IMAPACT OF CULTURAL HERITAGE TOURISM-AN OVERVIEW

Abstract

In general, the world’s leading category of
international trade, tourism, is increasingly
offering a range of cultural heritage
products, from visiting monuments to
discovering unique ways of life as supply
for increasing cultural and heritage tourism
demand. UNESCO defines culture tourism
as “to create a discerning type of tourism
that takes account of other people’s
cultures” . Indeed culture and heritage
tourism has been gaining importance
recently not only for its’ economic gains but
due to more sustainable approaches. As
rural and regional economies go through
difficult times of change, it may seem to
some local communities that heritage can
help in terms of economical gains. When
what is old and valued in the community can
no longer serve its original function, surely
it can still attract funding and tourism as a
part of cultural heritage. It is a well known
fact that a natural link exists between
cultural heritage tourism and regional
development. Regional development is a
key factor which contributes to economic
welfare of the host country. The
development and application of a system
assessing the tourism potential of cultural
and heritage assets including cultural,
physical, product and experiential values is
vital for the sustainability of the tourism
attractions. The purpose of this paper is to
determine whether there is a link between
cultural and heritage tourism and regional
development.