaceted model. Visit. Stud. 2016, 19, 128–143.
• Chen, H.; Rahman, I. Cultural tourism: An analysis of engagement, cultural contact, memorable tourism experience and destination loyalty. Tour. Manag. Perspect. 2018, 26, 153–163.
• Qiu, Q.; Zheng, T.; Xiang, Z.; Zhang, M. Visiting intangible cultural heritage tourism sites: From value cognition to attitude and intention. Sustainability 2019, 12, 132.
• Su, J. Managing intangible cultural heritage in the context of tourism: Chinese officials’ perspectives. J. Tour. Cult. Chang. 2020, 18, 164–186.
• Ramírez-Guerrero, G.; García-Onetti, J.; Arcila-Garrido, M.; Chica-Ruiz, J.A. A Tourism Potential Index for Cultural Heritage Management through the Ecosystem Services Approach. Sustainability 2021, 13, 6415.
• Richards, G. UNWTO Report on Tourism and Culture Synergies; UNWTO: Madrid, Spain, 2018.
• López Olivares, D. Los Recursos Turísticos. Evaluación, Ordenación y Planificación Turística. Estudio de Casos; Tirant lo Blanch Publishing House: Valencia, Spain, 2014.
• Potocnik Topler, J. Cultural events as tools of developing sustainable tourism in rural areas-the case of sevnica in slovenia. Annales 2021, 31, 245–258.
• Terkenli, T.S.; Georgoula, V. Tourism and cultural sustainability: Views and prospects from cyclades, Greece. Sustainability 2021, 14, 307.
• Reyes Morales, R.G.; Naude, A.; Cruz, A.; Hinojosa-Ojeda, R.; Martínez, R. Los Actores Sociales Frente Al Desarrollo Rural. Nueva Rural. Viejos Probl. 2005, 24, 223–275.
• Deng, J.; King, B.; Bauer, T. Evaluating natural attractions for tourism. Ann. Tour. Res. 2002, 29, 422–438.
• Ryan, J.; Silvanto, S. A study of the key strategic drivers of the use of the World Heritage site designation as a destination brand. J. Travel Tour. Mark. 2014, 31, 327–343.
• Noonan, D.S.; Rizzo, I. Economics of Cultural Tourism: Issues and Perspectives; Springer: Berlin/Heidelberg, Germany, 2017; pp. 95–107.
• Esfehani, M.H.; Albrecht, J.N. Roles of intangible cultural heritage in tourism in natural protected areas. J. Herit. Tour. 2018, 13, 15–29.
• Sammells, C.A. Haute traditional cuisines: How UNESCO’s list of intangible heritage links the cosmopolitan to the local. In Edible Identities: Food as Cultural Heritage; Routledge: London, UK, 2016; pp. 141–158.
• Vecco, M. A definition of cultural heritage: From the tangible to the intangible. J. Cult. Herit. 2010, 11, 321–324.
• Eichler, J. Intangible cultural heritage, inequalities and participation: Who decides on heritage? Int. J. Hum. Rights 2021, 25, 793–814.
• Not, E.; Petrelli, D. Blending customisation, context-awareness and adaptivity for personalised tangible interaction in cultural heritage. Int. J. Hum.-Comput. Stud. 2018, 114, 3–19.
• Su, Y.-W.; Lin, H.-L. Analysis of international tourist arrivals worldwide: The role of world heritage sites. Tour. Manag. 2014, 40, 46–58.
• Taylor, J. Locating intangible cultural heritage in Norway. In The Routledge Companion to Intangible Cultural Heritage; Routledge: London, UK, 2016; pp. 240–253.
• Zhu, Y.; González Martínez, P. Heritage, values and gentrification: The redevelopment of historic areas in China. Int. J. Herit. Stud. 2022, 28, 476–494.
• Esfehani, M.H.; Albrecht, J.N. Planning for intangible cultural heritage in tourism: Challenges and implications. J. Hosp. Tour. Res. 2019, 43, 980–1001.
• Richards, G. Cultural tourism: A review of recent research and trends. J. Hosp. Tour. Manag. 2018, 36, 12–21.
• Stefano, M.L.; Davis, P. The Routledge Companion to Intangible Cultural Heritage; Taylor & Francis: New York, NY, USA, 2016.
• Labadi, S. UNESCO, Cultural Heritage, and Outstanding Universal Value: Value-Based Analyses of the World Heritage and Intangible Cultural Heritage Conventions; AltaMira Press: Thousand Oaks, CA, USA, 2013.
• Arizpe, L.; Amescua, C. Anthropological Perspectives on Intangible Cultural Heritage; Springer: Berlin/Heidelberg, Germany, 2013.
• Lixinski, L. Intangible Cultural Heritage in International Law; OUP Oxford: Oxford, UK, 2013.
• Yelmi, P. Protecting contemporary cultural soundscapes as intangible cultural heritage: Sounds of Istanbul. Int. J. Herit. Stud. 2016, 22, 302–311.
• DeSoucey, M.; Elliott, M.A.; Schmutz, V. Rationalized authenticity and the transnational spread of intangible cultural heritage. Poetics 2019, 75, 101332.
• Tan, S.-K.; Lim, H.-H.; Tan, S.-H.; Kok, Y.-S. A cultural creativity framework for the sustainability of intangible cultural heritage. J. Hosp. Tour. Res. 2020, 44, 439–471.
• Schreiber, H. Intangible cultural heritage and soft power–exploring the relationship. Int. J. Intang. Herit. 2017, 12, 44–57.
• Zhang, Y.; Han, M.; Chen, W. The strategy of digital scenic area planning from the perspective of intangible cultural heritage protection. EURASIP J. Image Video Process. 2018, 2018, 130.
• Su, J. Understanding the changing intangible cultural heritage in tourism commodification: The music players’ perspective from Lijiang, China. J. Tour. Cult. Chang. 2019, 17, 247–268.
• Li, D.; Zhou, S. Evaluating the Authenticity of Naxi Music in Three Stages from the Perspective of Naxi Musicians: An Application of Lacan’s Mirror Stage Theory. Sustainability 2021, 13, 3720.
• Tan, S.-K.; Tan, S.-H.; Kok, Y.-S.; Choon, S.-W. Sense of place and sustainability of intangible cultural heritage–The case of George Town and Melaka. Tour. Manag. 2018, 67, 376–387.

• Terms and Conditions
• Privacy Policy
• Advisory Board

Heritage Tourism vs. Cultural Tourism Definition Essay

While considering the concepts, purposes, and definitions of heritage tourism and cultural tourism, much controversy arises in terms of their similarities and distinctions. At a glance, both branches relate to the concept of cultural preservation, but revealed from various angles. Despite the fact that cultural and heritage visitors pursue similar purposes, it is still possible to highlight slight distinctions between those. In order to define the differences, it is purposeful to pay attention to the composite parts of heritage tourism and cultural tourism. More importantly, objects, geographic location, time frames, and representation groups are also among the limits of the two definitions. Because of the plethora of factors influencing definition, many complexities and confusions may arise. To define the differences, specific emphasis should be placed on the consideration of urban and rural areas, consideration of people as the object of tourism, and conventional attitude toward cultural and heritage tourism.

The term of heritage tourism is associated not only with economic and intellectual dimensions, as well as with the historic environment, including built and natural, but also with profile of material cultural, cultural identities, and intellectual inheritances (Timothy & Boyd, 2003). However, similar perspectives are also seen while considering the term “cultural tourism”. Though the linkages between these types are presented, there are still discrepancies. Specifically, cultural tourism “…goes beyond the visitation of sites and monuments, to include consuming the way of life of places visited” (Timothy and Boyd 2003, p. 5). There is also an assumption that cultural tourism covers the concept of heritage tourism, whereas the latter is much more specific. Hence, heritage tourism is considered one of the most importance forms of cultural tourism. More importantly, cultural tourism is a larger definition because it is more associated with tourism itself as a culture. Therefore, most of cultural attractions are created to encourage more cultural visitors.

Definition of cultural tourism, therefore, can be presented as follows: “all movements of persons to specific cultural attractions as museums, heritage sites, artistic performances and festivals outside their normal place of residence” (Richards 1996, p. 24). Therefore, cultural tourism does not only refer to historical places, but also to the people’s lifestyles, their cultural backgrounds, as well as cultural visitors’ perceptions and experiences. Hence, cultural tourism definition is more connected with the idea of lifestyles being part of culture. In this respect, cultural tourists are more concerned with experiential aspects of culture. In a broader context, this principle is linked with ethnic tourism, with people’s way of life as the central problem. Specifically, Smith argues, “the traveler is motivated primarily by first-hand, authentic or intimate contact with people whose ethnic and cultural background is different from their own” (Smith 2003, p. 30).

As cultural tourism is more tied to individuals’ perception and exploring people as a part of cultural, heritage tourism involves a more specific concept that is associated with places, but not with people and their ways of life. Hence, Timothy and Boyd (2003) define heritage tourism as “a subgroup of tourism, in which the main motivation for visiting a site is based on the place’s heritage characteristic according to the tourists’ perception…” (p. 6). Overall, cultural tourism is more concerned with subjective evaluation of historic sites and events because people often perceive attraction spots with regard to their own cultural and social backgrounds. In contrast, heritage tourism is more congruent with objective vision of events and is more linked to the location.

Heritage tourism, just like cultural tourism, is associated with both scientific and natural resources and, therefore, it contributes to the difficulty in defining the main differences in their definitions (Howard 2003). Specifically, heritage tourism is more concerned with natural resource as historical evidence of the past, such ancient places constituting archeological value, or old groves whose historical importance is underlines (Howard 2003). The natural locations can be linked to specific historical events happened to this place. In contrast, cultural tourism can also consider natural resource as the part of tourist attraction but they involve much broader categories, such as specific of nature itself, presence of exotic plants, minerals, etc that characterize the current state of culture in a country.

To define the concept of heritage definition, it is rational to outline the definition of the world heritage site, its scope and purposes. In this respect, Least and Fyall (2006) acknowledge that the main purpose of the World Heritage Site is to “to represent a masterpiece of human genius or to contain superlative natural phenomenon; or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance” (p. 7). In this respect, the problem of World Heritage Community is to assure reservation and protection of resources contained within the dimension of heritage site (Page and Hall 2003). Due to the fact that heritage site attractions are closely correlated with people’s life, these criteria are often related to cultural tourism. However, the focus should be made on the value of the place and the resource involved in creating the masterpieces of heritage tourism. Because of these close connection, the definition of both terms face a great number of complexities.

Apart from issues of place and people involved into definition of heritage tourism with regard to cultural tourism, emphasis should also be placed on the concept of the past and the present. In fact, cultural tourism embraces larger concepts and contexts whose trends and tendencies have been changing over time (McKercher & Du Cros 2002). Therefore, the actual process of cultural tourism development is not congruent with the processes introduced in the sphere of heritage tourism because it is associated predominantly with the preservation of the past. Therefore, the main value of heritage tourism lies in its antiquity, history of humanity that is related to the present times, but still is of paramount importance for heritage visitors.

In addition, the possibility to resurrect the buildings, places, and objects from the past is quite beneficial for heritage management development, particularly for the development of cultural tourism (Drummond 2000). For instance, industrial heritage, including obsolete machines and technological devices can contribute to the development of modern industry as well as to the increasing interest in protecting and developing the available heritage resources (Drummond 2000). In contrast, cultural tourism fails to consider the experience of the past and is more concerned with the meeting the needs of the visitors. Culture, therefore, is not confined to objects and places of the past, but to its representation in the modern context.

In order to develop successful heritage visitor attraction, heritage tourism is supported by historic preservation groups whereas cultural tourism is monitored by art and museum groups where cultural aspects of the present can also be represented (Leask & Yeoman 1999). Hence, both dimensions have various perspectives in terms of purposes. In this respect, heritage visitor attractions are indispensible in case the site meets organizational requirements. Specifically, cultural tourism does not include protection and preservation of resources because its resources are unlimited due to the constant development of culture and society. In contrast, heritage tourism is more linked to the ancient times and resources that are not possible to restore in the present time.

The major difference between cultural tourism and heritage tourism lies in its location. In particular, cultural tourism is focused mostly in urban areas whereas heritage tourism is located predominantly in rural areas. The current process affecting this field explains the urban character of cultural heritage. This is of particular concern to the globalization process, which can also be regarded as a part of cultural tourism. Because of the present character of culture as a representation of people’s lifestyles, cultural tourism can be more successful in places of greater foci of the population (Sigala and Leslie 2005). More importantly, the cultural tourism concept bears a constantly changing nature because of the constant shifts in cultural and social development of society, although the change occurs only to specific fields of culture. Urban life, therefore, is already a concept which has its own cultural characteristics. Its fast-growing rhythms contribute to the changing values of society.

Rural character of heritage tourism occurs more frequently in the developing regions of the world, where historical sites serve an important source of profits and economic prosperity. In this respect, Timothy and Nyaupane (2009) associate heritage tourism with “living and built elements of culture and refer to the use of the tangible and intangible past as a tourism resource” (p. 3). Though the cultural heritage includes consideration of the existing cultures, the reference is still made to the experience of these cultures, traditions, and ways of life. Such a perspective makes it difficult to distinguish between the heritage tourism and the cultural tourism, but with few exceptions. While referring the cultural tourism, it should be stressed that it is more concerned with the current status of the culture, as well as changes occurred to it. More importantly, it should not necessarily refer to the built-in environment, but to the overall economic, political, and cultural atmosphere in a country.

In the field of management, cultural tourism and heritage tourism are differently arranged because of the divergence in methods. In particular, heritage management seeks to define the most effective methods of conservation and preservation of indigenous culture, as well as historic buildings (Sigala and Leslie 2005; Feilden and Jokilehto 1998). They face various challenges in terms of protection of historical sites during the tourism activities (Hall and McArthur 1996). Thus, heritage visitor is of secondary importance to heritage tourism whereas cultural tourism itself is based on the visitors’ attendance of population attractions (Sigala and Leslie 2005). In this respect, heritage management is focused on strategic evaluation and planning as an important tool for handling heritage. In contrast, visitor management is more concerned with marketing, interpretation, visitor monitoring at a wider context with regard to the restriction imposed on heritage sites. In general, the indigenous dimension in heritage tourism is more important than the marketing one.

The main purpose of heritage tourism is to meet the intellectual concerns of the tourists, where the secondary importance is given to entertainment and recreational issues (Shackley 1998). Because a World Heritage Site provides visitors with authentic intellectual experience, which might not be received while attending cultural tourist spots, the heritage tourism is more concerned with genuineness and uniqueness of sites (Fyall et al. 2008). Therefore, quality is among the most important factors associated with heritage tourism because it influences the popularity of the historical places and buildings.

Cultural tourism managers are focused on the profit potential of the attraction sites, as well as it capacity to encourage more tourists to visit this place whereas heritage professionals pay more attention to the historical assets of the intrinsic value. Therefore, managers from these fields have different priorities while dealing with cultural tourism and heritage tourism.

In conclusion, it should be stressed that the terms cultural tourism and heritage tourism create a number of misconceptions concerning their definitions. The point is that both areas have similar purposes in terms of tourist management. Nevertheless, there are still some tangible distinctions between those. This is of particular concern to such aspects as place and location, people, historical value, management, and nature and purpose of visitors attending the attraction sites. In this respect, heritage tourism is more associated with build in environment where the location itself constitute a historical values where cultural tourism relates to the culture in a broader context because it is connected with the experience of people living in the country of interest, as well as the current traditions and norms. In addition, heritage tourism focuses on the past value of objects, buildings, and sites whereas cultural tourism traces its current status as well as tendencies in the cultural development of the contemporary society.

Reference List

Drummond, S 2000, Quality Issues in Heritage Visitor Attractions , Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford.

Feilden, B and Jokilehto, J 1998, Management Guidelines for World Cultural Heritage Sites , ICCROM, Paris.

Fyall, A Garrod, B, Leask, A, and Wanhill, S, 2008, Managing Visitor Attractions: New Directions (2nd edition),Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford.

Hall, CM and McArthur, S 1996, Heritage Management in Australia & New Zealand , Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Howard, P 2003, Heritage: Management, Interpretation and Identity , Continuum, London.

Leask, A and Fyall, A 2006, Managing World Heritage Sites , Elsevier, Oxford.

Leask, A and Yeoman, I 1999, Heritage Visitor Attractions – An Operations Management Perspective , Continuum, London.

McKercher, B and Du Cros, H 2002, Cultural Tourism: The Partnership Between Tourism and Cultural Heritage Management . Routledge, London.

Page, S and Hall, CM 2003 , Managing Urban Tourism , Prentice Hall, Harlow.

Richards, G 1996, Cultural Tourism in Europe , CAB International, US.

Shackley, M 1998, Visitor Management – Case Studies from World Heritage Sites , Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford.

Sigala, M and Leslie, D 2005, International Cultural Tourism – Management, Implications and Cases . Elsevier, Australia.

Smith, M 2003, Issues in Cultural Tourism Studies , Routledge , London.

Timothy, D and Nyaupane, G 2009, Cultural Heritage and Tourism in the Developing World: a Regional perspective , Routledge, Abingdon.

Timothy, DJ, and Boyd, SW 2003, Heritage Tourism , Pearson Education, US.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2020, July 29). Heritage Tourism vs. Cultural Tourism Definition. https://ivypanda.com/essays/heritage-tourism-vs-cultural-tourism-definition/

"Heritage Tourism vs. Cultural Tourism Definition." IvyPanda , 29 July 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/heritage-tourism-vs-cultural-tourism-definition/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'Heritage Tourism vs. Cultural Tourism Definition'. 29 July.

IvyPanda . 2020. "Heritage Tourism vs. Cultural Tourism Definition." July 29, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/heritage-tourism-vs-cultural-tourism-definition/.

1. IvyPanda . "Heritage Tourism vs. Cultural Tourism Definition." July 29, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/heritage-tourism-vs-cultural-tourism-definition/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Heritage Tourism vs. Cultural Tourism Definition." July 29, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/heritage-tourism-vs-cultural-tourism-definition/.

• Heritage Tourism and Cultural Tourism
• Heritage and Cultural Tourism
• Heritage Tourism: Megalithic Temples
• Sustainability of Heritage Tourism in Australia
• Online Marketing of Heritage Visitor Attractions in Malta
• Cultural Heritage Tourism: Valletta and Venice
• Heritage Tourism and Its Peculiarities
• Tourists' Attitude to Technology in China's Heritage Tourism
• Essay on Saudi Arabia, Tourism, Attractions, and Development
• Cultural Tourism: Best Tourism Practices and Cultural Heritage Resources
• Improving Business Tourism in Abu Dhabi
• Road Trip: From Oklahoma City to San Antonio in Texas
• Tourist Destinations: the Lake of Geneva Region
• Equitours' Organization: Tourism Destinations
• New Product Invention: Australian Tourism

The Partnership between Tourism and Cultural Heritage Management: Key Actions at the International Level

• First Online: 15 November 2023

Cite this chapter

• Hilary du Cros 4  

112 Accesses

The nature of the partnership between tourism and cultural heritage management is discussed in this chapter. Ideally, sustainable cultural tourism should involve a partnership that satisfies both tourism and cultural heritage management stakeholders. The chapter discusses the parallel evolution of tourism and cultural management, which leads into a discussion of their role as potential collaborators. Six possible relationships that exist along the conflict/partnership continuum are then discussed. Full partnership represents one end while open conflict represents the other end. A case study is presented which explores the nature of the relationship and key actions at the international level for World Heritage properties regarding strategic planning and resilience building. Finally, recommendations are made for better information sharing and more collective problem-solving to move beyond peaceful coexistence to close partnerships between the sectors at international and destination levels.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

• Available as PDF
• Read on any device
• Instant download
• Own it forever
• Available as EPUB and PDF
• Durable hardcover edition
• Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
• Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Listing of organizational abbreviations used in this article

UN World Trade Organization

Global Sustainable Tourism Council

International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property ICOMOS

International Council on Monuments and Sites

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNWTO

United Nations World Tourism Organization

Butler R (ed) (2017) Tourism and resilience. CABI International, Wallingford

Google Scholar  

du Cros H, Lee YSF (2007) Cultural heritage management in China: preserving the Pearl River Delta cities. Routledge/Abingdon, London

Book   Google Scholar  

du Cros H, McKercher B (2020) Cultural tourism, 3rd edn. Routledge/Abingdon, London

Esen SY, Alinoz GB (2021) The heritage resilience scorecard: performance measurement in risk governance of cultural heritage. Hist Environ Policy Pract 12(5):1–30

GSTC (2021) Athens joins GSTC. Available at: https:// www.gstcouncil.org/athens-joins-gstc/. Accessed 5 Dec 2022

Higgins-Desbiolles F, Chew B, Doering A (2021) Socializing tourism after COVID-19: reclaiming tourism as a social force? J Tour Futures ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print). Follow journal https://doi.org/10.1108/JTF-03-2021-0058

ICCROM (2021) ICCROM Sendai framework from 2015. https://www.undrr.org/implementing- sendai-framework/what-sendai-framework . Accessed 27 Apr 2022

ICOMOS (1976, 1999, 2021) Cultural tourism charter. https://www.icomos.org/en/resources/charters-and-texts . Accessed 27 Apr 2022

McKercher B, Ho SY, du Cros H (2005) The relationship between tourism and cultural heritage: evidence from Hong Kong. Tour Manag 26:539–548

Article   Google Scholar  

Noorashid N, Wei LC (2021) Coping with COVID-19: the resilience and transformation of community-based tourism in Brunei Darussalam. Sustainability 13(15):8618. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158618 . Accessed 27 Apr 2022

Resta V, Perossini F (2019) Resilient tourism in a resilient cultural heritage site. In: Kavoura A, Kefallonitis E, Giovanis A (eds) Strategic innovative marketing and tourism, Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12453-3_131 . Accessed 27 Apr 202

Sharma DG, Thomas A, Paul J (2021) Reviving tourism industry post-COVID-19: a resilience-based framework. Tour Manag Perspect 37:100786. ISSN 2211-9736. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2020.100786 . Accessed 27 Apr 2022

Smith-Christensen C (2021) Building resilience through visitor management and monetory innovation. Poster at living heritage and climate change Scientific Symposium August 2021 Special issue on destination tourism resilience research in Tourism Review International (2018), vol. 22

UNESCO (2000) Levuka Fiji action plan. Forum conducted UNESCO cultural heritage management and tourism: models for cooperation among stakeholders’ conference/workshop, Bhaktapur, Nepal 8–12 April 2000

UNESCO (2021) World heritage in the face of COVID-19. Available at: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000377667 . Accessed 28 Sept 2021

UNESCO Bangkok (2021) About. UNESCO sustainable tourism pledge. Available at: https://unescosustainable.travel/en/about-the-pledge . Accessed 28 Sept 2021

UNWTO (2004) Tourism congestion management at natural and cultural sites. UNWTO, Madrid

UNWTO (2021) UNWTO/UNESCO world conference on tourism and culture investing future generations. Available at: https://www.unwto.org/4th-unwtounesco-world-conference-tourism- and-culture-investing-future-generations . Accessed 29 Sept 2021

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

University of New Brunswick, St John, New Brunswick, Canada

Hilary du Cros

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and affiliations.

Boise State University, Boise, ID, USA

Department of Archaeology, Silpakorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

Thanik Lertcharnrit

Associate Director Southeast Archaeological Center (Retired), National Park Service, Tallahassee, FL, USA

George S. Smith

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

du Cros, H. (2023). The Partnership between Tourism and Cultural Heritage Management: Key Actions at the International Level. In: Yu, PL., Lertcharnrit, T., Smith, G.S. (eds) Heritage and Cultural Heritage Tourism. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-44800-3_16

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-44800-3_16

Published : 15 November 2023

Publisher Name : Springer, Cham

Print ISBN : 978-3-031-44799-0

Online ISBN : 978-3-031-44800-3

eBook Packages : Social Sciences Social Sciences (R0)

Interaction between Cultural/Creative Tourism and Tourism/ Cultural Heritage Industries

Submitted: 02 October 2015 Reviewed: 22 February 2016 Published: 04 May 2016

DOI: 10.5772/62661

Cite this chapter

There are two ways to cite this chapter:

From the Edited Volume

Tourism - From Empirical Research Towards Practical Application

Edited by Leszek Butowski

To purchase hard copies of this book, please contact the representative in India: CBS Publishers & Distributors Pvt. Ltd. www.cbspd.com | [email protected]

Chapter metrics overview

3,937 Chapter Downloads

Impact of this chapter

Total Chapter Downloads on intechopen.com

Total Chapter Views on intechopen.com

The chapter presents a review of the conceptions of cultural and creative tourism, their resources, objectives and their benefit and damage to the nature and the society. It is very important in the postmodern society to not only develop cultural tourism that is one of the most rapidly growing branches of economy, but also to employ cultural heritage and does not always develop the common heritage and tourism industry. This is an especially sore point because the common cultural heritage and tourism industry has an opportunity to create added financial value for cities, regions, and it also develops a responsible conserving cultural tourist. Creative tourism is different from cultural tourism in that it provides tourists with experiences through their direct participation in offered tourism activities. Another idiosyncratic feature is that creative tourism travel packs are created by not only tourism organisations, but also communities that have authentic tangible and intangible heritage. It is important to note that cultural tourism can transform into creative tourism. Heritage tourism is of great importance as well because it relates to the aforementioned types of tourism. ‘Red’ tourism can be distinguished as a type of heritage tourism that attracts tourists’ attention.

• Cultural/creative tourism
• heritage tourism
• cultural heritage
• tourism industry

Author Information

Dr. jurėnienė virginija *.

• Vilnius University, Lithuania

*Address all correspondence to: [email protected]

1. Introduction

In the twentieth-century modern global society, it is especially important to discuss the change of information, rapid pace of life, the ever-changing generations of people with the features particular to them; however, what is even more important are national identities and cultural differences which are crucial to stand out from the crowd by attracting the attention of other cultures, attracting investments and developing economy, strengthening culture and national identity as well as the image of a particular country. Tourism is a branch of economy which, according to the data of the World Tourism Organisation and UNESCO, should be developing very rapidly, especially the alternative branches of tourism, i.e., cultural and creative tourism.

In the second half of the twentieth century, a massive tourism industry was generated globally. Alongside this industry, cultural heritage industry operates. They both employ the same resources, i.e., cultural heritage and natural heritage; however, they do not always cooperate, even though they should.

2. Cultural, creative tourism and its industries

2.1. the concept of cultural tourism.

Generally, cultural tourism is classified according to motivational factors that indicate the dominating motif which promotes travelling. Based on the literature, the following six types of tourism are distinguished with regard to the goal of a trip: business tourism, professional tourism, leisure and entertainment tourism, cognitive-cultural tourism, sports tourism, rural tourism and wellbeing tourism [ 1 ].

Cultural tourism is especially closely related with special demands of tourists because the desire to explore, “test out” other authentic cultures, explore artefacts of extinct cultures, and the goal to familiarise with “other” cultures are an especially important motif [ 2 ]. This encourages developers of heritage tourism and heritage to create a complex outlook towards cultural artefacts: an object itself cannot function without its target environment because together they form cultural landscape, e.g., the urbanist landscape of Vilnius Old Town (Lithuania). In 2009, it was included into the UNESCO heritage list. The Kernavė (Lithuania) archaeological site is a unique territorial complex of archaeological and historical values (194.4 hectares) included in the UNESCO heritage lists in 2004.

Cultural tourism is equally important in aiming to preserve cultural and historical heritage: the higher number of tourists interested in cultural heritage, the more financial support it attracts. Cultural tourism remains important in creating a positive image of a country or city on a global scale.

Culture has always been the main goal of any trip since the Great Travels in the sixteenth century. In the twentieth century, a notion that culture was no longer the goal of tourism appeared. In any case, however, cultural values play a very important role on the scale of both heritage tourism and the entire tourism industry.

Over a certain period of time, the types of tourism became more concentrated and oriented towards a certain area. Traditional mass tourism which Hall [ 3 ] describes as a temporary, short-term trip to and from a certain place where the traveller does not live faces an alternative – tourism that satisfies specific needs of travellers, i.e., cultural, educational and other. According to McKercher [ 4 ], cultural tourism is undoubtedly the oldest type of the ‘most modern’ types of tourism: people have been travelling for the so-called cultural reasons from the Roman times; the difference is that they were not treated as exceptional travellers until today. Pilgrim travels, visits to historical locations, special events, festivals, and rituals have been known for ages. Today it is called alternative tourism ( Figure 1 ).

Figure 1.

Types of tourism. Source: created by the author based on reference 5 .

According to Newsome, Moore and Dowling [ 5 ], alternative tourism is responsible or specific interest-related tourism that includes small numbers of tourists under authentic, natural or cultural conditions, and that encompasses natural tourism (i.e., tourism in a natural environment), cultural tourism (i.e., heritage, religions, etc.), event tourism (i.e., sports, festivals, etc.), and other (i.e., educational, farm tourism and so on).

By the end of the twentieth century, cultural tourism becomes one of the main fields of academic research and topics of discussion.

The concept of new tourism can be described by employing one of Craik’s [ 6 ] statements about the recently popular forms of tourism that are more flexible, often complemented by the terms ‘communication-enriching’, ‘satisfying’, ‘adventurous’, and oriented towards individual needs. Satisfaction of cultural needs becomes not only a component of holidays, but also the main catalyst of travelling. Due to different conflicts in the world and xenophobia based on misunderstandings, cultural tourism may often help cultures to communicate and encourage mutual understanding. Knowing the culture of other nations, we understand each other better and experience a rising wish to cooperate. This promotes communication and integration [ 7 ].

It is easier to find descriptions of various activities of cultural tourism in scientific literature than the conception of it itself. These activities are often described as visiting historical structures and localities, museums, galleries, heritage territories, castles, churches, etc., and observing modern arts, sculptures or visual arts [ 8 ].

Table 1 introduces more definitions of cultural tourism.

Table 1.

Definitions of cultural tourism.

Source: created by the author.

UNESCO and the World Tourism Organisation describe cultural tourism as a trip that includes cultural and cognitive purposes. It is a way to know, improve, preserve and use cultural resources, landscape, architecture, artistic activities and unique features of a certain place. Creative tourism also aims at familiarising with a country yet creating immediate communication and cooperation with local citizens by obtaining experience of a certain kind.

2.1.1. Benefit of cultural tourism

Cultural tourism provides a sense of discovery, intercultural understanding, and enriches a personality. Cultural tourism helps to know the world, familiarise with the cultural diversity, traditions, customs, find out about different lifestyles, etc . Feeling, interacting, tasting, discovering, travelling, meeting, participating and finding out – all these elements comprise simple human well-being.

UNESCO supports cultural tourism as a measure to preserve cultural values . In a world of conflicts, cultural tourism for people divided by distrust and xenophobia may often help to communicate and lead to mutual understanding. Cultural tourism thus adds to the dialogue between cultures. Miscellaneous experience enriches an individual’s perception and educates their ability to understand and feel for others. People learn from one another and thus acquire diverse skills to solve their own problems. This at the same time promotes communication and integration.

In localities that are frequently visited by tourists, employment of residents increases and it becomes easier to keep people in the region that has a positive effect on the development of the country and the region . This improves the demographic situation because the youth are provided with more opportunities. This type of tourism provides many opportunities for not only tourists, but also the hosts of a country for better life conditions, and its activities encompass the entire target territory. Moreover, cultural tourism helps to create new ideas and invites local residents to cooperate, which in turn encourages economic and social development of a country [ 7 ].

Tourism is one of the channels via which countries may reveal their identity to the international society .

The European Commission supports cultural tourism as the main branch of industry that brings economic profit . Tourists tend to buy more local production. Moreover, ‘cultural’ tourists travel longer than local tourists and spend more money; thus, cultural tourism creates income for culture itself and supports it. Cultural tourism becomes the source of seeking income.

With regard to all these benefits of cultural tourism, it can be said that all of these cannot be achieved without management. Therefore, every country must invest large amounts of money into cultural tourism management. The aim of cultural tourism management is to create and introduce a unique product, and offer a consumer tourist an experience which would catch their attention on the basis of the following three main principles: preservation , utilisation , and promotion . According to them, the society can achieve other goals. First of all, it can encourage conservative use of values and develop and improve a personality, i.e., a new tourist who belongs to the postmodern, consumerist society must understand that cultural values should not only be consumed, but also be preserved for future generations ( Figure 2 ).

Figure 2.

Principles of cultural tourism. Source: created by the author.

Feedback of cultural tourism stands for positive response of foreign guests and tourists who encourage close friends to visit that locality and that country; it also stands for spreading the name of a country, locality or object on the global scale, attracting investments and finances, cultivating a country’s national heritage. International organisations such as UNESCO and ICOMOS see cultural tourism as one of the most important guarantees of subtle growth and heritage preservation.

2.2. Creative tourism

Creative tourism has developed from cultural tourism as the needs and wishes of people to discover something new changed.

Creative tourism is a new form of tourism that includes very high potential to change existing models of tourism and contribute to the appearance of new experiences. Creative tourism may help to encourage social and cultural development and the rise of local economy. This type of tourism includes not only incoming tourists into the life of a country, but also its society which creates and helps to preserve traditions and old values.

With regard to these factors that have determined the rise of creative tourism, a high degree of influence was created by the existence of the consumerist culture. People were forced to think about what was there and then, and that it had to be preserved. The appearance of creative tourism was mostly influenced by the altering thinking and a larger portion of free time, which influenced the human wish to discover something other than what had been discovered by mass tourists.

Table 2 introduces definitions of cultural tourism. The first definition of creative tourism was created in 2006 by UNESCO during the first international conference on creative tourism held in October 2006 in Santa Fe (USA).

Table 2.

Definitions of creative tourism. Source: created by the author.

The main idea of the concepts includes the tourist’s participation in activities and acquisition of authentic experience, which is the main aim of creative tourism. It can also be said that this form of tourism aims at not only a tourist’s participation, but also the participation of a local community. In cultural tourism, community plays a marginal role as only the most beautiful cultural routes and most popular locations are shown; in the case of creative tourism, it also encourages to leave mass tourism behind and aims at observing old traditions and authentic culture rather than what has already been discovered or is new.

Catriona Campbell, a creative tourism marketing specialist, also identifies this type of tourism with various activities and participation in them. It aims at introducing tourists with specific foreign types of arts, various authentic crafts and traditional food. Every tourist would be able to choose the most interesting activity. Even though people’s desires and goals would differ, in any case, they would have to communicate with local communities and learn from them [ 12 ]. Campbell emphasises that tourists would be provided with an opportunity to live in high quality residential locations. This statement can be interpreted as follows: tourists would be accommodated together with a community that organises various seminars and practice, which would create immediate communication and mutual cooperation. Living with the locals allows getting to know local culture fully, learning various crafts or just feeling like one is a part of the society [ 12 ].

Crispin Raymond [ 13 ] is one of the founders of creative tourism in New Zealand. He states that this type of tourism has existed since the beginning of tourism and that it has only acquired an individual title.

One of the most important features of creative tourism is informal communication. In order for the guests to become a part of the society, it is necessary to provide them with an opportunity to communicate in informal environment and create conditions that we live in. This would allow tourists to empathise and not be afraid of observing deeper traditions. Crispin Raymond distinguishes informal participation as the most important aspect, which other authors do not emphasise [ 13 ]. The aim is to make tourists feel at home and become closer to the community through various seminars and experiences. In Lithuania, an exceptional example of creative tourism that has become a well-known event of international inbound tourism is the mushroom festival entitled “Grybų karas Varėnoje” ( En. “Mushroom War in Varėna”). It takes place annually on the last Saturday of September. The festival includes entertainment and many activities for different segments of tourists.

Moreover, the concept of creative tourism is inseparable from the concept of creative city because cities that invite such tourists organise various seminars, teach them how to apply theoretical knowledge practically and allow them integrating into the local culture and are called creative cities.

2.2.1. Forms of creative tourism

Creative tourism could not do without creative development; therefore, the following two main ways of implementing creative tourism are distinguished:

1) Using creativity as one of the activities of tourism;

2) Using creativity as a certain background for tourism.

The first way is a more traditional model of creative tourism because it emphasises active participation of tourists in creative activities . More and more communities believe that their creative life and activities may make their city attractive for tourists even if they only want to look around instead of taking up activities.

Moreover, there are various types of experience and products that can be attributed to a creative tourist from active involvement into activities, learning specific skills, to looking around galleries and browsing creative product stores ( Table 3 ).

Table 3.

Typology of creative tourism experiences.

Source: reference 14 .

In the case of the second variant , creativity is used as a certain background only . In this case, tourist creativity is achieved in a less direct way than during participation in all activities. Here the aim is to create a common atmosphere which consists of the entire creative sector and environment. In order to attract as many tourists as possible not only creative spread of information is important, but it is also claimed that all of these may be used as a certain specific bait for people. An example of such creative background is cuisine of a certain country as it may attract tourists who want to taste the food and know various cooking secrets rather than those who want to learn to cook. Lithuania includes active routes of “Bread”, “Cheese”, “Beer” and “Wine” (these are thematic excursions during which tourists not only taste these products, but also participate in their production). A large number of tourists bake bread in Anyksciai (Lithuania).

2.2.2. Differences between cultural and creative tourism

Creative tourism anticipates attracting tourists by means of various cultural values, aims at developing the creative community, promoting development of creative industries, and local economics would be significantly improved from income obtained from tourism. The differences between cultural tourism and creative tourism are introduced in Table 4 .

Table 4.

Differences between cultural and creative tourism.

Source: created by the author based on reference [ 15 ].

As Table 4 shows, cultural tourism and creative tourism are based on different resources. Cultural tourism is oriented towards visiting famous structures, big events, and lively maintenance of culture. What is important here is to preserve what is more tangible and may bring more profit. On the other hand, the resources of creative tourism are related with intangible values such as learning, gaining experience and development of traditions. Contrary to the cultural tourist, the creative tourist does not have to see impressive historical buildings, places included in the UNESCO lists, or big events; the aim of creative tourism is to develop all cities and countries creatively.

Income and its distribution differ as well. Cultural tourism makes profit for the local economy through tourism taxes, fees for tickets to various museums, events and souvenirs; however, creative tourism steps over all these payments. In order for this type of tourism to exist, there is no need to collect various taxes and fees that go into the hands of officials and the country. Creative tourism encourages the development of local communities, and tourists provide financial support and pay for services directly to the community. Cultural tourism includes the major part of export is carried out in the outgoing market where travel organisers and agencies sell their products. Only a small part of cultural tourism is carried out in the country [ 15 ]. Moreover, very little profit from all the travel products sold goes directly to local communities because major part of taxes and profit must be given to the country. Contrary to cultural tourism, creative tourism directly contributes to improving local economy and the life of the community.

Another problem that separates these two types of tourism is the main aim of tourists, i.e., what tourists wish to achieve during a trip, if they just want to rest on the beach, see many churches or gain certain skills. A major part of tourists are the so-called ‘random cultural tourists’: these are tourists who use the product of cultural tourism with the aim of seeing a country, famous places and resting. The creative tourist travels because of motivation to see the country as well as learn something, participate in creative activities and communicate with local people. All these help to separate a common tourist from a creative tourist.

Cultural tourism is more oriented towards tangible values than creative tourism is. In this case, creative tourism is fully oriented towards intangible resources, their development and preservation; thus, tourists have different travelling goals. Some find it important to see the most famous buildings, beautiful nature, and others want to be included in the social life and learn from it.

2.2.3. Benefit and results of creative tourism

Creative tourism provides two-fold benefit, i.e., tangible and intangible. Tangible benefit from creative tourism may be easily measured as expenses before, during and after a trip, and those expenses are related with the trip and objects to be visited. Scholars R. Ohridska-Olson and S. Ivanov analyse creative tourism and point out its tangible benefit as follows: cultural capital, market development, innovations, preservation of cultural heritage, endurance, visibility of the producer, creation of work places, and export [ 15 ]. It is important to note that not only creative tourism, but also cultural tourism is a branch of economy like other types of tourism; thus, it is an important part of GDP of all countries.

Scholars R. Ohridska-Olson and S. Ivanov have distinguished intangible benefit generated by creative tourism as well, i.e., local identity and peculiarity, social capital, preservation of cultural values, human interaction and cultural exchange, and adding variety to local culture [ 15 ].

Creative tourism brings much benefit in every sense, helps to preserve both tangible and intangible values, preserves heritage, protects the old traditions, promotes a country abroad and creates new work places for residents, which is especially important in the context of the today’s recession. Moreover, it creates immediate cooperation between people of different nationalities and forms a new market of tourism. All these factors allow contributing to the improvement of local economy through income to local residents, companies and municipality budgets by means of various taxes.

2.3. Heritage tourism

The concept of cultural heritage has been developing over a long period of time. Throughout different periods, the concepts of monumental and resource culture heritage can be distinguished. The concept of monumental heritage can be traced back to the Renaissance concepts of monumento ( En. monument) and antichitá ( En. antique). Since the twentieth century, the change of this concept has been influenced by a change of the concept of an ethnic country, the forming international society, international law, legislative processes, processes of industrialisation and the historical events of this century that have shown that cultural heritage is fragile and irreversible. The second concept of cultural heritage formed several decades ago. According to this concept, heritage should not be identified with memorial signs because it plays a different role, i.e., it is a foundation on which modern culture – and inseparable part of human lifestyle and environment – grows and develops [ 16 ]. The concept of resources is used to define this conception of heritage. According to this conception, if heritage is defined by resources of the past, then they are limited and irreversible, which is why they should be preserved and spread onto future generations. The change of the conception of heritage was determined by various legal acts where the meaning and understanding of heritage underwent specification and explanation.

Recently, heritage is more and more often seen as a process which objects undergo or as a marketing tool [ 17 ]. It is mostly valuable to include those objects into the lists of heritage that are seen as valuable by people; therefore, much depends on the outlook of people and their disposition.

According to the UNESCO classification of heritage, there are seven main categories of heritage : nature , landscape , monuments , artefacts , activity , people and locations . None of these categories are perfectly defined because there are many objects of heritage that could be attributed to several categories. One of them is cultural heritage. According to the Charter for the Conservation of Places of Cultural Heritage of New Zealand, cultural heritage includes regions, landscape and features, structures, constructions and gardens, archaeological and traditional locations, sacred places and monuments that have long-term value and can be legally assessed, that teach people about the past and the culture of those who lived before, that give context to the identity of the society according to which people relate themselves to the world and to those who lived in the past, that provide the modern world with diversity and contrast and are a measure according to which people can compare modern achievements [ 18 ].

All cultural heritage objects are divided into intangible (movable) and tangible (immovable) ( Figure 3 [ 19 ]).

Figure 3.

Classification of cultural heritage. Source: created by the author based on reference 19 .

Intangible cultural heritage was first defined in 2003 during the UNESCO General Conference, 32nd session in the adopted Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage . In 2003, UNESCO announced the tradition of the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian Song festivals as a masterpiece of human oral and intangible cultural heritage.

On the international scale, the conception of tangible cultural heritage was first validated in the Convention concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage adopted during the 1972 UNESCO General Conference. According to this convention, tangible cultural heritage stands for intangible objects that remain from the past and related locations; they have a historical, archaeological, mythological, memorial, religious, architectural, urban, artistic and scientific value ( Convention concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage 1972).

The following are the objects that belong to tangible cultural heritage:

• Monuments (architectural, monumental sculptures and paintings, archaeological elements and structures, inscriptions that have exceptional value from the perspectives of art, history and science);

• Groups of buildings (groups of separate and related buildings whose architecture, homogeneity or situation in the landscape gives them exceptional universal value from the perspectives of history, art and science);

• Places (human or mixed nature and human creations, territories; also, archaeological locations that have exceptional universal value from the perspectives of history, aesthetics, ethnology and anthropology).

Tangible cultural heritage includes ensembles (isolated or related groups of buildings whose architecture also relates to the landscape), well-known places (creations of human beings and nature) and monuments divided further into the heritage of fine arts, archaeology and architecture which is especially important when analysing the aspects of the applicability of tangible cultural heritage.

According to M. Robinson, the concept of cultural heritage within the context of cultural tourism has changed and is still constantly changing [ 20 ]. Former industrial cities are now frequently visited by tourists. For instance, in Germany, the Ruhr region, former steel production and coal mine regions have become a tourist attraction network with museums, modern art galleries, publicly displayed works of art, parks and other facilities necessary for relaxation and leisure time of tourists. Moreover, locations of social trauma and former military conflicts are more and more frequently visited by tourists of any generation. Foreign tourists prefer going to residential districts in Belfast, North Ireland, where they can see colourful drawings left by members of militarised organisations; these drawings tell stories about not so old violence of political-religious groups in that location [ 21 ].

The application of cultural heritage objects to cultural tourism is more and more developed in different countries; cultural tourism is the most rapidly growing market segment. For example, in Finland, just as in the entire region of the Baltic States, castles are perceived as local, regional or national monuments and function as museums that have become tourist attraction centres. Currently, Finnish castles join local and international networks. Such networks include cooperation between castles and museums, local councils, companies and schools. Most of the exhibitions are directed towards the young visitors: “Heroes or Villains?” in the Turku castle; “The Good, the Bad and the Cool” in the Hamme castle. Another form of activities – happenings – introduces multidimensional local history, e.g., events “Epiphany of the Three Castles”, “European Days” and special “Holiday Fair Days” [ 22 ]. Examples of application of various cultural heritage objects can be found in every country of the world where tourism becomes one of the main reasons and instruments in preserving heritage.

As the conception of cultural tourism is gaining popularity in Lithuania, the local government is beginning to value and cultivate heritage as an asset that is capable of helping to develop tourism and national identity.

Moreover, globalisation is gathering momentum, efforts to protect and nurture national cultural idiosyncrasy, identity and architectural heritage are becoming stronger. The preserved past and modern architecture directly reflects the state of a country, the progress of its culture and technics; it also influences the cultural consciousness of the society and social psychology. It is important to manage and preserve architectural heritage because it determines the level progress and sociability of the society and ensures social and economic stability of the country (Table 5 [ 20 ]).

Table 5.

Benefit provided by heritage.

Source: created by the author based on reference [ 20 ].

According to Graham, heritage may be employed to realise the role of at least another three aspects that are important from the perspective of marketing [ 23 ].

the red tourism (trips to ‘active’ communism countries);

communist heritage tourism (trips in the former communist countries and the former republics of the Soviet Union) [ 26 ].

This conception has been formed by the scientist of the University of Bucharest A. Caraba [ 24 ] who claims that the heritage of all communist countries (both former and existing) cannot be analysed on the basis of the same method because their histories are very different, especially because the European communist countries (excluding the former republics of Soviet Union) possessed regimes that have left a big scar in the societies of those countries, which in turn aggravates research of that particular period and objective evaluation of the communist period. According to the aforementioned author, China has experienced different fate; therefore, the communist heritage of this country is analysed separately; this is the first direction of Soviet heritage studies that comprises the absolute majority of all the studies and publications on the topic of the Soviet period [ 24 ]. The second direction which is mostly focused on cultural heritage tourism analyses the regime of such countries like North Korea or Cuba and its influence on tourism.

Discussions on the cultural value of objects – acknowledgement-negation, peculiarity-foreignness, change-permanency, etc. – are especially important in evaluating the Soviet architectural heritage. Emphasising the meaningful aspect allows making an assumption that most of the problems that arise from assessing architecture from that period are mostly related to the architectural duality rather than issues of artistic value.

Therefore, in order to achieve a more objective assessment of architecture, it is very important to emphasise the viewpoint that the impact of the Soviet past is not one-sided, i.e., despite the extremely political assessment of Soviet architecture, the architectural assets of that entire period cannot be bluntly related to the connotations of ‘alien/strange/foreign’.

It is especially important to note that turning the architecture of the second half of the twentieth century into heritage is related to not only ideological context of the Soviet period, but also with factors that are more shared when a psychological problem of assessing the twentieth century architecture is faced: the society often fails to see the specific aesthetic value in these structures that were built not that long ago. Because this construction period is still alive in many people’s memory, they do not feel any sentiments they should feel if they wanted to preserve them [ 25 ].

As Lithuania faces a strictly conservative attitude towards cultural values (cultural values that are newer than 50 years can be included into the registry of cultural values only as an exception), other similar European countries (neighbouring Latvia, Estonia, Poland, also Romania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, former Yugoslavian countries, Albania) have been actively researching the impact of the Soviet period, the communist regimes and the benefit of its heritage on the development of the so-called ‘red tourism’ for almost 15 years, and they have also amended the architectural heritagisation practice [ 26 ].

2.4. Significance of the interaction between cultural tourism and cultural heritage

On the one hand, cultural tourism gives the background and meaning to the existing heritage institutions. On the other hand, it causes threat to their existence. In fact, the main task is to find the balance between heritage and cultural tourism.

Most often, the experts in the management of cultural tourism and cultural heritage act separately. The dialogue between them seems not to be taking place even when there are common interests. Instead of working together and producing really good products they collaborate too little.

The world tourism organisation claims that the specialists of cultural tourism and heritage might make an agreement useful to both sides. Thus, the objects of heritage would receive necessary financing for their restoration and become available for tourists, and cultural tourism would become fully meaningful: it would evoke the feeling of discovery, intercultural knowledge and initiate the spiritual richness of a personality.

The development of cultural tourism is one of the main reasons for heritage protection. The facts state that sooner or later some objects of heritage (for instance, Lithuanian mansions or parks), if they are not available for tourists and a wide society, get ruined. They are damaged by people and various natural phenomena. The heritage that does not bring any economic profit is not restored and looked after. In this case, the local community loses respect for the local cultural values and symbols. On the other hand, the objects of heritage that are applied for cultural tourism are restored and looked after. The managers of heritage take care that the objects are properly presented to the society. The means obtained from cultural tourism are used for their maintenance and repair. However, the main benefit received from cultural tourism is that it gives an opportunity to get acquainted with the history of a country and/or a particular locality, which most probably they would not ever come across. In such a way, the image of a locality or a state/country is constructed. R. Dapkus posits that cultural heritage is one of the essential elements of the image and development of the country or region [ 27 ]. Cultural tourism is also claimed to be an important factor for the protection of cultural traditions. More than that, cultural tourism may improve the quality of life. It should be stressed that visiting very important cultural, historical and natural places is strictly controlled: various restrictions have been determined, and the schemes of the locality management have been worked out.

2.5. Culture tourism industry

In 1969, during a conference in Brussels, the declaration of cultural tourism was adopted [ 28 ]. This document encouraged to accept the Helsinki declaration (1996) on cultural heritage in Europe. These documents were the first to identify cultural tourism as a separate part of the tourism industry.

Nevertheless, the world has not agreed on a common and universally recognised definition. ICOMOS recommends that cultural tourism is defined by the importance of tourism, tourist motivation, experience and purpose so that we can see a full set of elements of cultural tourism, which will reveal how to interrelate tourism and heritage.

Cultural tourism is very much related to the specific needs of tourists because the desire to explore, try other authentic cultures, examine artefacts of extinct cultures, and aims to feel the “other” cultures is a very important reason. So, one can argue that cultural tourism is a purposeful journey during which the tourists get acquainted not only with the other party’s cultural environment (heritage, lifestyle, traditions, customs, values, history, art, etc.), but also actively participate in various cultural events that provide new experiences and excitement [ 2 ]. Cultural tourists must travel through the land in order to have the opportunity to observe and understand the changes in human activities and natural resources over time and access nature in the region [ 28 ].

National or regional cultural tourism development has been driven by economic factors. The economic impact of cultural tourism relies on earned income. K. Meethan [ 29 ] argues that cultural tourism, unlike other forms of tourism and development tools, has one unique advantage – this form of business requires relatively low capital investment and generates much higher return – the local production increases because of tourism activities closely related to other economic branches.

Foreign tourists enjoy the supply created by local businesses, use natural resources and pay for utility services, etc. All of these have a positive effect on the local economy. Tourist spending increases domestic trading volumes, financial revenues, creating jobs, helping to collect more taxes and encouraging other economic activities. Foreign tourist expenditure-based economy can be regarded as a real proof that tourism has a significant impact on economic growth ( Figure 4 ).

Figure 4.

Tourism impact on economy growth. Source: reference 25 .

As it can be seen, the basic elements of tourism supply are the capital investments, increasing labour productivity, efficient use of sites and innovative technologies. As a result, tourism is seen as highly capital-intensive economic activities. This causes the complex structure of tourism: tourism development cannot be separated from the overall national economic development because the investment in tourism is closely related to investments in other sectors of the economy [ 30 ]. So, tourism is becoming more economically important in promoting the development of structurally weaker regions. Therefore, cultural tourism development should be encouraged because of its specific advantages, especially in environment, transport, agriculture, local business, culture, education and scientific fields.

2.6. When is the industry of cultural heritage formed?

The investigators of heritage maintain that the main circulation and consumption of historical objects and knowledge occur and undergo growing when traditions and collective memory are dying out and globalisation as well as mass or pop culture expand with the development of information technologies. However, in various countries, these processes take different directions. For instance, in the United Kingdom, the appearance of the heritage industry is paradoxically related with the economic decline when the past is viewed as a better entity than the chaotic present and obscure tomorrow. The products of heritage industry that appeared under the described conditions turn to be more advanced than the authentic ones since they were revived or created for people and adapted to their demands. Heritage industry has its own labour market. It requires designers, managers and constructors. Unfortunately, it does not show any demand for archaeologists or historians.

The emergence of heritage industry is closely related with the so-called heritage boom (i.e., a rapidly growing interest in heritage) that is a necessary condition for the formation of the industry of heritage, since any industry must meet the demands of consumers. With the growth of heritage demand, a favourable opportunity to develop the industry of heritage emerges. Western Europe has developed two theories of the heritage boom.

The first theory relates the heritage boom with the growth of the purchasing power of the potential consumers (i.e., with the growth of the country’s economic power; more enriched consumers of cultural production appear from a wider spectrum of social layers) and the fact of the heritage protection growing into entertainment of the elite (concerts, exhibitions, etc.). For instance, from 1998 onwards in Lithuania, similar to other countries of the European Union, heritage faces mass consumption, but not exclusively for the educational purposes since the very economic situation turns to be favourable for heritage industry. The traditional Lithuania heritage has been rediscovered, and the search for the novel means of heritage protection has been activated: the ideas of living history, ‘live’ archaeology and practical learning of the ancient crafts get more and more popular. In Lithuania, the intensiveness of the desire for the reconstruction of an entirely destroyed heritage may be illustrated by the reconstruction of the Royal Palace in Vilnius (Lithuania). In addition, it is marked by the establishment of the Park of Soviet Monuments (1998) (Druskininkai, Lithuania), the organisation of the so-called days of living history, ‘live’ archaeology and ‘live’ craft learning, the erection of the restaurant nets offering traditional dish heritage from 1999 onwards. It shows that the Lithuanians have rediscovered the importance of the history of Lithuania and its heritage and have started showing a considerable interest in it.

The second theory discusses the heritage boom in relation to the nostalgia for the past evoked by the economic recession, social decline and spiritual decadence. The analysis of the economic indices reveals that in Lithuania the highest inflation took place in 1991–1993; the lowest expenses were observed in 1993; the smallest alterations of the gross domestic product, if compared to the earlier years, in 1992–1994 and the smallest number of students in 1994–1995. A more distinct leap in the number of museums and their visitors was observed only in 1997.

With the growth of economy, the consumer purchase power is growing, and consumers spend more time and money for their leisure activities and cultural explorations. These are favourable conditions for the formation of heritage industry. Moreover, it initiates the improvement of culture financing by the government which in turn helps to increase the number of museums and their visitors.

Hence it might be argued that in Lithuania consumption has been growing rapidly. It has been determined by the postindustrial, postmodern consuming alterations of life conditions and perspectives. Heritage consumption (by developing tourism or in other ways) is a part of this insatiable growth. Researchers claim that since the number of cultural heritage tourists will be growing nearly in every country, they will consume more and more various heritage products, and the variety of heritage areas will also expand [ 17 ].

The market of cultural heritage reinforces the awareness of society. There is no doubt that it is a fruitful vehicle for the expansion of the social and economic wealth of a country or region. Cultural tourism also encourages preserving the universal authenticity and uniqueness of history, customs and traditional values, i.e., it shows the direct relationship with cultural heritage.

To sum up, it might be claimed that in the age of globalisation cultural tourism based on the consumption of cultural heritage is one of the commercial activities demonstrating the highest growth all over the world. At present, cultural tourism is one of the most attractive forms of tourism that may offer many interesting discoveries and novelties. However, popular culture and mass consumption has a growing impact on further development of cultural tourism.

3. Conclusions

Creative tourism is related with cultural tourism yet they possess many differences. Creative tourism is oriented towards the development of creativity, conservation of traditions, education, and is more directed towards individual clients or small groups, whereas cultural tourism focuses on visiting known structures, various events, and is oriented towards mass tourists.

Creative tourism is important in that it focuses on the past, present and future. What becomes of importance is not only the final products, but also the entire participation in the creative process. Passive consumption of cultural products becomes active through communication, education and participation, and the resources of creative tourism are renewable.

The industry of heritage in Western Europe started forming when heritage became a product of mass production; it was started to use in the entertainment business, and business began using heritage in marketing. Nowadays, the industry of heritage is a part of creative industry, even though it is slightly different from other industries of culture: heritage is not only hereditary, but it is also created, constantly reproduced and realised. The process during which inheritance becomes heritage is frequently called interpretation. Resources, i.e., inheritance, become heritage by means of interpretation. Inheritance is interpreted tuning it into heritage, and the object of heritage is interpreted once again introducing it to the society. Only then inheritance does become (or not become) heritage.

• 1. Grecevičius P, ArmaitienėA Tourism Kaunas: Publishing Centre of Kauno Kolegija / University of Applied Sciences; 2002. p. 165.
• 2. du Cros H. Much more than stones and bones. Australian archaeology in the late twentieth century. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press; 2002. 224 p.
• 3. Hall CM. Introduction to tourism in Australia: impacts, planning and development. Great Britain: Longman; 1991. 208 p.
• 4. Mc Kercher B, du Cros H. Cultural tourism – The partnership between tourism and cultural heritage. New York: The Haworth Press; 2002. 250 p.
• 5. Newsome D, Moore AS, Dowling KR. Aspects of tourism. Natural area tourism. Ecology, impacts and management. Great Britain: The Cromwell Press; 2002. 315 p.
• 6. Craik J. The culture of tourism. In: Rojek C, Urry J, editors. Touring culture: transformations of travel and theory. New York: Routledge; 1997. p. 113–136.
• 7. UNESCO. Baltic Cultural Tourism Policy Paper. 2003. Available from: http://portal.unesco.org/fr/ev.phpURL_ID=1555&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html [accessed November 11, 2015].
• 8. Jelincic DA. Splintering of tourism market: new appearing forms of cultural tourism as a consequence of changes in everyday lives. Collegium Antropologicum 2009, 33(1):259–266.
• 9. UNESCO, 2001. Baltijos šalių Kultūrinio turizmo politikos dokumentas [Internet]. 2001. Available from: http://unesco.lt/uploads/file/failai_VEIKLA/kultura/kulturinis_turizmas/Baltijos_saliu_kulturinio_turizmo_politikos_dokumentas.pdf [ accessed November 11, 2015 ].
• 10. World Tourism Organization. Cultural tourism: a definition [Internet]. 2005. Available from: http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:rsa1cdWrZ8AJ:www.ukoln.ac.uk/events/michael-2005/presentations/ [ accessed November 11, 2015].
• 11. Santa Fe Creative Tourism. What is creative tourism [Internet]. 2006. Available from: http://www.santafecreativetourism.org/about-creative-tourism.html / [accessed November 19, 2015].
• 12. Campbell C. What is creative tourism [Internet]. 2006. Available from: http://catrionacampbell.wordpress.com/what-is-creative-tourism//[accessed November 20, 2015].
• 13. Raymond C. Our story [Internet]. 2009. Available from: http://www.creativetourism.co.nz/aboutus_ourstory.html /[accessed November 21, 2015].
• 14. Wurzburger R, Aageson T, Pattakos A, editors. Creative tourism. A global conversation. Santa Fe: Sunstone Press; 2010. 226 p.
• 15. Ohridska-Olson RV, Ivanov SH. Creative tourism business model and its application in Bulgaria [Internet]. 2010. Available from: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1690425 / [accessed December 11, 2015].
• 16. Markevičienė J. The Concept of Cultural Heritage in International Law: from the Venice Charter to the Main Convention of the European Council on the Value of Cultural Heritage to the Society. in: ICOMOS Lithuanian National Committee. Cultural Heritage and Society in the 21st Century, National and International Aspects. Vilnius: Vilnius Academy of Arts Publishing; 2006. p. 69–90.
• 17. Ashworth G, Howard P, editors. European Heritage. Planning and Management. Vilnius: Versus aureus; 2008. 199 p.
• 18. COMOS NEW ZEALAND Charter for the Conservation of Places of Cultural Heritage Value [Internet]. 1992. Available from: http://www.gdrc.org/heritage/icomos-nz.html / [accessed December 12, 2015].
• 19. Glemža JR. Protection and Management of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Vilnius: Vilnius Academy of Arts Publishing. 2002. 157 p.
• 20. Robinson M. The experiences of cultural tourism [Internet]. 2008. Available from: http://mg.kpd.lt/users/www/uploaded/3%20Forum%20publ%20on%20cultural%20heritage%20and%20tourism.pdf [accessed February 7, 2016].
• 21. Northern Ireland Murals, Pictures of Belfast Murals [Internet]. Available from: http://www.peacelinetours.co.uk/murals.html [accessed February 7, 2016].
• 22. Parikka J. Digital contagions. New York: Peter Lang; 2007. 327 p.
• 23. Graham B. Heritage as knowledge: capital or culture? Mint: Urban Studies; 2002, 39(5–6):1003–1014.
• 24. Caraba CC. Communist heritage tourism and red tourism: concepts, development and problems. Bucharest: CinqContinents. [Internet]. 2011. Available from: http://www.cinqcontinents.lx.ro/1/1_1_Caraba.pdf/[accessed December 12, 2015]/[accessed February 7, 2016].
• 25. Petrulis V. Stylistic Preconditions for Evaluating Soviet Architecture. Mint: Urbanistics and Architecture. 2005, XXIX t. Nr. 1:3–12.
• 26. Radzevicius M, Jureniene V. Soviet heritage and tourism development: the case of Lithuania [Internet]. 2014. Available from: file:///C:/Users/DELL/Downloads/int_XXI_2014_2_4%20(2).pdf.
• 27. Dapkus R. The Perspectives of Cultural Tourism Development [Internet]. 2008. Available from:http://etalpykla.lituanistikadb.lt/fedora/objects/LT-LDB-0001:J.04/ [accessed December 12, 2015].
• 28. JurėnienėV. Cultural Tourism. In: Svičiulienė J, editor. Cultural Management. Vilnius: Vilnius University Press.
• 29. Meethan K. Tourism in global society: place, culture, consumption. New York: Palgrave; 2001. 226 p.
• 30. Labanauskaitė D. Evaluation of the Impact of Inbound Tourism on Economic Development. [Internet]. 2011. Available from: http://vadyba.asu.lt/25/154.pdf/[accessed December 12, 2015].

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Continue reading from the same book

Published: 04 May 2016

By José Antonio González Pizarro

2072 downloads

By S. Mostafa Rasoolimanesh and Mastura Jaafar

6363 downloads

By Azizan Marzuki and Joanne Khoo

2502 downloads

• Research article
• Open access
• Published: 06 May 2021

The cultural and heritage tourist, SEM analysis: the case of The Citadel of the Catholic King

• Ricardo David Hernández-Rojas 1 ,
• Juan Antonio Jimber del Río   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-6886-7434 1 ,
• Alberto Ibáñez Fernández 2 &
• Arnaldo Vergara-Romero 3  

Heritage Science volume  9 , Article number:  52 ( 2021 ) Cite this article

14k Accesses

14 Citations

4 Altmetric

Metrics details

This study researches the loyalty of travelers to destinations which include material cultural heritage. It analyzes the loyalty of visitors to a destination with cultural heritage sites in order to provide results which can be used to improve the management of the destination. This research used Warp-PLS 7.0 software with a structural equations model to evaluate the 8 proposed and validated hypotheses. A questionnaire was given to a sample of 499 tourists who visited The Citadel of the Catholic King in Córdoba and the statistical study of the replies gave results about the loyalty of visitors to a destination which includes cultural heritage. This study adds an innovative component by analyzing the moderating effect of perceived heritage quality and perceived cultural quality on the relationship of perceived value and visitor satisfaction. This study shows that visitor loyalty to The Citadel of the Catholic King depends on the visitor satisfaction with the cultural heritage, it also analyses how the quality perceived by the tourist modulates to varying degrees the relationship between perceived value and tourist satisfaction. Areas which can be improved at cultural heritage sites have been identified and these include the professionalization of tour guides specialized in cultural heritage sites, improving and showing the cultural importance of the heritage, the information available about the heritage and the access to the heritage. These findings are important for city managers when preparing projects to increase the loyalty and competitiveness of the city compared to other similar destinations with cultural heritage.

Introduction

Cultural material heritage has become a factor which can make a city more attractive to visitors. Adequate management of the heritage is essential to achieve visitor satisfaction during and after the visit as well as improve the visitor expectations before and the perceived quality after the visit. Continuous improvement of these aspects can be the differentiating factor for the loyalty of the visitor to the city. The strong competition for visitors between destinations with heritage and culture sites, especially UNESCO listed sites, means that making continual improvements to the management of these sites is essential. The current situation will only become more difficult in the future [ 1 ]. In view of this, visitor loyalty to a destination is an important factor to take into account, especially for tourist destinations in areas with cultural heritage [ 2 ]. This research makes a valuable contribution to this subject [ 2 ].

The Citadel of the Catholic King is material heritage that has a lot of historical and cultural relevance. Firstly, due to the cultures that used the site. The first record of the existence of the enclave comes from Roman culture when it was used as a way to defend the city against incursions made on the Guadalquivir River. After that it became the center of Arabic culture in Spain, being used as the residence of the city rulers. After the reconquest of Cordoba by the Catholic kings, it was transformed into a building where the monarchs could rest and relax. The Citadel of the Catholic King is also a place where important historical changes for Spain and the world happened. It was the place where Cristopher Columbus met the Catholic Kings, who were the Monarchs that unified Spain into a Kingdom [ 3 ]. The building that can be visited today was built by Alfonso XI in 1328 on the site of the Omeya Citadel (Arabic origin) [ 4 ]. From 1492 to 1811, it was owned by the holy Catholic inquisition. From 1822 to 1931 it was a prison and later used as a military installation until its transfer in 1955 to the Córdoba City Council, which now owns it and manages it as a tourist site [ 5 ]. The Alcázar was classified as a Historical Monument in 1931 and is in the area in Córdoba that was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1994. Currently, The Citadel of the Catholic King is the third most visited material heritage in Cordoba, the second being the synagogue of Cordoba and the first is the Mosque-Cathedral. In 2019 it had 615,737 tourist visits, and an average growth in visits of 10.69% in the last 10 years (Observatorio de turismo de Córdoba, 2019).

This study is based in the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) [ 6 ], which is a model that has been fully tested for use in research on tourism [ 7 ], tourist satisfaction [ 8 ], heritage [ 9 ] and culture [ 10 ].

“The ACSI model has been used in multiple studies of satisfaction and loyalty in tourism in general and in heritage tourism [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ].

The model is based on the expectations that are created before visiting a heritage tourism destination (expected quality). Tourists once they arrive at their destination, live the experience at destination, perceive the quality of different factors that build the perceived quality. Both constructs, (expected quality and perceived quality) relate to the perceived value, which compares the balance or imbalance between perceived cost at its destination and the value received at it. Once the tourist has internalized the perceived value, he is able to assess the level of satisfaction at the destination. The satisfaction level allows you to decide to recommend and repeat the destination (Loyalty).”

This study expands the existing literature about the satisfaction and loyalty of heritage and cultural tourists, since the expected quality of the heritage and cultural aspects are separated, as are the perceived cultural quality and the perceived heritage quality. The concept of moderating constructs is also added to the classic theory of the Structural Equation Model. Two hypotheses specifically analyze the modulating effect of the constructs perceived cultural quality and perceived heritage quality of the visiting tourist. This study is configured as follows: first the introduction, secondly there is the theoretical framework that explains the constructs of the theoretical model and structural equations, below explains the methodology used and the fourth section summarizes the results of the research. To finish the article we find the discussion and conclusions of the study, followed by a list of the references used in the article.

In recent decades Cultural tourism occupies a niche market with exponential growth in international tourism [ 20 ]. Visiting tourists have motivations perceptions and build their idea of satisfactory destination based on various factors. Cultural and heritage, as an important part of the demand for knowledge of the place visited, create the experience of the tourist's visit that allows to have the ability to make the decision to return, recommend and promote the destination as a prominent part of his historical heritage experience [ 21 ]. World heritage cities compete to offer recreational and cultural experiences that attract the greatest number of tourists with the desire to learn more about the history of the destination, enriching their knowledge and their life experience [ 22 ]. Ramires, Brandao, and Sousa describes cultural historical tourism as a social phenomenon [ 23 ]. Cultural heritage cities have to differentiate the difference from the competition, either including in their cultural offer local customs, centuries of history, art and traditions transmitted from generation to generation. Consequently, heritage tourism is important for the cities that have heritage sites [ 24 ].

In this context, the components that are related to satisfaction in the visit to the material heritage can cite how visitors seek new experiences, authentic contexts and unique or exceptional activities. Actions such as participation, hedonism, knowledge, nostalgia, history, novelty and local culture are the basic ingredients of a memorable and satisfying tourist experience [ 25 ], in the same line the authors [ 26 ] highlight how the experiences provided in the heritage present the same degree of satisfaction for visitors that aims to visit the material heritage itself as those who visit the heritage for the tourist experiences around it (theatrical visits, historical explanations). This, coupled with the fact that these activities are usually carried out on holidays and that holiday contribute to the satisfaction of life and its quality of life [ 27 , 28 , 29 ] in addition to adding congratulations and pleasurable effects to the activities carried out in the holiday period [ 30 ].

Studies have shown that loyalty to a visited place is directly related to the satisfaction and opinion of the visitor [ 31 , 32 ]. Studies which analyze loyalty in tourism have mainly looked into the attitude and intention of the visitor [ 32 ]. Academic studies can be grouped into two categories due to how loyalty is examined. The first group investigates repeat purchases, that is to say, tourists returning to a destination. The second, and far more interesting, group takes loyalty to mean recommending the tourist destination to other future tourists [ 33 , 34 , 35 ]. This means that the tourist feels a connection with a destination and intends to visit it again in the future, while also recommending it to third parties [ 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 ]. It should be pointed out that there are authors who warn that a tourist’s desire for new experiences may counteract the loyalty shown to the destination [ 40 ]. Studies which investigate loyalty to cultural heritage are mainly cognitive and use structural equations to predict intentions to return to or recommend a destination [ 41 , 42 ].

How comfortable the tourist felt at the destination and the monument visited is one of the most important factors when deciding to return to a destination, and therefore for visitor loyalty [ 35 , 38 , 43 ]. The perceived quality is usually considered one of the most important factors in research on tourist behavior [ 44 ]. Researchers define perceived quality as the overall accumulation of the tourist’s feelings about the experience at a destination [ 45 , 46 ]. Tourists value their experience as positive or negative for different attributes of the monument or destination [ 80 ]. Following on from this idea, the perceived value of a destination by a visitor is considered to be the most important indicator of their intentions to return to the chosen destination. It is possible that a customer does not buy a product or service because it is not considered value for money as the perceived value is not adequate for the price asked [ 47 ]. Studies by different authors explain that perceived value measures a tourist’s general assessment of their experience at a destination from the feelings they had there [ 48 , 49 ]. Cossío-Silva et al. obtain a realistic idea of tourist behavior by means of this variable and the results obtained can be useful for public institutions and organizations that offer tourism [ 50 ]. Customers who are aware of the value of a service or product sometimes expect particular benefits from it [ 51 ]. For this reason, perceived value is related to the usefulness of a purchase because the purchase has intrinsic benefits that satisfy the buyer’s needs [ 52 ]. A tourist who is interested in value will look for information and contemplate the idea fully before making a decision [ 53 ]. This means that perceived value affects the decisions of customers [ 54 ]. Perceived value can positively affect the loyalty of a customer [ 47 ] because customers who are aware of the value of a service make positive judgements about it, relating value to price and critically assessing all options.

This study analyses the relationship between the following variables, perceived heritage quality (PPQ) and the expected heritage quality (EPQ), perceived cultural heritage quality (PCHQ) and the expected cultural heritage quality (ECHQ), the perceived value of the visit as a whole (PV), satisfaction (SATISFAC) and loyalty (LOYALTY). In literature there are several studies including these variables, however few studies include modulating variables in the relationships between constructs [ 55 , 56 ]. The different authors who have used this type of theoretical model are shown in Table 1 .

The questionnaire with which the data was obtained was designed following various authors who have used constructs similar to those used in the theoretical model. The ACSI model has been used in multiple studies of satisfaction and loyalty in tourism in general and in heritage tourism [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ].

The model is based on the expectations that are created before visiting a heritage tourism destination (expected quality). Tourists once they arrive at their destination, live the experience at destination, perceive the quality of different factors that build the perceived quality. Both constructs, (expected quality and perceived quality) relate to the perceived value, which compares the balance or imbalance between perceived cost at its destination and the value received at it. Once the tourist has internalized the perceived value, he is able to assess the level of satisfaction at the destination. The satisfaction level allows you to decide to recommend and repeat the destination (loyalty).

The variables which were investigated in this study are satisfaction and loyalty. These have been studied on several occasions in different areas by several authors [ 57 , 58 ]. Both variables are positively related showing that the probability of a visitor at a heritage site revisiting or recommending the destination is high [ 59 , 60 ] if they are satisfied with the visit. These are judgments made by tourists because of their experience at the destination, and these affect the likelihood of the tourist revisiting the site or city and their willingness to recommend it to friends and family [ 2 , 61 ].

Managers of cultural material heritage should have previous information about the visitors who visit the site in order to plan actions which will improve the visitor expectations about the heritage and cultural experiences. These modify the behavior of the tourist because of the relationship between the perceived value and satisfaction. This study uses structural equations with all the above variables and, as it also includes a new approach using moderating relationships at heritage sites, it is of academic interest. This research increases the contribution to academic literature around heritage, loyalty and satisfaction by adding culture on the visit.

There are not many Royal and historical Citadels (with a past dated at least from the Muslim era) in Spain which are put in tourist value and are visitable. The uniqueness that were the quarters of the Catholic kings, with a historical character and that are touristic. In particular, there are four: Royal Citadel Sevilla, Royal Citadel Madrid, the Muslim Citadel of Valencia and the Royal Citadel Almunia (Palma de Mallorca). In academic matters, different studies have been carried out from the historical or archaeological perspective [ 62 , 63 ] but not from the tourist management. The Citadel of the Catholic King of Cordoba is the most culturally, and architecturally significant. It belongs to the historic center of Cordoba being an inscription by UNESCO and is dated from roman times, an optimal conservation and valued for the tourism, therefore it is the most historical and cultural.

The aim of this study is to add to the information available about cultural heritage tourism, contribute to the improvement of the management of visits to the unique heritage sites and provide useful knowledge for cultural heritage managers and tourism companies. The most concrete objective is to detect how tourist experiences in culture and heritage increase satisfaction and loyalty by increasing visits, repetition and their recommendation. This research studies the loyalty of visitors to the cultural heritage site and to the city, along with the Satisfaction and Expectations of the tourists who visit The Citadel of the Catholic King. Scientific literature which studies cultural heritage tourism by investigating heritage and culture, and the influence on Perceived Quality at different Citadel s, is scarce. While it is true that there are some studies in tourism with modeling variables, the study in particular cases of heritage tourism in Spain (as a second country in the ranking of international tourists) is novel. It contributes to academic knowledge about the cultural and heritage aspects of material heritage. This means that it makes a contribution to the current knowledge of cultural heritage and city management.

Therefore this article contributes in several ways: first it contributes to scientific literature in the analysis of the modulation of cultural and heritage quality perceived in the relationship between perceived value in general and satisfaction, considering ranges of low values and high values, secondly, provides the study of the characteristics of the cultural and heritage tourism through the visit to a cultural heritage and third place, provides conclusions to achieve or loyalty improve to tourists cultural and heritage.

Hypotheses development

The variables used to measure the loyalty of the visitors to the city of Cordoba were, (1) The expected cultural quality of The Citadel of the Catholic King, (2) The expected heritage quality of The Citadel of the Catholic King, (3) The perceived cultural quality of The Citadel of the Catholic King, (4) The perceived heritage quality of The Citadel of the Catholic King, (5) Comparing the expected quality and the perceived quality we can estimate the perceived value, (6) Satisfaction, as an emotional or cognitive response of the visiting tourist, and (7) The loyalty that tourists feel as a result of their attitude and contact with the experience in destiny.

The following (Fig.  1 ) hypotheses were formulated using the existing literature:

Research model

Hypothesis 1 (H1)

The expected patrimonial quality (EPQ) positively and significantly influences the perceived patrimonial quality (PPQ). EPQ influences PPQ.

Hypothesis 2 (H2)

The expected cultural heritage quality (ECHQ) positively and significantly influences the perceived cultural heritage quality (PCHQ). ECHQ influences PCHQ.

Hypothesis 3 (H3)

The perceived cultural heritage quality positively and significantly influences the perceived value as a whole. PCHQ influences PV.

Hypothesis 4 (H4)

The perceived patrimonial quality (PPQ) positively and significantly influences the perceived value (PV) as a whole. PPQ influences PV.

Hypothesis 5 (H5)

The perceived patrimonial quality (PPQ) positively and significantly influences the relationship between perceived value (PV) and satisfaction (SATISFAC). PPQ moderates PV which influences SATISFAC.

Hypothesis 6 (H6)

The perceived cultural heritage quality (PCHQ) positively and significantly influences the relationship between perceived value (PV) and satisfaction (SATISFAC). PCHQ moderates PV which influences SATISFAC.

Hypothesis 7 (H7)

The perceived value (PV) influences the satisfaction (SATISFAC) with it. PV influences SATISFAC.

Hypothesis 8 (H8)

The satisfaction of the visitor to the cultural heritage positively influences their loyalty to it. SATISFAC influences LOYALTY.

Methodology

Questionnaire and data collection.

This study was conducted in Córdoba, Andalusia, Spain. Córdoba, as with its four UNESCO world heritage sites, has an extraordinary cultural and heritage offer, full of history, traditions and centuries of Arab, Jewish and Christian knowledge [ 64 ]. The data was collected with a questionnaire, which was given to tourists visiting the Citadel of the Catholic King. To ensure the validity of the questionnaire, the questions were based on previous similar studies [ 65 ]. To ensure the validity of the questionnaire, the questions were based on previous similar studies [ 66 ].

The information was collected using a questionnaire together with a personal interview with each tourist after their visit to Citadel of the Catholic King. The questionnaire was prepared in November 2019. The validation of the survey and the construction of the questions is based on consolidated indicators from previous research [ 114 , 115 ]. Once the indicators had been obtained, a two-stage refining process was used. First, the indicators proposed by an investigator were analyzed, then the final survey was tested and verified by a manager at the Citadel of the Catholic King. This meant that the validity of the indicators in the constructs of the proposed research model were checked twice.

The questionnaire consisted of five sections, which were, (1) Questions about the expected heritage quality, perceived heritage quality and perceived value at The Citadel of the Catholic King, which includes the Arabic and Christian heritage of the Citadel, the conservation of the heritage site and the culture on display (2) Questions about the expected cultural quality, perceived cultural quality and perceived value at the The Citadel of the Catholic King, which includes the Arabic culture of the Citadel, the Christian culture of the Citadel and the information available about the history of the monument, etc. (3) Questions about visitor satisfaction with The Citadel of the Catholic King, (4) Questions about the loyalty of visitors to The Citadel of the Catholic King, and if they would recommend it to their family, friends, and workmates (5) Questions about the sociodemographic profile. Tourists were informed of the academic purposes and the anonymity of the study before completing the questionnaire. Verbal consent was requested before the tourist completed the questionnaire. The anonymity of the respondent was guaranteed at all times. The questions in the first four parts of the questionnaire used a seven-point Likert scale, where one was the answer totally disagree and seven totally agree. Participation in the study was voluntary. The questionnaire contained 68 items, the sample data was collected through a personal questionnaire at different times of the day. The questionnaire was only given to tourists who had visited the Citadel of the Catholic King and its cultural heritage. The sociodemographic profile and the details of the trip were completed with closed questions. There were 499 valid questionnaires in the sample, which had a 95% confidence level and a sampling error of 3.25%.

Research data was tabulated and analyzed using (PLS-SEM), using Warp-PLS 7.0 software (ScriptWarp Systems, P.O. Box 452428, Laredo, Texas, 78045, USA).

Many authors have used in their studies the latent variables seen in Table 1 .

This section describes the results obtained after applying the structural equation models. First, a summary of the sociodemographic profile is shown, then the reliability and validity of the proposed model, and finally, the contrast of the eight hypotheses raised in the theoretical model.

Table 2 shows the sociodemographic profile. 45.5% of those interviewed were women, compared to 53.3 men, and 1.2% did not indicate their sex. The questionnaires were answered mainly by young people between 30 and 39 years old (31.1%) who had studied at the university (39.7%).

The relationship between the observed and latent variables is shown in Table 3 . The structural coefficients of the normalized model have also been calculated.

Analysis of the individual reliability of the items

In order to validate the proposed model, the validity and reliability of the reflective and formative constructs were analyzed.

The formative construct (loyalty) follows the recommendations according to Sarstedt et al. Regarding the convergent validity of the constructs, all the articles proposed in the model (Table 4 ) had a value > 0.707 [ 99 ].

With an analysis of the reflective constructs we can study the individual reliability of the elements with an analysis of the simple correlations of each observed variable with respect to the construct to which it belongs. Following Carmines and Zeller [ 100 ] maintaining the values of 0.707 are necessary for a variable to be accepted as part of a construct. Fifty-six of the sixty-six reflective elements have values > 0.707, therefore we can affirm that it has good reliability for the elements that make up each first-order construct. Once individual reliability had been studied, the validity and reliability of the constructs were analyzed [ 101 ]. The analysis consisted of evaluating collinearity and verifying that the value of the inflation factor variance (VIF) is > five. The results did not show collinearity in the variables used for the loyalty construct.

Likewise, Table 5 shows the analysis of the reflective constructs (expected heritage quality, expected cultural quality, perceived heritage quality, perceived cultural quality, perceived value and satisfaction) [ 102 ].

After this analysis, we can affirm that the results indicated a quasi-optimal individual reliability, since all the load values were above the minimum required threshold of 0.505 or 0.6 according to Fornell and Larcker [ 103 ] and Barclay, Higgins and Thompson [ 101 ].

In fact, the analysis revealed that the loads were statistically significant at 99.99%. Based on the results of these calculations, the measurement model was considered valid and reliable, which meant that the structural model could then be analyzed.

Analysis of the reliability of the first-order constructs

In order to confirm whether the observed variables rigorously and adequately measure the latent variable they represent, following Nunnally and Bernstein [ 104 ], the Cronbach’s Alpha and composite reliability values are taken, checking if they are higher or equal to 0.7 (Table 7 ). As all the values exceed this lower limit, the reliability of the first order constructs and their ability to measure Loyalty are confirmed. In our analysis, all the constructs exceeded a value of 0.9 (expected heritage quality, perceived heritage quality, expected cultural quality, perceived cultural quality, perceived value and satisfaction) which means that there can be no doubt about the constructs capacity for measuring Loyalty (Table 6 ).

Convergent validity

To evaluate the convergent validity of a set of variables, that is, if it explains one construct and not another, the mean variance extracted (AVE) is used, it is the acceptance criterion most commonly used in research to evaluate this concept (Table 7 ). Fornell and Larcker [ 103 ] determined that the minimum value of the AVE must be > 0.5, which means that the construct shares more than half of its variance with its indicators, the rest of the variance is explained by the error measurement [ 68 ]. The mean variance extracted is applicable to latent variables with reflective indicators. The nine Loyalty variables share more than 69% of their variance. Based on the results obtained, we can confirm that the measurements made are valid.

Discriminatory validity

To verify the discriminatory validity, in line with Barclay, Higgins and Thompson the cross-factor loads of indicators of a latent variable are checked against the indicator loads of the other latent variables (Table 8 ). Factorial loads must have greater value with their own variable than with the others evaluated in the model.

In addition, Henseler et al., in conducting simulation studies, demonstrated that the lack of validity is better detected by means of the HTMT ratio (Table 9 ). If the monotrait-heteromethod correlations (correlations between indicators that measure the same construct) are greater than heterotrait-heteromethod (correlations between indicators that measure different constructs) there will be discriminatory validity. Thus, the HTMT key figure must be below one (Gold et al. consider a value of 0.90).

In this sense, you can also use a resampling or bootstrapping to test whether the HTMT key figure is significantly different from one using the confidence interval. According to the criteria set, the confidence intervals for the HTMT must be less than one, allowing this criterion to be validated (Table 10 ).

Hypothesis testing

To verify the goodness-of-fit of the proposed model, different parameters that address said goodness were calculated in Tables 11 and 12 .

Once all the constructs (reflective and formative) have been verified and validated as well as the goodness of the fit of the model, we can affirm that the results obtained are adequate and justify their validity and applicability.

Then the significance of the Path Coefficient of each hypothesis was calculated (Table 13 ). This showed that all the hypotheses are compatible (H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, H6, H7 and H8).

Hypotheses H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, H6, H7 and H8 were all supported. This means that there is a positive and significant relationship between the expected and perceived cultural quality, and the expected and perceived heritage quality. There is also a positive and significant relationship between perceived cultural and heritage quality and the overall perceived value. The perceived cultural quality has a positive and significant moderating influence on the relationship between perceived value and satisfaction of the visiting tourist. There is a positive and significant relationship between the satisfaction and loyalty of visitors at the heritage site.

Figure  2 shows the values of the structural coefficients of the constructs. The limiting probability (p-value) of each one is used to validate the importance of the relationships between the constructs of the proposed model.

Path diagram of the proposed model with the p-value

Discussion and conclusion

The satisfaction of the tourists who visit cities with cultural heritage is the determining factor for loyalty to the city. The tourists and visitors who would repeat their visit also recommend and share their cultural and heritage experience with family, friends and co-workers. The public administration aims to preserve culture and heritage and maintain the sustainable value of the cultural heritage sites it manages. For private travel companies that have been trying for years to increase the number of visitors and the number of overnight stays, the loyalty of visiting tourists is the key to achieving their goal, which will also increase employment and the economy at the destination.

The analysis of the loyalty of tourists in the destination is important for obtaining excellence in tourist destinations. In this study, a model of structural equations was generated in which latent modulating variables of the main components that are part of satisfaction were implemented. The loyalty of the visiting tourist especially interested in the heritage and culture of the selected destination is analyzed. The results obtained in the study confirmed the hypotheses proposed in the theoretical model and can be used to improve the competitiveness of a destination.

The main variables that influenced the choice of the destination city were the cultural and heritage quality that I expected to find when choosing to visit a city declared a World Heritage Site and the recommendation and loyalty of other visitors to the destination [ 105 , 106 , 107 ].

At the end of the visit to a world heritage city, the tourist evaluates the gap between the cultural and heritage quality that he expects at the time he prepares the visit, collects information and creates a preconceived idea of the destination and the one he perceives once arrives at the destination, has an experience through the professionals, the accommodations, the monuments and the heritage city as a whole. All this set of sensations and perceptions converge in the satisfaction of the visiting tourist, it gave a feeling of satisfaction that made the visitors recommend it to others as a tourist destination.

Hypothesis 1

The expected cultural quality of the visitor positively and significantly influences the perceived cultural quality. In Fig.  3 , the sinusoidal behavior of this variable can be observed, and shows that for very high values of expected cultural quality there is no direct influence on perceived cultural quality. This result coincides with studies by [ 69 , 108 ]. Heritage managers must organize cultural activities at and around the heritage site. These activities increase the expected quality and therefore also the perceived quality. Visitors commented that they would like to see theatrical activities together with specialist guides at the destination to increase their satisfaction with the visit.

Hypothesis 1 ECHQ—PCHQ

Hypothesis 2

The expected heritage quality of the visitor positively and significantly influences the perceived heritage quality. In Fig.  4 the sinusoidal behavior means that for very high values of expected heritage quality there is no direct influence on the perceived heritage quality. This confirms studies by [ 71 , 92 ]. This result suggests that the digital information available online and the information on display at the destination must be increased. The tourists interviewed in the study claimed that there were not many references to this heritage site in terms of videos, photography, etc. and therefore they did not have any references for the expected quality of the heritage, which means that the perceived heritage quality was diminished.

Hypothesis 2 EPQ—PPQ

Hypothesis 3

The perceived heritage quality of the visitor positively and significantly influences the perceived value of the destination as a whole. Figure  5 shows how the perceived value changes as the perceived heritage quality increases. These results coincide with other studies about heritage [ 71 ]. This means that managers of heritage sites should think about improving the maintenance at the site.

Hypothesis 3 PPQ—PV

Hypothesis 4

The perceived cultural quality of the visitor positively and significantly influences the perceived value of the destination as a whole. Figure  6 shows the linear influence of perceived cultural quality on the total perceived value. This result coincides with the research of [ 109 ]. Heritage managers should be aware of the cultural quality of the heritage. A pile of stones means nothing without the culture that is attached to it. Therefore, heritage managers must make sure that the culture that is associated with a site is explained in the tourists visits.

Hypothesis 4 PCHQ—PV

Hypothesis 5 (Fig.  7 a)

The perceived cultural quality (PCHQ) of the visitor positively and significantly modulates the relationship between perceived value and satisfaction. Figure  7 b shows that for a range of low moderating variable values (perceived cultural quality-PCHQ), in the face of unit increases in perceived value (PV), satisfaction (SATISFAC) increases more than proportionately; for a range of perceived cultural quality high values (PCHQ), in the face of unit increases in perceived value (PV) visitor satisfaction increases less than proportionately. Therefore, for both low values and high values of perceived cultural quality (PCHQ) the satisfaction (SATISFAC) of the visiting tourist increases in the face of increases in perceived value (PV). This matches the results found by other authors [ 68 , 73 ]. This means that increasing the quality of the heritage helps to increase the overall satisfaction of the tourist with the experience lived.

a. Hypothesis 5 3D. PCHQ ⟶ (PV—SATISFAC). b Hypothesis 5 2D. PCHQ ⟶ (PV—SATISFAC)

Hypothesis 6 (Fig.  8 a)

The perceived heritage quality (PPQ) by the visitor positively and significantly moderates the relationship between perceived value (PV) and satisfaction (SATISFAC). Figure  8 b shows that in a range of low values of the modulating variable (perceived quality of equity-PPQ), in the face of unit increases in perceived value (PV) satisfaction grows more than proportionally. In a range of high values of the moderating variable, the relationship between perceived value and satisfaction is linear. This coincides with the results of studies by other authors [ 110 , 111 ]. That is, for both low values and high values of the modulating variable, satisfaction (SATISFAC) increases as the perceived value (PV) increases. We can say that in view of increases in the quality of the heritage, increasing the perceived value of the site increases the satisfaction of the tourist. Increasing the quality of perceived heritage helps to increase overall satisfaction with the tourist experience.

a. Hypothesis 6 3D. PPQ ⟶ (PV—SATISFAC). b Hypothesis 6 2D. PPQ ⟶ (PV—SATISFAC)

Hypothesis 7

The perceived value of the visit influences visitor satisfaction with the heritage site. Figure  9 shows that for values of − 1.8 and more the expected cultural quality has a linear and direct influence on perceived cultural quality and for very low values this behavior is reversed. This result has also been observed by other authors [ 105 , 112 , 113 ]. This result means that for the case being studied, and for cultural heritage in general, the visitor satisfaction can be increased by providing information about the history and the culture of the site. This can be done by having rooms dedicating to the cultures that inhabited the heritage site and explaining the significant milestones that took place there. A high entrance price without offering much cultural and heritage information is counterproductive for the perceived value.

Hypothesis 7 PV—SATISFAC

Hypothesis 8 was also confirmed, showing the direct influence that visitor satisfaction in a destination has on tourist loyalty. Figure  10 shows the sine behavior of this relationship. Only in very low extreme values and very high satisfaction, it has no effect on the loyalty of the visiting tourist. For non-extreme values of satisfaction, in the face of increased satisfaction, there are proportional increases in tourist loyalty. The results showed that satisfaction, quality and expectations are positive factors that influence the visitor's decision to return, and recommend a destination. This coincided with the results of other studies [ 108 , 114 ]. This study confirmed the relationship between the high satisfaction of the tourist with the heritage of Cordoba and the willingness of tourists to return and recommend the Citadel of the Catholic King. This means that tourists’ loyalty from cultural heritage to heritage is high, even though deficiencies that affected heritage expectations were also identified. These deficiencies included the lack of a website dedicated to the site and the lack of advertising. Deficiencies affecting tourist satisfaction were also found. These include the lack of specialized guides, the lack of theatrical visits, the lack of signs and indications and the lack of information on the culture and history of heritage. The latter affects loyalty. Although tourist satisfaction was generally acceptable, there were too many irregularities to achieve tourist loyalty.

Hypothesis 8 SATISFAC—LOYALTY

This study outlines a reachable goal for the managers of the heritage in Cordoba so that the experience of visitors to the city can be maximized. This means that having visitors who are satisfied with their visit becomes one of the main reasons to exhibit the heritage. The results of this study agree with those found in previous studies [ 59 , 115 ] which indicate that satisfaction has a positive influence on loyalty to the destination, and encourages the tourist to return to the destination in the future and to recommend it to family and friends. This study states the most important factors to achieve loyalty of heritage tourists in a city which has been home to various cultures, and where there are different heritage sites that show the cultures that have inhabited the city.

This study identifies various factors which visitors to the city consider important when visiting a heritage site. The conservation and cleanliness of the heritage site were valued highly, as was the fact that the heritage sites are inside, or close to, the historical city center. In this way, Cordoba unites and links the tourist to the destination, which positively influences loyalty to the city. The brand created by this set of heritage sites, together with the perceived quality of the visit are factors which can be used to attract tourists who want to experience local culture by visiting these sites [ 95 ].

As general conclusions regarding the theoretical implications this research demonstrates, supports and verifies how variables in tourism affect each other. Research, search and study of new relationships and new variables becomes essential. Therefore, we must continue to study the different variables and their relationships in favor of the loyalty of the tourist in the destination. The practical implications for managers of this type of heritage is the importance of focusing on those who visit the heritage: that is, you have to think about all the tourist flows, motivations, moods, but always with the aim of giving a complete tourist experience and the highest quality for those who visit the heritage.

The limitations of this study were due to the sample which was used. The data was obtained from heritage tourists at The Citadel of the Catholic King, which means that the collected data is only valid for one type of tourist at one destination. It would be desirable to study elsewhere where kings stayed overnight and placed their base outside the capital. Another limitation is to perform the study at a time, being convenient to do it temporarily to see the evolution. Similarly, measuring loyalty as the intention of future behavior is a limitation of this study. Finally, loyalty does not always mean accurate behavior, the tourist can have amazing behavior [ 116 ].

For future lines of research, this study could be carried out in other destinations in Spain such as Madrid or Ibiza which have Alcazares of Catholic kings placed in tourist value, and the results obtained in this work could be compared with those of other destinations. Another possible line of research could be to perform this same study, but aimed at international tourists, in order to examine their motivations and thus establish a segmentation of the touristic offerings of the community according to the type of tourist, national or international.

On the other hand, this study does not deepen and concrete in the tourist experiences around the culture and heritage of a historical heritage asset and how each one affects the value of loyalty and recommendation, therefore, is a future line of research.

Availability of data and materials

Availability of data and materials in the editorial manager.

Kim H, et al. Assessing the economic values of World Heritage Sites and the effects of perceived authenticity on their values. Int J Tour Res. 2018;20(1):126–36.

Article   Google Scholar  

Zhang H, et al. Destination image and tourist loyalty: a meta-analysis. Tour Manage. 2014;40:213–23.

Montejo Córdoba AJ. La rauda del Alcázar de Córdoba . 2006.

Redondo JFM, et al. Investigaciones arqueológicas en la Muralla de la Huerta del Alcázar (Córdoba). Anejos de anales de arqueología cordobesa. 2009;2:183–230.

Google Scholar  

Arjona Fuentes J. Potencialidad De Los Eventos De Religiosidad Popular Como Complemento a La Oferta De Turismo Cultural En La Ciudad De Córdoba (Appeal of Popular Religious Events as a Complement to Cultural Tourist Attractions in the City of Cordova) . Available at SSRN 2595585, 2014.

Fornell C, et al. The American customer satisfaction index: nature, purpose, and findings. J Mark. 1996;60(4):7–18.

Bezerra GC, Gomes CF. Determinants of passenger loyalty in multi-airport regions: implications for tourism destination. Tourism Manage Perspect. 2019;31:145–58.

Huang S, Weiler B, Assaker G. Effects of interpretive guiding outcomes on tourist satisfaction and behavioral intention. J Travel Res. 2015;54(3):344–58.

Jimber del Río JA, et al. Loyalty in heritage tourism: the case of Córdoba and its four world heritage sites. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17(23):8950.

Cho M-H. A study of authenticity in traditional Korean folk villages. Int J Hosp Tour Adm. 2012;13(2):145–71.

de Sousa EM, et al. Innovation in explaining loyalty: extension of the ACSI model. Rev Admin Em Dialog. 2021;23(1):10–25.

Gao B, et al. When online reviews meet ACSI: how ACSI moderates the effects of online reviews on hotel revenue. J Travel Tour Mark. 2020;37:396–408.

Ali SS, Kaur R. An analysis of satisfaction level of 3PL service users with the help of ACSI. Benchmarking Int J. 2018;25(1):24–46.

Kim W-H. The impact of online reviews on customer satisfaction: an application of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Int J Tour Manage Sci. 2017;32(5):65–78.

Dani V. Measuring customer satisfaction for F&B chains in Pune using ACSI model . In: International Conference on Trade, Markets and Sustainability (Ictms-2013), 2014;133:465–472.

Sun K-A, Kim D-Y. Does customer satisfaction increase firm performance? An application of American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Int J Hosp Manage. 2013;35:68–77.

Ivanov V, Joseph K, Wintoki MB. Disentangling the market value of customer satisfaction: evidence from market reaction to the unanticipated component of ACSI announcements. Int J Res Mark. 2013;30(2):168–78.

Park T, Jaegal D. Understanding the satisfaction process of festival visitors through the revised ACSI model: the Andong Mask Dance Festival. J Tour Sci. 2005;28(4):87–105.

Ali SS, Kaur R. An analysis of satisfaction level of 3PL service users with the help of ACSI. Benchmarking Int J. 2018;25:24–46.

Altunel MC, Erkurt B. Cultural tourism in Istanbul: the mediation effect of tourist experience and satisfaction on the relationship between involvement and recommendation intention. J Destin Mark Manag. 2015;4(4):213–21.

Craik J. The culture of tourism. In: Touring cultures. Routledge; 2002. p. 123–46.

Poria Y, Butler R, Airey D. Links between tourists, heritage, and reasons for visiting heritage sites. J Travel Res. 2004;43(1):19–28.

Ramires A, Brandao F, Sousa AC. Motivation-based cluster analysis of international tourists visiting a World Heritage City: the case of Porto, Portugal. J Destin Mark Manag. 2018;8:49–60.

Burns L, Eaddy M, Moore C, Speno L, McRae H. Heritage tourism handbook: a how-to guide for Georgia. Atlanta, GA, USA: Georgia Department of Natural Resources; 2010.

Crespi-Vallbona M. Satisfying experiences: guided tours at cultural heritage sites. J Herit Tour. 2021;16(2):201–17.

Jensen O, Li Y, Uysal M. Visitors’ satisfaction at managed tourist attractions in Northern Norway: do on-site factors matter? Tour Manage. 2017;63:277–86.

Dolnicar S, Yanamandram V, Cliff K. The contribution of vacations to quality of life. Ann Tour Res. 2012;39(1):59–83.

Su MM, Wall G, Xu K. Heritage tourism and livelihood sustainability of a resettled rural community: mount Sanqingshan World Heritage Site, China. J Sustain Tour. 2016;24(5):735–57.

McCabe S, Johnson S. The happiness factor in tourism: subjective well-being and social tourism. Ann Tour Res. 2013;41:42–65.

Gilbert D, Abdullah J. Holidaytaking and the sense of well-being. Ann Tour Res. 2004;31(1):103–21.

Paul J, Modi A, Patel J. Predicting green product consumption using theory of planned behavior and reasoned action. J Retail Consum Serv. 2016;29:123–34.

Buhalis D, López EP, Martinez-Gonzalez JA. Influence of young consumers’ external and internal variables on their e-loyalty to tourism sites. J Destin Mark Manag. 2020;15:100409.

Castro CB, Armario EM, Ruiz DM. The influence of market heterogeneity on the relationship between a destination’s image and tourists’ future behaviour. Tour Manage. 2007;28(1):175–87.

Chen C-F, Tsai D. How destination image and evaluative factors affect behavioral intentions? Tour Manage. 2007;28:1115–22.

Sato S, et al. Adventure tourism motivation and destination loyalty: a comparison of decision and non-decision makers. J Destin Mark Manag. 2018;8:74–81.

Kozak M. Repeaters’ behavior at two distinct destinations. Ann Tour Res. 2001;28(3):784–807.

Kozak M, Rimmington M. Tourist satisfaction with Mallorca, Spain, as an off-season holiday destination. J Travel Res. 2000;38:260–9.

Yoon Y, Uysal M. An examination of the effects of motivation and satisfaction on destination loyalty: a structural model. Tour Manage. 2005;26:45–56.

Chi CG-Q, Qu H. Examining the structural relationships of destination image, tourist satisfaction and destination loyalty: an integrated approach. Tour Manage. 2008;29:624–36.

Hallak R, Assaker G, El-Haddad R. Re-examining the relationships among perceived quality, value, satisfaction, and destination loyalty: a higher-order structural model. J Vacat Mark. 2018;24:118–35.

Kang J-W, Lee H, Namkung Y. The impact of restaurant patrons’ flow experience on SNS satisfaction and offline purchase intentions. Int J Contemp Hosp Manag. 2018;30:797–816.

Yu T-W, Chen T-J. Online travel insurance purchase intention: a transaction cost perspective. J Travel Tour Mark. 2018;35:1175–86.

Yuksel A, Yuksel F, Bilim Y. Destination attachment: effects on customer satisfaction and cognitive, affective and conative loyalty. Tour Manage. 2010;31:274–84.

Wu H-C, Li T. A study of experiential quality, perceived value, heritage image, experiential satisfaction, and behavioral intentions for heritage tourists. J Hospital Tour Res. 2017;41(8):904–44.

Jin N, Lee S, Lee H. The effect of experience quality on perceived value, satisfaction, image and behavioral intention of water park patrons: new versus repeat visitors. Int J Tour Res. 2015;17:82–95.

Loureiro SMC, González FJM. The importance of quality, satisfaction, trust, and image in relation to rural tourist loyalty. J Travel Tour Mark. 2008;25:117–36.

Lichtenstein DR, Netemeyer RG, Burton S. Distinguishing coupon proneness from value consciousness: an acquisition-transaction utility theory perspective. J Mark. 1990;54:54–67.

Chang L-L, Backman KF, Huang YC. Creative tourism: a preliminary examination of creative tourists’ motivation, experience, perceived value and revisit intention. Int J Cult Tour Hospital Res. 2014;8:401–19.

Anderson EW, Sullivan MW. The antecedents and consequences of customer satisfaction for firms. Mark Sci. 1993;12:125–43.

Cossío-Silva F-J, Revilla-Camacho M-Á, Vega-Vázquez M. The tourist loyalty index: a new indicator for measuring tourist destination loyalty? J Innov Knowl. 2019;4:71–7.

Bao YQ. Discerning store brand users from value consciousness consumers: the role of prestige. Adv Consum Res Vol Xxxi. 2004;31:707–12.

Chen C-F, Chou S-H. Antecedents and consequences of perceived coolness for Generation Y in the context of creative tourism—a case study of the Pier 2 Art Center in Taiwan. Tour Manage. 2019;72:121–9.

Pillai KG, Kumar V. Differential effects of value consciousness and coupon proneness on consumers’ persuasion knowledge of pricing tactics. J Retail. 2012;88(1):20–33.

Delgado-Ballester E, Hernandez-Espallardo M, Rodriguez-Orejuela A. Store image influences in consumers’ perceptions of store brands: the moderating role of value consciousness. Eur J Mark. 2014;48(9–10):1850–69.

Parasuraman A, Zeithaml VA, Berry LL. A conceptual model of service quality and its implications for future research. J Mark. 1985;49(4):41–50.

Chang S. Experience economy in hospitality and tourism: gain and loss values for service and experience. Tour Manage. 2018;64:55–63.

Wong IA, Ji M, Liu MT. The effect of event supportive service environment and authenticity in the quality-value-satisfaction framework. J Hospital Tour Res. 2018;42(4):563–86.

Kuo N-T, et al. The asymmetric effect of tour guide service quality on tourist satisfaction. J Qual Assur Hosp Tour. 2018;19(4):521–42.

Alrawadieh Z, Alrawadieh Z, Kozak M. Exploring the impact of tourist harassment on destination image, tourist expenditure, and destination loyalty. Tour Manage. 2019;73:13–20.

Azhar ME, Prayogi MA, Sari M. The role of marketing mix and service quality on tourist satisfaction and loyalty at samosir. Rev Hospital. 2018;15:124–37.

Cronin Jr JJ, Brady MK, Hult GTM. Assessing the effects of quality, value, and customer satisfaction on consumer behavioral intentions in service environments. J Retail. 2000;76(2):193–218.

Cabeza Méndez JM. El Real Alcázar de Sevilla. Zabaglia. 2011;8:10–3.

Jiménez Castillo P, Navarro Palazón J, Alcázares. alcazabas y almunias durante el periodo taifa (siglo XI): los espacios palatinos al servicio de unos poderes en formación . 2016.

Csapo J. The role and importance of cultural tourism in modern tourism industry. In: Strategies for tourism industry-micro and macro perspectives. 2012;201–232.

Farooq MS, et al. Impact of service quality on customer satisfaction in Malaysia airlines: a PLS-SEM approach. J Air Transp Manag. 2018;67:169–80.

Ozdemir B, Çizel B, Bato CR. Satisfaction with all-inclusive tourism resorts: the effects of satisfaction with destination and destination loyalty. Int J Hospital Tour Admin. 2012;13(2):109–30.

Nguyen THH, Cheung C. Chinese heritage tourists to heritage sites: what are the effects of heritage motivation and perceived authenticity on satisfaction? Asia Pacific J Tour Res. 2016;21(11):1155–68.

Kempiak J, et al. The heritage tourist: an understanding of the visitor experience at heritage attractions. Int J Herit Stud. 2017;23(4):375–92.

Ganzaroli A, De Noni I, van Baalen P. Vicious advice: analyzing the impact of TripAdvisor on the quality of restaurants as part of the cultural heritage of Venice. Tour Manage. 2017;61:501–10.

Alazaizeh MM, et al. Giving voice to heritage tourists: indicators of quality for a sustainable heritage experience at Petra, Jordan. J Tour Cult Chang. 2019;17(3):269–84.

Thanou A, Tsiropoulou EE, Papavassiliou S. Quality of experience under a prospect theoretic perspective: a cultural heritage space use case. IEEE Trans Comput Soc Syst. 2019;6(1):135–48.

Mansor N, et al. Mosque tourism certification in Waqf management: a model by Ukhwah Samara. Soc Sci Human. 2015;23:291–304.

Donthu N, Yoo B. Cultural influences on service quality expectations. J Serv Res. 1998;1(2):178–86.

Tata J, Prasad S. Cultural and structural constraints on total quality management implementation. Total Qual Manag. 1998;9(8):703–10.

Gurung A, Prater E. A research framework for the impact of cultural differences on IT outsourcing. In: Global sourcing of services: strategies, issues and challenges. World Scientific; 2017. p. 49–82.

Chapter   Google Scholar  

Chen C-F, Chen F-S. Experience quality, perceived value, satisfaction and behavioral intentions for heritage tourists. Tour Manage. 2010;31(1):29–35.

Jeon MM, Kang MM, Desmarais E. Residents’ perceived quality of life in a cultural-heritage tourism destination. Appl Res Qual Life. 2016;11(1):105–23.

Lee S, et al. Heritage tourism in Singapore Chinatown: a perceived value approach to authenticity and satisfaction. J Travel Tour Mark. 2016;33(7):981–98.

Agyeiwaah E, et al. Understanding culinary tourist motivation, experience, satisfaction, and loyalty using a structural approach. J Travel Tour Mark. 2019;36(3):295–313.

Thi K, et al. The effects of service quality on international tourist satisfaction and loyalty: insight from Vietnam. Int J Data Netw Sci. 2020;4(2):179–86.

Marshall PA. Cultural influences on perceived quality of life. In: Seminars in oncology nursing. Elsevier; 1990.

Pouso S, Uyarra MC, Borja Á. The recovery of estuarine quality and the perceived increase of cultural ecosystem services by beach users: a case study from northern Spain. J Environ Manage. 2018;212:450–61.

Mohseni S, et al. Attracting tourists to travel companies’ websites: the structural relationship between website brand, personal value, shopping experience, perceived risk and purchase intention. Curr Issue Tour. 2018;21(6):616–45.

Nilson TH. Value-added marketing: marketing management for superior results. McGraw-Hill Book Company; 1992.

Pandža Bajs I. Tourist perceived value, relationship to satisfaction, and behavioral intentions: the example of the Croatian tourist destination Dubrovnik. J Travel Res. 2015;54(1):122–34.

Tom Dieck MC, Jung TH. Value of augmented reality at cultural heritage sites: a stakeholder approach. J Destinat Market Manag. 2017;6(2):110–7.

Gallarza MG, Maubisson L, Rivière A. Replicating consumer value scales: a comparative study of EVS and PERVAL at a cultural heritage site. J Bus Res. 2020;126:614–23.

Qi L, et al. Time-aware distributed service recommendation with privacy-preservation. Inf Sci. 2019;480:354–64.

Hallak R, Assaker G, El-Haddad R. Re-examining the relationships among perceived quality, value, satisfaction, and destination loyalty: a higher-order structural model. J Vacat Mark. 2018;24(2):118–35.

Cheng BL, et al. Service recovery, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty: evidence from Malaysia’s hotel industry. Int J Qual Serv Sci. 2019;11:187–203.

Hosany S, Prayag G. Patterns of tourists’ emotional responses, satisfaction, and intention to recommend. J Bus Res. 2013;66(6):730–7.

Domínguez-Quintero AM, González-Rodríguez MR, Paddison B. The mediating role of experience quality on authenticity and satisfaction in the context of cultural-heritage tourism. Curr Issue Tour. 2020;23(2):248–60.

Veasna S, Wu W-Y, Huang C-H. The impact of destination source credibility on destination satisfaction: the mediating effects of destination attachment and destination image. Tour Manage. 2013;36:511–26.

Assaker G, Vinzi VE, O’Connor P. Examining the effect of novelty seeking, satisfaction, and destination image on tourists’ return pattern: a two factor, non-linear latent growth model. Tour Manage. 2011;32(4):890–901.

San Martín H, Herrero A, García de los Salmones MdM. An integrative model of destination brand equity and tourist satisfaction. Curr Issues Tour. 2019;22(16):1992–2013.

Gómez-Zapata JD, Espinal-Monsalve NE, Herrero-Prieto LC. Economic valuation of museums as public club goods: why build loyalty in cultural heritage consumption? J Cult Herit. 2018;30:190–8.

Verma A, Rajendran G. The effect of historical nostalgia on tourists’ destination loyalty intention: an empirical study of the world cultural heritage site—Mahabalipuram, India. Asia Pacific J Tour Res. 2017;22(9):977–90.

Fu X. Existential authenticity and destination loyalty: evidence from heritage tourists. J Destin Mark Manag. 2019;12:84–94.

Henseler J, Chin WW. A comparison of approaches for the analysis of interaction effects between latent variables using partial least squares path modeling. Struct Equ Model. 2010;17(1):82–109.

Carmines EG, Zeller RA. Reliability and validity assessment, vol. 17. USA: Sage publications; 1979.

Book   Google Scholar  

Barclay D, Higgins C, Thompson R. The partial least squares (PLS) approach to casual modeling: personal computer adoption ans use as an Illustration. 1995.

Hair JF, Ringle CM, Sarstedt M. Partial least squares: the better approach to structural equation modeling? Long Range Plan. 2012;45(5–6):312–9.

Fornell C, Larcker DF. Structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error: algebra and statistics. USA: SAGE Publications; 1981.

Nunnally JC, Bernstein IH. Psychometric theory. New York: McGraw-Hill; 1978.

Su L, Hsu MK, Swanson S. The effect of tourist relationship perception on destination loyalty at a world heritage site in China: the mediating role of overall destination satisfaction and trust. J Hospital Tour Res. 2017;41(2):180–210.

Santa-Cruz FG, López-Guzmán T. Culture, tourism and world heritage sites. Tour Manag Perspect. 2017;24:111–6.

Cossío-Silva F-J, Revilla-Camacho M-Á, Vega-Vázquez M. The tourist loyalty index: a new indicator for measuring tourist destination loyalty? J Innov Knowl. 2019;4(2):71–7.

Chen H, Rahman I. Cultural tourism: an analysis of engagement, cultural contact, memorable tourism experience and destination loyalty. Tour Manag Perspect. 2018;26:153–63.

Oriade A, Schofield P. An examination of the role of service quality and perceived value in visitor attraction experience. J Destin Mark Manag. 2019;11:1–9.

Sánchez-Sánchez MD, De-Pablos-Heredero C, Montes-Botella JL. A behaviour model for cultural tourism: loyalty to destination. Econ Res Ekonomska Istraživanja, 2020;1–18.

Elmoussaoui M. The phenomenological significance of dwelling in architecture. The case of Eastern Beka’a Valley-Lebanon. 2020.

Liu Y, et al. Understanding the relationship between food experiential quality and customer dining satisfaction: a perspective on negative bias. Int J Hosp Manag. 2020;87:102381.

Alnawas I, Hemsley-Brown J. Examining the key dimensions of customer experience quality in the hotel industry. J Hosp Market Manag. 2019;28(7):833–61.

Prayag G, et al. Understanding the relationships between tourists’ emotional experiences, perceived overall image, satisfaction, and intention to recommend. J Travel Res. 2017;56:41–54.

Su Y, Teng W. Contemplating museums’ service failure: extracting the service quality dimensions of museums from negative on-line reviews. Tour Manage. 2018;69:214–22.

Bodet G. Loyalty in sport participation services: an examination of the mediating role of psychological commitment. J Sport Manag. 2012;26(1):30–42.

Download references

Acknowledgements

Not applicable.

This research received no external funding.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Department Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Policy, Faculty of Economics and Business Sciences, Universidad de Córdoba, Plaza de Puerta Nueva S/N, 14002, Cordoba, Spain

Ricardo David Hernández-Rojas & Juan Antonio Jimber del Río

Management, International Relations, University of Science and Technology, Fujairah, UAE

Alberto Ibáñez Fernández

Department of Research, Ecotec University, Samborondón-Ecuador and Espiritu Santo University, Samborondón, Ecuador

Arnaldo Vergara-Romero

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Contributions

Conceptualization, AV-R and RDH-R; methodology, JAJR and AI-F; software, JAJR and RDH-R; validation JAJR; RDH-R and AV-R; formal analysis, JAJR; RDH-R; AI-F; investigation, AV-R and RDH-R; resources, AV-R and RDH-R; data curation, RH-R and AI-F; writing—original draft preparation, AV-R; writing—review and editing, AV-R, AI-F; visualization, AV-R; supervision, JAJR; project administration, N/A; funding acquisition, N/A.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Juan Antonio Jimber del Río .

Ethics declarations

Competing interests.

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher's note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ ) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Hernández-Rojas, R.D., del Río, J.A.J., Fernández, A.I. et al. The cultural and heritage tourist, SEM analysis: the case of The Citadel of the Catholic King. Herit Sci 9 , 52 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-021-00525-0

Download citation

Received : 25 February 2021

Accepted : 23 April 2021

Published : 06 May 2021

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-021-00525-0

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Heritage tourism
• Cultural heritage
• Structual ecuation model

Winter is here! Check out the winter wonderlands at these 5 amazing winter destinations in Montana

• Travel Tips

What Is The Difference Between Eco-tourism And Tourism

Published: December 12, 2023

Modified: December 28, 2023

by Wendeline Wagoner

• Plan Your Trip
• Sustainability

Introduction

Eco-tourism and tourism are two terms often used interchangeably, but they have distinct differences that go beyond mere semantics. Understanding these differences is crucial for both travelers and travel industry professionals. While both involve travel and exploration, they have different goals, impacts, and principles.

Eco-tourism, short for ecological tourism, is a form of travel that focuses on responsible and sustainable practices that minimize negative impacts on the environment while promoting conservation and community engagement. On the other hand, tourism refers to general travel activities that encompass a wide range of experiences and can involve various levels of environmental consciousness.

In this article, we will delve into the key characteristics of eco-tourism and tourism, highlight their environmental impacts, examine the economic benefits they bring, and explore their social and cultural effects. By understanding these aspects, it will be easier to distinguish between the two and make informed choices when planning your travel experiences.

Definition of Eco-tourism

Eco-tourism, also known as ecological tourism, is a form of travel that emphasizes responsible and sustainable practices to minimize the negative impact on the environment and local communities. It involves exploring natural areas, engaging in conservation efforts, and promoting cultural awareness, all while supporting the well-being of local communities and preserving the integrity of ecosystems.

Eco-tourism aims to create a positive relationship between travelers and nature by fostering environmental education and promoting the conservation of biodiversity. It seeks to provide unique and immersive experiences that allow travelers to connect with nature and gain a deeper understanding of the natural world.

Key principles of eco-tourism include:

• Environmental Conservation: Eco-tourism strives to protect and preserve natural habitats, wildlife, and ecosystems. It aims to minimize pollution, habitat destruction, and negative impacts on biodiversity.
• Sustainable Practices: Eco-tourism promotes sustainable tourism practices, including the use of renewable resources, waste management, energy efficiency, and responsible consumption.
• Economic Benefits for Local Communities: Eco-tourism emphasizes community involvement and works towards providing economic opportunities for local communities through fair employment, supporting local businesses, and contributing to community development projects.
• Cultural Respect: Eco-tourism values and respects the cultural heritage of local communities. It encourages travelers to engage with local traditions, customs, and practices, fostering mutual understanding and appreciation.
• Education and Awareness: Eco-tourism aims to educate and raise awareness among travelers about environmental issues, conservation efforts, and the importance of sustainable practices.

Overall, eco-tourism recognizes the interconnectedness of the natural world and human societies. It seeks to strike a balance between satisfying travelers’ desires for exploration and adventure, while ensuring the long-term protection of the environment and the well-being of local communities.

Definition of Tourism

Tourism refers to the activities, experiences, and services associated with travel for leisure, business, or recreational purposes. It encompasses a wide range of travel-related activities, including visiting attractions, exploring new destinations, engaging in cultural experiences, and experiencing different cuisines and traditions.

Key characteristics of tourism include:

• Travel for Pleasure: Tourism involves travel undertaken for leisure and enjoyment, aiming to provide individuals with a break from their routine and the opportunity for relaxation and recreation.
• Destination Exploration: Tourism often revolves around the desire to explore new places and experience different cultures, landscapes, and attractions. It can involve domestic or international travel, depending on the individual’s preferences and interests.
• Various Forms of Accommodation: Tourism encompasses various types of accommodations, ranging from hotels and resorts to vacation rentals and campsites, catering to different travel budgets and preferences.
• Entertainment and Recreation: Tourism offers a wide array of activities and experiences, such as visiting museums, amusement parks, historical sites, participating in adventure sports, and engaging in cultural events.
• Economic Impact: Tourism plays a significant role in generating revenue, creating job opportunities, and stimulating economic growth in destinations as travelers spend money on accommodations, dining, shopping, and other tourism-related activities.
• Infrastructure Development: Tourism often drives the development of infrastructure, including transportation networks, hotels, restaurants, and recreational facilities, to cater to the needs of travelers.

Tourism can capture both domestic and international travel, focusing on individuals, families, or groups seeking diverse experiences and new discoveries. It is a dynamic industry that evolves with changing travel trends, technological advancements, and consumer demands.

While tourism can bring numerous benefits to destinations, it is also essential to acknowledge and address the potential negative impacts it may have on the environment and local communities. This is where the concept of eco-tourism comes into play, as it emphasizes responsible travel practices aimed at mitigating environmental harm and promoting sustainability.

Key Characteristics of Eco-tourism

Eco-tourism is characterized by specific principles and practices that set it apart from traditional tourism. These key characteristics are focused on promoting sustainability, conservation, and community engagement:

• Environmental Responsibility: Eco-tourism prioritizes the protection and preservation of natural environments. It aims to minimize negative impacts on ecosystems, reduce carbon footprint, and protect biodiversity. This includes promoting responsible waste management, conserving energy and water resources, and respecting wildlife.
• Educational Focus: Eco-tourism places a strong emphasis on environmental education and awareness. Travelers are encouraged to learn about the ecosystems they visit, understand the importance of conservation efforts, and gain insights into sustainable practices. This educational component helps foster a sense of environmental responsibility and encourages travelers to become advocates for conservation.
• Community Involvement: Eco-tourism recognizes the significance of local communities and aims to involve and benefit them. It encourages travelers to engage with local cultures, support community-based initiatives, and contribute to local economies through responsible spending. The involvement of local communities ensures that they have a stake in preserving their natural and cultural heritage.
• Small-Scale and Low-Impact: Eco-tourism promotes small-scale and low-impact tourism operations. This means avoiding large crowds, minimizing infrastructure development in sensitive areas, and focusing on sustainable practices such as responsible land use, water conservation, and waste reduction.
• Conservation Projects: Eco-tourism often aligns with conservation initiatives and supports efforts to protect endangered species, restore habitats, and preserve natural resources. Travelers may have the opportunity to actively participate in conservation projects, such as tree planting, wildlife monitoring, or habitat restoration, contributing directly to conservation efforts.
• Local Guides and Experts: Eco-tourism frequently involves local guides and experts who possess deep knowledge and understanding of the natural environment and local culture. These guides provide valuable insights, facilitate interactions with the local community, and ensure that travelers have a meaningful and authentic experience.

By incorporating these key characteristics, eco-tourism aims to create a positive and sustainable relationship between travelers, the environment, and local communities. It encourages responsible travel practices that foster environmental stewardship, cultural appreciation, and economic empowerment for the communities in which it operates.

Key Characteristics of Tourism

Tourism is a diverse and multifaceted industry that encompasses a wide range of travel experiences, and it is characterized by several key features:

• Leisure and Recreation: Tourism is primarily driven by the desire for leisure and recreation. It provides individuals with the opportunity to take a break from their everyday routine and engage in activities that bring enjoyment and relaxation.
• Destination Exploration: Tourism involves traveling to different destinations, both domestic and international, with the purpose of exploring and experiencing new cultures, traditions, landscapes, and attractions. It satisfies the human curiosity for discovery and adventure.
• Hospitality Services: In the tourism industry, various services are provided to cater to the needs of travelers, including accommodations, transportation, dining, and entertainment. These services ensure comfortable and convenient experiences for tourists during their stay.
• Economic Impact: Tourism contributes significantly to the economy of destinations. It generates revenue and creates job opportunities in various sectors, such as hospitality, transportation, retail, and tourism-related services. Additionally, tourists’ spending stimulates local businesses and economies.
• Cultural Exchange: Tourism facilitates cultural exchange by bringing together people from different backgrounds and allowing them to interact and share experiences. It promotes understanding, tolerance, and appreciation of diverse cultures, traditions, and lifestyles.
• Infrastructure Development: The growth of tourism often leads to the development of necessary infrastructure and facilities, including hotels, resorts, transportation networks, restaurants, and recreational sites. This infrastructure enhances the tourism experience and supports the needs of visitors.
• Recreation and Entertainment: Tourism offers a wide range of recreational and entertainment activities. This can include visiting museums, historical sites, theme parks, engaging in adventure sports, attending festivals, or participating in cultural events.

It is important to note that while tourism brings economic benefits and cultural exchange, it can also have negative impacts on the environment and local communities if not managed sustainably. This has led to the emergence of eco-tourism, which focuses explicitly on responsible travel practices and minimizing environmental and social impacts.

Overall, tourism plays a vital role in promoting economic growth, cultural understanding, and personal enrichment. It allows individuals to explore new destinations and experiences, creating memories that last a lifetime.

Environmental Impact of Eco-tourism

Eco-tourism aims to minimize its environmental impact and promote sustainability. While it strives to be environmentally responsible, it is important to acknowledge that even eco-friendly tourism practices can still have some level of impact. The following are some key environmental impacts associated with eco-tourism:

• Habitat Preservation and Conservation: Eco-tourism often focuses on protecting and preserving natural habitats. By promoting responsible tourism practices, it helps minimize habitat destruction, fragmentation, and degradation.
• Wildlife Protection: Eco-tourism plays a significant role in wildlife conservation. It supports initiatives that protect endangered species, promote responsible wildlife viewing practices, and discourage activities that disrupt natural ecosystems.
• Carbon Footprint Reduction: Eco-tourism emphasizes measures to reduce carbon emissions. This includes supporting sustainable transportation options, promoting energy-efficient practices, and encouraging the use of renewable energy sources.
• Waste Management: Eco-tourism advocates for responsible waste management practices. It encourages the use of reusable and recyclable materials, proper disposal of waste, and the reduction of single-use items.
• Water Conservation: Eco-tourism promotes responsible water usage and conservation efforts. Travelers are encouraged to use water sparingly, support local initiatives for water management, and be mindful of the water ecosystems they visit.
• Minimization of Pollution: Eco-tourism aims to minimize pollution in all its forms, including air, water, and noise pollution. This involves using eco-friendly transportation, encouraging sustainable practices in accommodations, and promoting awareness among travelers about their impact on the environment.

Eco-tourism recognizes that preserving natural resources and minimizing environmental impact is vital for the long-term sustainability of both tourist destinations and the planet as a whole. By prioritizing responsible travel practices and supporting conservation efforts, eco-tourism strives to create a positive and lasting impact on the environment.

However, it is essential for eco-tourists to be aware of their own actions and choices, as even small decisions can have cumulative effects. By making conscious choices, supporting responsible eco-tourism operators, and spreading the message of sustainability, travelers can contribute towards a more environmentally conscious approach to travel.

Environmental Impact of Tourism

Tourism, while providing many benefits, can also have significant environmental impacts. It is important to be aware of these impacts in order to implement strategies and practices to mitigate them. Some key environmental impacts of tourism include:

• Resource Consumption: Tourism places a strain on local resources, including water, energy, and land. The high demand for accommodations, transportation, and other tourist facilities can lead to overuse, depletion, and degradation of these resources.
• Waste Generation: Tourism generates a substantial amount of waste, including packaging, food waste, and other disposable items. Improper waste management can lead to pollution of water bodies, soil, and air, and harm local ecosystems and wildlife.
• Loss of Biodiversity: The development of tourism infrastructure often results in habitat destruction and fragmentation, leading to the loss of biodiversity. Construction of resorts, roads, and other facilities can disrupt natural ecosystems and threaten the survival of plant and animal species.
• Carbon Emissions: Tourism contributes to greenhouse gas emissions through transportation, energy use, and other activities. This contributes to climate change, which has far-reaching environmental impacts, including rising temperatures, sea-level rise, and changes in weather patterns.
• Ecosystem Degradation: Activities associated with tourism, such as hiking, wildlife viewing, and off-road driving, can lead to ecosystem disturbances and damage. Trampling of vegetation, soil erosion, and disturbance to wildlife habitats can disrupt natural processes and harm ecosystems.
• Water Pollution: Tourism can lead to increased pollution of water bodies due to improper waste disposal, sewage runoff, and the use of chemicals in hotels and resorts. This pollution can have detrimental effects on aquatic ecosystems and biodiversity.

It is crucial for the tourism industry to adopt sustainable practices and minimize these environmental impacts. This involves implementing measures such as energy efficiency, waste management, water conservation, sustainable transportation options, and promoting eco-friendly accommodations.

Individual travelers also play a role in minimizing the environmental impact of tourism. By practicing responsible tourism, such as reducing waste, conserving water and energy, choosing eco-friendly transportation options, and supporting local sustainable initiatives, travelers can contribute to the preservation of the environment and the long-term sustainability of tourist destinations.

Addressing the environmental impact of tourism requires collaboration between all stakeholders, including governments, tourism businesses, communities, and travelers. By working together, we can ensure that tourism contributes positively to the environment while allowing future generations to enjoy the beauty and wonders of the world.

Economic Benefits of Eco-tourism

Eco-tourism has the potential to bring about significant economic benefits to local communities and destinations. These economic benefits go beyond mere financial gains and contribute to sustainable development. Some key economic benefits of eco-tourism are:

• Job Creation: Eco-tourism can generate employment opportunities for local communities. As eco-tourism often emphasizes community involvement and engagement, it provides avenues for local residents to become guides, naturalists, and interpreters, among other roles.
• Local Entrepreneurship: Eco-tourism encourages the growth of local businesses. Local entrepreneurs can offer services such as accommodations, transportation, local crafts, and sustainable food options, stimulating economic activity within the community.
• Income Generation: Through eco-tourism, local communities can benefit financially from tourists’ spending. Visitors who engage in eco-friendly activities are often willing to pay a premium for authentic and sustainable experiences, ensuring that a significant portion of their expenditure remains within the community.
• Community Development: Eco-tourism can contribute to community development and empowerment. By providing economic opportunities, it helps in improving the quality of life, enhancing infrastructure, and supporting initiatives such as education, healthcare, and cultural preservation.
• Preservation of Cultural Heritage: Eco-tourism recognizes the value of cultural heritage and seeks to preserve and celebrate it. This can lead to the revitalization of traditional practices and crafts, thereby supporting the local economy and cultural identity.
• Diversification of Local Economy: Eco-tourism diversifies the local economy, reducing dependence on a single industry. This, in turn, enhances the resilience of the community to economic fluctuations and provides a more sustainable economic foundation.

These economic benefits contribute to the overall well-being of local communities, providing them with resources and opportunities to thrive. By promoting sustainable practices and responsible tourism, eco-tourism ensures that economic benefits are shared equitably among community members and the negative social and environmental impacts are mitigated.

Moreover, eco-tourism can also contribute to the broader economy of a country by attracting international visitors, generating revenue through taxes and fees, and stimulating investment in infrastructure development and support services.

By embracing eco-tourism as a sustainable economic model, communities can foster long-term growth, empower local residents, and preserve the natural and cultural heritage for future generations.

Economic Benefits of Tourism

Tourism brings various economic benefits to destinations, contributing to job creation, income generation, and economic growth. These benefits can have a significant impact on both local communities and the broader economy. Some key economic benefits of tourism are:

• Job Creation: Tourism is a major source of employment, providing opportunities in various sectors such as hospitality, transportation, retail, and entertainment. From hotel staff to tour guides, taxi drivers to artisans, tourism supports a diverse range of jobs for local communities.
• Small Business Support: Tourism can create business opportunities for small enterprises, allowing them to thrive and contribute to the local economy. This includes accommodations, local dining establishments, souvenir shops, and tourism-related services.
• Revenue Generation: Tourism brings in revenue for destinations through the spending of tourists on accommodations, meals, activities, and shopping. This revenue can directly support local businesses, infrastructure development, and public services.
• Infrastructure Development: The growth of tourism often leads to the development of necessary infrastructure, such as transportation networks, airports, roads, and public facilities. This infrastructure not only caters to tourists but also benefits local residents and other sectors of the economy.
• Foreign Exchange Earnings: Tourism generates foreign exchange earnings for countries, as international visitors spend money in the local currency. This strengthens the balance of payments and can be used to support other sectors of the economy.
• Cultural Preservation: Tourism can support the preservation and celebration of local culture and heritage. It creates opportunities for cultural exchange, revitalization of traditional practices, and the development of cultural tourism initiatives that showcase unique customs, traditions, and arts.

These economic benefits have a ripple effect throughout the economy, stimulating growth and development in related industries and services. Additionally, tourism can contribute to the reduction of poverty by providing income opportunities and improving living standards for individuals and communities.

However, it is important to note that the distribution of these economic benefits may not always be equitable, and there may be challenges such as leakage of revenue from the local economy and the concentration of benefits in large-scale tourism enterprises. It is crucial for destinations to implement strategies and policies that promote inclusive growth, support local businesses, and involve communities in decision-making processes.

Social and Cultural Effects of Eco-tourism

Eco-tourism has significant social and cultural effects on both host communities and travelers. By promoting meaningful interactions and fostering mutual understanding, eco-tourism offers opportunities for cultural exchange, community empowerment, and the preservation of local traditions. Some key social and cultural effects of eco-tourism include:

• Cultural Exchange: Eco-tourism encourages travelers to engage with local cultures, traditions, and ways of life. This promotes mutual understanding and respect between tourists and locals, fostering cross-cultural dialogue and reducing stereotypes and prejudices.
• Community Empowerment: Eco-tourism often involves the active participation and engagement of local communities. By involving local residents in various aspects of tourism, such as providing accommodations, guiding tours, and sharing traditional knowledge and practices, eco-tourism empowers communities and strengthens their sense of identity and pride.
• Preservation of Cultural Heritage: Eco-tourism values and celebrates the cultural heritage of host communities. It supports the preservation of traditional practices, languages, arts, and crafts, ensuring that these elements of cultural identity are passed down from generation to generation and are not lost to globalization.
• Economic Opportunities: Eco-tourism creates economic opportunities for local communities, providing income sources beyond traditional sectors. This allows residents to preserve their way of life and reduces the need for migration to urban areas in search of employment.
• Increased Awareness and Cultural Appreciation: Eco-tourism promotes education and awareness among travelers about local cultures, biodiversity, and conservation efforts. This enhances visitors’ understanding of the value of cultural diversity, fostering a sense of appreciation and respect for different ways of life.
• Community Development: Eco-tourism can contribute to community development by supporting infrastructure improvements, educational initiatives, healthcare facilities, and other social services. This improves the overall quality of life for residents.

Eco-tourism recognizes the importance of cultural authenticity and strives to celebrate and preserve the unique cultural heritage of host communities. It emphasizes the value of respecting local customs, traditions, and beliefs, treating them as assets rather than commodities.

It is important to note that while eco-tourism can have positive social and cultural effects, there is also a need for responsible and ethical tourism practices. Measures should be in place to ensure that local communities are active participants and decision-makers in the tourism development process, and that they benefit equitably from the economic gains of tourism.

Overall, eco-tourism has the potential to create a positive impact on the social fabric of host communities and foster cultural appreciation and understanding among travelers. By embracing sustainable practices and respecting local customs, eco-tourism allows for meaningful and enriching experiences for both locals and visitors.

Social and Cultural Effects of Tourism

Tourism has profound social and cultural effects on both host communities and travelers. It provides opportunities for cultural exchange, promotes understanding between different cultures, and can have both positive and negative impacts on social structures. Some key social and cultural effects of tourism include:

• Cultural Exchange: Tourism facilitates interactions between people from diverse backgrounds, fostering cross-cultural understanding and promoting tolerance and appreciation for different customs, traditions, and ways of life. This cultural exchange enriches both hosts and visitors.
• Preservation of Cultural Heritage: Tourism can play a significant role in preserving and promoting local cultural heritage. Communities often showcase their traditions, arts, crafts, music, and culinary practices, ensuring their preservation for future generations and contributing to the overall cultural identity of the destination.
• Economic Opportunities: Tourism provides economic opportunities for local communities. It generates employment in various sectors, including hospitality, retail, transportation, and entertainment. This can lead to increased income levels and improved living standards for residents.
• Infrastructure Development: The growth of tourism often stimulates infrastructure development, benefiting host communities. Improved transportation networks, hotels, restaurants, and recreational facilities not only enhance the tourism experience but also benefit locals by enhancing their quality of life and access to services.
• Community Empowerment: Tourism can empower local communities by involving them in decision-making processes, giving them a voice in tourism development, and creating opportunities for community-led initiatives and entrepreneurship.
• Potential for Social Integration: Tourism can provide a platform for different social groups to interact and engage with one another. This can facilitate social integration, reduce biases and stereotypes, and foster social cohesion within communities.
• Promotion of Cultural Pride: Tourism often encourages locals to take pride in their cultural heritage and traditional practices. It can create a renewed interest in cultural customs, encourage the transmission of traditional knowledge, and help communities revive and celebrate their unique identity.

While tourism brings many positive social and cultural effects, it is important to ensure that these effects are sustainable and inclusive. Responsible tourism practices, such as engaging local communities, respecting cultural norms, and minimizing negative social impacts, should be prioritized to ensure that tourism benefits host communities in a fair and equitable manner.

Negative social and cultural effects can also occur in tourism destinations, such as overcrowding, loss of authenticity, commodification of culture, and social inequalities. These potential negative impacts need to be carefully managed to protect the well-being and social fabric of local communities.

Overall, when managed responsibly, tourism can facilitate cultural understanding, promote social cohesion, and contribute to the preservation and celebration of cultural heritage. By embracing sustainable practices and fostering mutual respect, tourism can create positive social and cultural outcomes for both hosts and visitors.

The Difference between Eco-tourism and Tourism

Eco-tourism and tourism may sound similar, but they have distinct differences in their principles, goals, and impacts. Understanding these differences is crucial for both travelers and industry professionals. Here are the key distinctions between eco-tourism and tourism:

• Environmental Focus: Eco-tourism places a strong emphasis on environmentally responsible practices. It aims to minimize negative impacts on ecosystems, conserve biodiversity, and promote sustainable resource management. In contrast, while tourism may incorporate some eco-friendly practices, it does not necessarily prioritize environmental conservation.
• Sustainable Tourism Practices: Eco-tourism promotes sustainable practices such as waste management, energy efficiency, and responsible consumption. It encourages travelers to choose low-impact transportation methods and supports eco-friendly accommodations. In contrast, tourism encompasses a broader range of practices, including mainstream tourism that may not prioritize sustainability.
• Community Engagement: Eco-tourism actively involves and benefits local communities. It supports community-led initiatives, provides economic opportunities, and encourages cultural exchange. In contrast, while tourism may bring economic benefits to communities, it may not always prioritize community engagement and empowerment.
• Cultural Preservation: Eco-tourism values and respects local cultural heritage. It emphasizes the preservation of traditional practices, supports local artisans, and promotes authentic cultural experiences. In contrast, while tourism may showcase local culture, it may also lead to the commodification of traditions and the loss of cultural authenticity.
• Educational and Awareness Component: Eco-tourism incorporates an educational element, seeking to raise awareness about environmental issues, conservation efforts, and sustainable practices. It aims to inspire travelers to become advocates for the environment. While tourism may also offer educational opportunities, it may not have the same focus or depth of environmental education.
• Size and Scale: Eco-tourism often operates on a smaller scale, focusing on low-impact, personalized experiences that promote environmental and cultural sustainability. Tourism, on the other hand, can encompass a wide range of travel activities, from mass tourism to niche markets.

It is important to note that eco-tourism is a subset of the broader tourism industry. It represents a more conscious and responsible approach to travel, emphasizing environmental conservation, community engagement, and cultural preservation. While both eco-tourism and tourism offer travel experiences, the key distinction lies in the principles and impacts that each promotes.

By understanding the difference between eco-tourism and tourism, travelers can make informed choices that align with their personal values and support sustainable and responsible travel practices. Industry professionals can also incorporate eco-tourism principles into their operations to minimize environmental impacts and ensure the well-being of host communities and natural ecosystems.

Eco-tourism and tourism are two distinct concepts within the travel industry, each with its own set of principles, goals, and impacts. Eco-tourism emphasizes environmentally responsible practices, sustainability, community engagement, and cultural preservation. It strives to minimize negative environmental impacts, promote conservation, and empower local communities. On the other hand, tourism encompasses a wider range of travel experiences and may not always prioritize sustainability or community involvement.

Eco-tourism offers unique opportunities for travelers to immerse themselves in nature, learn about different ecosystems, and actively contribute to environmental conservation. It encourages visitors to engage with local cultures, support community-led initiatives, and develop a deeper appreciation for the natural and cultural heritage of a destination.

While tourism brings economic benefits and cultural exchange, it also has the potential to harm the environment and disrupt local communities if not managed responsibly. Therefore, embracing eco-tourism principles and practices becomes critical for mitigating negative impacts and promoting sustainability in the tourism industry.

By choosing eco-tourism experiences, travelers can contribute to the preservation of natural resources, support local economies, and foster cultural appreciation. Engaging in responsible travel choices, such as minimizing waste, respecting local customs, conserving resources, and supporting eco-friendly accommodations and services, helps ensure the long-term viability of destinations and the well-being of both communities and the environment.

Ultimately, the success of eco-tourism lies in the collaboration and commitment of travelers, tourism businesses, governments, and local communities. By working together, we can create a more sustainable and responsible tourism industry that benefits everyone involved, preserves our planet’s natural and cultural treasures, and allows future generations to enjoy the wonders of travel.

• Privacy Overview
• Strictly Necessary Cookies

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.