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Culture and tourism are crucial for economic growth and sustainable development, working together symbiotically. Culture boosts tourism by supporting heritage, production, and creativity, while cultural heritage, reflecting national identity and traditions, strengthens local economies. This study uses a panel data analysis to examine the impact of cultural factors on international tourist arrivals in 27 EU nations. The Driscoll–Kraay method reveals that UNESCO World Heritage Sites, government cultural expenditures, household recreation and cultural expenditures, real GDP per job, and bed capacity positively influence international tourist numbers. Regarding cultural factors, World Heritage Sites have the most significant influence, with each additional UNESCO site leading to a 0.22% rise in tourist numbers. The most crucial determinant of tourist arrivals is bed capacity, with a one percent increase leading to a 0.66% increase in tourist arrivals. Conversely, healthcare expenditures and political civil liberties have a negative impact on tourist arrivals. This study discusses managerial implications and offers recommendations for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe aim of this study is to present a novel measure of which pairs of human-made factors are most threatening to a Cultural World Heritage Site when time as well as its characteristics, including location, are controlled for. A system of Probit equations is employed on information from the UNESCO State of Conservation and World Heritage databases on the nine most frequently reported external threats (housing, tourism, transportation, destruction, illegal activities, land conversion, accommodation supply, loss of identity and war and civil unrest). This allows an analysis that covers all sites, with 22,190 observations over a time period of 45 years. Threats from war and civil unrest, destruction of heritage and illegal activities all appear in pairs and are strongly correlated with each other. There are also high positive correlations between threats from housing and land conversion, tourism and housing, accommodation and transportation as well as tourism and accommodation. Until 2009, there is an increase in the probability of threats, after that, stagnation is observed. Cultural World Heritage Sites in Africa and the Arab countries face the highest risk of a reported threat. Based on the novel measure, a second step of the analysis employing fixed-effects Logit estimations reveals that threats from tourism, housing and transportation are more seldom identified if the site in question has a management plan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of EURE is the property of Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Extant studies have found that the inscription of World Heritage sites (WHS) has no or negative effect on tourism in China, which does not explain why Chinese local governments are eager to apply for WHS. This study employs the difference-in-difference approach and city-level data from China to assess the effect of WHS over a more extended period, starting from initiation instead of inscription. The results indicate that WHS initiation can promote tourism, while WHS inscription reduces tourism revenue. Furthermore, heterogeneity analysis reveals that WHS initiation has a more positive effect on domestic tourism revenue in the eastern region of China. In contrast, WHS inscription has a more negative effect on tourism revenue in the western region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The support and participation of local stakeholders in tourism development and the conservation of World Heritage Sites is a fundamental requisite for the sustainable management of World Heritage Sites in urban destinations. This work aims to analyse the threats and opportunities posed by the declaration of World Heritage by UNESCO of the Cultural Landscape of the City of Madrid in July 2021 from the perspective of local stakeholders. The declaration is linked to creating an organization for debate and drafting proposals called the 'Civic and Social Council,' made up of different stakeholders associated with the declared zone (organizations, professional associations, and neighbourhood associations, among others) intending to work, pool resources, and join forces to protect this area. The study integrates three theories, Social Exchange Theory, Integrated Threat Theory and Social Identity Theory. From these theoretical bases, this paper proposes a new theoretical framework where the three complementary approaches are integrated. By conducting a qualitative study based on in-depth interviews with stakeholders and a roundtable discussion with heritage experts, attitudes towards tourism and the threat variables are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Welsh and coal heritage may seem synonymous in the context of Welsh identities. One of seven national museums, Big Pit and its associated memory work reflect and shape the intertwined dynamic discourses of Wales and coal for visitors. We explore these discourses through a mixed methodology, highlighting the changing and transcalar nature of Wales itself, particularly the devolution of the tourism, heritage, and culture sector in 1997 from the UK Government to the Welsh Government. How have the discourses of National Museum Wales and Big Pit shifted in conjunction with devolutionary power transfers? This paper reflects upon the complicated and fluid discourses of Welshness within the museum's landscapes. Migration, the dialectic of capital industrialization, and the romanticization of the banal activity of work are all central to these discourses at the Big Pit. Transcalar relationships of tourism and heritage fuel and challenge these discourses as the Big Pit sits on the edge of a UK National Park, on the European Route of Industrial Heritage, and as a central institution of the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape UNESCO World Heritage Site. These interscalar and geopolitical relationships of memory, heritage, and tourism emerge from our multisensory analysis and speak to questions echoing across the United Kingdom and other multi-nation states navigating spatial and temporal shifts in the geopolitics of their tourism sectors. All industrial heritage sites navigate national identities in overt and covert ways. The relationships between resources, heritage sites, the state, and visitors shape the landscapes of industrial heritage sites and their embeddedness into community and national narratives. As Big Pit has transitioned from a small industrial heritage site managed by the UK-overseen National Museum of Wales towards a major tourist attraction and equal member of the seven-site Welsh-overseen National Museum Wales, we identify geopolitical shifts in coal and national heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though the role of aesthetics in human life is presumed, its critical role in tourism experience formation is not well-understood. Aesthetic experiences are in the genes of culture and heritage sites; however, aesthetic experience formation in heritage tourism sites is void in tourism theory. To fill this void in the current tourism theory, this study explores how tourists define aesthetics and how aesthetic tourism experiences are formed in the context of heritage tourism, in a particular tourism heritage setting–the Chinese classical gardens. The findings revealed the manifestation and connotation of the Yin???Yang symbolism in Chinese tourists' ways of appreciating both the natural and cultural landscapes within a World Heritage Site. The study highlights the notion of "aesthetic gaze" as a term that implies the vital influences of individuals' cultural, philosophical, and aesthetic traditions on their ways of generating tourism aesthetic experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fiordland National Park is a UNESCO site located in the remote, southwest of New Zealand's South Island, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. One of its leading attractions is Milford Sound. An oil spill in this area could not only impact the industries that operate in Milford Sound but also impact all of the park. To improve the knowledge base about this area in regard to oil spills and policies regarding ship visitation, this study aimed to estimate the costs of clean‐up, impacts to fisheries, tourism, recreation and the wildlife/environment under three oil spill scenarios in Milford Sound. Minimum costs are estimated at NZD 140–154 million. These results demonstrate the need for proper planning and response measures, and appropriate domestic and international policies to help minimise the potential damages that may occur in the event of an oil spill in a remote and pristine area of New Zealand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism has become a sector that is transforming historic areas of the current city. Its impact on the quality of life of communities, local economy, access to affordable housing, urban landscape, is being analyzed from studies on gentrification and touristification. This article analyzes the case of Valparaíso (Chile) and how the declaration of its historic area as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2003, triggered a process of touristification. Through public programmes and private investment, houses were transformed into tourist shops and hotels, shaping a tourist bubble in these residential areas. How inhabitants felt and experienced the tourist transformation of their neighborhoods was analyzed through the use of interviews. The residents reports material and symbolic changes in their living conditions, which are experienced as pressure by displacement from their neighborhood. A pressure expressed in the loss of privacy, depopulation and loss of community networks, the displacement of neighborhood shops, the increase in property taxes, and the absence of public subsidies to rehabilitate their homes. The results place pressure by displacement as one of the main mechanisms of dispossession in historic areas of Latin American cities and suggest that in cities configured from neoliberal urban policies the UNESCO designation acts as a device that strengthens this dispossession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measuring the sociocultural productivity of heritage sites remains an ongoing issue for international organizations concerned with the conservation and promotion of traditional sites. The productivity of these locations is not only affected by tangible elements but also by intangible factors, such as the emotions generated by the experiences. For this purpose, 597 employees of hotels in these historical locations who had visited one of the 14 heritage sites in Spain assessed what role emotions play in this contribution. The methodology used was the application of structural equations. Several conclusions have been drawn utilizing the SmartPLS 4 software. The first is that the generation of positive emotions comes exclusively from cultural and historical dynamization and not from technological advances or an eagerness to learn. The second is that both the application of technological advances and cultural dynamization have a direct impact on productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the perception of a "sense of place" among tourists visiting Hegra, an archaeological site in northern Saudi Arabia, through reviews on TripAdvisor. The 267 reviews on TripAdvisor between 2020 and 2023 were analyzed using the VADER sentiment polarity analysis tool and object modeling using the NMF machine learning algorithm. The results highlight positive factors linked to the history and uniqueness of the place while showing some critical issues related to isolation, cost, privatization, and competitiveness. The originality of the research lies in the type of case study chosen, an archaeological site of a country that has recently opened its doors to tourism, and in the pragmatic nature of the investigation, oriented towards the search for possible solutions to be adopted in terms of heritage management based on the feedback received for the development of the tourist destination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A UNESCO World Heritage site designation is seen as a pathway to developing sustainable tourism and increasing opportunities to receive funding for the maintenance and management of the site. However, the designation of sites is often highly political with criticisms raised regarding the processes used by UNESCO. The inflexibility of selection criteria and the demand for tangible evidence of authenticity are inevitably jeopardising the selection of important heritage sites that need to be preserved. Outsider interference, distortion of historical facts, staging, and the Disneyfication of heritage are other contentions raised over how applications are manipulated to achieve a UNESCO designation. Through a qualitative narrative analysis and site visits, this paper examines the case of Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region of Japan to examine how the intervention of ICOMOS significantly altered its application for World Heritage site designation and the resulting challenges the applicants faced in satisfying the selection criteria, thereby staging their heritage for tourism in the process. Greater recognition of local voices and alternative narratives is critical in the designation process to be true to history in an age dominated by heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The medina of Fez started to play a key role in the tourism industry after the Second World War (Girard, M. 2006a. "Imaginaire touristique et émotion patrimoniale dans la medina de Fès (Maroc)." Culture & Musées 8: 61–90). The city's image, traditionally linked to craftsmen, religious buildings and cultural heritage has contributed to the tourism industry and put Fez on the international map of world destinations. Labeled in 1981 as a World Heritage site, it has been experiencing government-orchestrated rehabilitations parallel to private investments in built heritage. Contributing to the economic development of the city, these investments have also transformed the image of the medina. A flourishing touristic destination and an urban environment of daily life shape the contemporary identity of the medina, structured around plural social imaginaries sometimes complementary and sometimes competing with one another. The paper qualitatively addresses the transformation of Fez's medina from the angle of spatial imaginaries considering the latter as a defining factor in the formation of the medina's contemporary identity. It discusses the emergence of new spatial imaginaries, which are thriving daily at the crossroads of diverse practices and initiatives of local and international actors. Results suggest that further understanding of the conditions of emergence, and spatial expression of these imaginaries can contribute to the debate on the development of historical medina in Morocco while highlighting the forces of reinvention of local identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This study investigates factors with both beneficial and harmful qualities for Cultural World Heritage Sites in Europe and North America. • Information employed originates from the UNESCO Periodic Report II and the heritage database. • Factors related to tourism and transportation most often perceived as both beneficial and harmful by site managers. • Bivariate Probit estimations control for site characteristics and location of site. • Estimations reveal that managers are mainly ambivalent to tourism/visitors/recreation, interpretive and sightseeing facilities as well as to ground transport infrastructure. The aim of this study is to investigate factors with both beneficial and harmful qualities for Cultural World Heritage Sites. Particular but not exclusive attention is given to aspects relating to tourism and infrastructure. Data from the World Heritage List for North America and Europe, linked to the 2014 UNESCO Periodic Report II, are employed for the analysis. A simultaneous Bivariate Probit model estimation is carried out on the 30,954 observations and 402 Heritage Sites. World Heritage managers assess that certain factors are both beneficial and harmful for their sites. These contradictory perceptions appear most commonly in relation to tourism/visitors/recreation (28% of the sites), ground transport infrastructure (16%) and to the Society's valuing of heritage (12%). Besides this, ambivalent perceptions are also identified for housing, commercial development, land conversion, forestry/timber production and renewable energy facilities, although to a lesser extent. Estimation results reveal that the highest degree of ambivalence occurs in relation to tourism/visitors/recreation, interpretive and sightseeing facilities and ground transport infrastructure when location and specific site characteristics are controlled for. Thus, the results coincide only to some extent with the descriptive statistics. Compared to other groups of Cultural World Heritage Sites (cultural landscapes, religious sites and other sites) managers of cities have a significantly lower probability of perceiving the different factors as harmful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While food studies have increasingly gone beyond the "Western" experience in food globalization processes, research on food and tourism has often prioritized the (Western) tourist's gaze. In the literature on food and tourism in Asia, little attention has been given to the experiences of host populations. Responding to this lacuna in the literature, this paper analyses how a tourism boom is fed and how tourism-driven "foodway encounters" shape food practices and systems of provision. Focusing on the major tourism transformations seen in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hoi An, Vietnam, over the past decades, we study how hosts approach tourists' demand for both comfort food from home and new food experiences that are simultaneously "authentic" and safe. We analyze how both Vietnamese and foreign hosts seek to understand, influence and adapt to the culinary preferences of visitors, and how they develop the necessary skills to do so. Furthermore, since feeding tourists often requires a wide range of food traditionally unavailable or uncommon in Hoi An, we analyze how hosts acquire the ingredients necessary for changing food practices and how systems of provision both shape and take shape through the process of catering to the particularities of touristy foodways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analysed the implications of gentrification processes in the historical centres of Querétaro and Campeche, Mexico, designated UNESCO World Heritage sites, and their relationship with food practices. From these case studies, we observed tourist offerings' impact on residents' daily lives, as they disrupt a set of procedures and knowledge linked to local food consumption and preparation modes. In the analysed streets, we observed how the food offerings, primarily directed at visitors, present an experience of cosmopolitanism and status focused on the global palate; consequently, the prices of ingredients and food increase, limiting accessibility for residents. The research design employed in this study to analyse gentrification and its impact on food practices was based on ethnography, a strategy derived from anthropology, where participant observation and in situ relationships with interlocutors have been fundamental. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Saber, Ciencia y Libertas is the property of Saber, Ciencia y Libertad and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Procesos Urbanos (2500-5200) is the property of Corporacion Universitaria del Caribe (CECAR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Overtourism is a novel and complicated phenomenon that has hastened the rapid expansion of short-term tourist accommodations (STTA) in many European art cities. This study aims to establish a link between the rapid growth of the STTA and the likely dissemination of novel COVID-19 variations in World Heritage Sites (WHS). Using a comparative case study method, we assert that the atypical evolution of STTA renders WHS more vulnerable to novel COVID-19 variations. The findings highlight that until there are no feasible multi-sectoral and multi-level approaches to management, policy agreements on what overtourism means, and measuring tools for the proper number of visitors, the STTA issue persists, which makes WHS more vulnerable to novel COVID-19 variations in the post-pandemic time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the relationship between archaeological tourism, UNESCO World Heritage designation, and the social value attached to archaeological sites in China. It aims to provide novel insights into such connections by examining the impact of archaeological tourism on the social values that local communities place on archaeological sites that are in the process of becoming World Heritage Sites. In recent decades, the increasing commercialization of archaeological sites for tourism, combined with the growing influence of the World Heritage listing process, has had a significant impact on the lives of communities in close proximity to archaeological sites. One way to comprehend such an effect is to examine changes in the social values assigned to those sites by their local residents. This is due to the ability of tourism development to (re)create and modify such values attributed to archaeological sites by changing their function, capacity, quality, and meaning. The World Heritage listing process, particularly during the pre-nomination period, plays an important role in shaping the tourist transformation of these sites in preparation for World Heritage inscription. Against this backdrop, this article focuses on two archaeological sites that have recently obtained the World Heritage status: the Daming Palace archaeological site and the Huashan rock art area. By applying ethnographic approaches, the article illustrates the complex influence of tourism development and the World Heritage Convention on contemporary Chinese society, in order to encourage further reflection on the existing management and development mechanisms of archaeological sites in China and around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the ecological impacts of recreational activities in clear tropical streams are occasionally acknowledged and addressed, frequently they remain unmanaged, despite the fact that such streams are highly sought-after destinations for leisure pursuits. Here, we provide a case study on the ecological characteristics of the Indo-Pacifc freshwater pipefsh Microphis leiaspis Bleeker, 1854, which is a habitat specialist with little available information aside from its reproductive biology and the downstream migration patterns of its larvae. Drawing from our collective experiences, we describe the distribution and habitat of Microphis leiaspis and examine the potential impacts of various small-scale human activities on its livelihood, including those occurring within protected areas. In particular, we document incidental observations of human disturbances to adult Microphis leiaspis habitat in clear freshwater streams located within the Australian Wet Tropics (AWT) World Heritage Area. Using these observations as a foundation, we conceptualize human interactions with this species in the AWT streams and more broadly across the tropical Indo-Pacifc Ocean. Microphis leiaspis occurs in the lower-mid course of short-steep-coastal-streams, in association with pebble felds, where it feeds on microscopic benthic invertebrates. We observed three distinct human behaviours in the pipefsh habitat within the AWT, including stone-stacking, the construction of boulder-cobble dams, and stone-skimming. Additionally, we report on other small-scale human activities that may potentially impact this pipefsh species in streams across Pacifc Island nations and select coastal regions of continents. Our recommendation is to promote a 'leave no trace' approach to the public, which can be effectively communicated by key individuals such as indigenous custodians, national park managers, locals, and tourism operators. This approach aims to minimize rock movement by people, thereby aiding in the protection of diadromous pipefsh and other aquatic species residing in short-steep-coastal-streams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UNESCO World Heritage Site of West Lake, in Hangzhou, China, also is a human-made lake managed since the ninth century CE to maintain selected ecological functions and visual integrity. Using perspectives of cultural and political ecology to examine historical data, we explore the ecosystem services of West Lake and management strategies to maintain these services at different governance levels over five broad periods. Results indicate that West Lake provided varying key ecosystem services to Hangzhou over time. Cultural services, such as recreation and tourism, began to replace provisional services and today are the most important contributions of the site. National, regional, and local policies directly and indirectly enhanced and undermined different ecosystem services over time. The perspectives of cultural and political ecology help understand strategies of creating and guiding long-term change of a managed landscape, providing important implications for sustaining future ecosystem services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visitor crowding issues caused by over-tourism at World Heritage Sites (WHS) are increasingly prominent. However, related studies and management give less consideration to the uneven tourist spatial-temporal distribution within micro-attractions, ignoring the detrimental impacts of local crowding on WHS' sustainable development. Aimed at exploring local crowding within heritage attractions from a perspective of time-space, this study used video-based computer vision technology to analyze tourist spatial-temporal distribution, density, and carrying capacity at stationary points (spatial locations where visitors stay and gather), taking a case study of the Master-of-Nets Garden, a World Cultural Heritage Site. The results indicated that although the total visitor number was below the attraction's carrying capacity, visitors repeatedly and quickly crowded at stationary points and formed high-density clusters, exceeding stationary points' space capacity and causing spatial local crowding. When visitors' dwell time was 5, 12, and 20 seconds, the crowding index K of stationary points was 3.4∼108.5, 1.7∼42.9, and 0.5∼33, indicating the spatial local crowding effect was negatively correlated with the length of visitors' dwell time at stationary points. Our contribution provides an accurate understanding of local crowding in WHS by highlighting the impact of tourist spatial-temporal distribution on carrying capacity and spatial crowding and suggests visitor management recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Karst World Heritage Site (KWHS) combines high-grade landscape resources and a fragile ecological environment. As an essential tool for heritage conservation and maintaining local interests, its buffer zone is primarily located in remote villages, a crucial and challenging area for rural revitalization. The conflict between heritage conservation and development is particularly acute at the site. How to deal with the relationship between the heritage site's OUV conservation and the buffer zone's tourism industry development and realize the synergy between the two subsystems? Few studies have focused on it. There is an urgent need to explore the synergistic mechanism of the KWHS's OUV conservation and the buffer zone's tourism industry development. Accordingly, this study takes the Libo-Huanjiang KWHS, one of the 'South China Karst' series of heritage sites, as a case study. The coupling coordination degree model, gray correlation analysis (GCA), and Geographic Information System (GIS) spatial analysis are used. The results show that: (1) There is a synergistic effect between the Libo-Huanjiang KWHS's OUV conservation and its buffer zone's tourism industry development, showing a favorable trend. The mean value of the coupling coordination degree increased from 0.57 in 2015 to 0.63 in 2020, and the overall situation improved from barely coupling coordination state to primary coupling coordination. (2) Influenced by the main driving factors, such as NDVI, landscape dominance, government support for tourism development, tourists' satisfaction, and residents' support, the coupling coordination of the four tourist scenic areas in the study area differed slightly in 2015 and 2020. Yaoshan Ancient Village Scenic Area is the highest in both years, increasing from 0.69 to 0.81, followed by the Mengliu Buyi Scenic Area (0.59), Wanmu Meiyuan Scenic Area is relatively stable with a slight increase, and Lianshanwan Scenic Area (0.45) is the lowest. (3) The four dimensions of ecological resources, policy drivers, economy drivers, and social facilitators work together to create a synergistic mechanism between the KWHS's OUV conservation and the buffer zone's tourism industry development. Future research can promote synergy between the two by formulating a comprehensive plan, encouraging sustainable tourism, establishing a diversified tourism industry, strengthening heritage education and training, enhancing community participation, and reinforcing stakeholder cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the role of tourism demand and cultural World Heritage Sites on the regional economic resilience among European Union countries. The results pinpoint to the importance of cultural World Heritage Sites in keeping the regional economic resilience. The results on tourism demand are not unambiguous—domestic tourist arrivals play a significantly positive role while inbound tourist arrivals negatively affect regional economic resilience. Cultural tourism, defined as the joint effect of tourism and cultural sites, decreases the negative effect of inbound tourism, pinpointing that the cultural sites play an essential role in attracting inbound tourists in the less prosperous periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the panel data from 2002 to 2018 of 287 prefecture-level cities in China and the propensity score matching–difference-in-differences method, our study sought to reexamine the effect of World Heritage inscription on regional tourism. The results show that World Heritage sites improve regional tourism significantly, further confirmed by a series of robustness tests. However, the arrival and revenue effects of World Heritage inscription on inbound tourism are not significant. Moreover, World Heritage sites generate significant tourism economic benefits for the eastern and western regions in China but not for the central region. Last, a mechanism analysis shows that tourism public services increase the arrival and revenue effects significantly. The conclusions provide important insights for governments and tourism operators regarding the sustainable development of World Heritage sites and regional tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The geological heritage of Australia's landscapes and World Heritage areas has generally been underpromoted to the public by the tourism industry. However, in 2008, the fledgling world of geotourism in Australia received a significant boost with two events: the Inaugural Global Geotourism Conference 'Discover the Earth beneath our Feet' held in Fremantle, Western Australia, and the declaration of the UNESCO Kanawinka Global Geopark, which linked volcanic regions in South Australia and Victoria. Simultaneously the Australian Federal Government launched the 'Australian National Landscapes' (ANL) program. However, this impetus was not sustained when the Kanawinka Global Geopark was deregistered as a UNESCO-branded geopark in 2012, and the ANL program faded within a decade. Despite these setbacks, as an outcome of the 2008 Fremantle conference, several productive lines of geotourism have developed across Australia. This paper reviews the history of Australian geotourism since 2008. It examines the impacts of the experiences, lessons learned, problems for geology as perceived by National Parks and the Environment movement, geological communication problems, and the subsequent evolution of Australian geotourism. From these issues, new non-government bodies and initiatives have arisen, including the Australian Geoparks Network, the Australian Geoscience Council, and the recent development of a National Geotourism Strategy. Strong elements emerging from these initiatives are the increasing development of geotrails (which suit the large Australian continent) and the new Australian concept of 'GeoRegions'. These are in response to an awareness that geotourism requires a flexible outlook to widen the appreciation and appeal of geological heritage and landscapes to the broader public. A further new direction is suggested: for Australian geotourism to combine with some elements of ICOMOS Cultural Routes. An outstanding example, the ICOMOS Overland Telegraph Line (OTL) Cultural Route that crosses Australia from south to north, is considered. For 2000 km, the construction of this line in the 1870s followed the regional geology and hydrology, relying upon the available biota but bringing about a clash of human cultures. The six colonies of Australia were finally linked to the world by wire, but the arrival of the OTL had a significant impact on the country's Indigenous inhabitants. In Australia and globally, geotourism is incorporating the A–B–Cs (abiotic, biotic and cultural elements) to more effectively encourage the public to value their landscapes and the associated stories. The OTL provides an example of a newly introduced fourth dimension for geotourism, which gives consideration to the socio-political context of landscape adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to ascertain the connection between the sociodemographic characteristics (gender, age, educational level and income) and consumption habits in the destination (overnight(s), planned daily spend) of tourists interested in cultural Heritage with their preferences and sensations regarding this tourism typology, taking as the basis fieldwork in a tourist destination that has two World Heritage Sites inscriptions recognised by UNESCO (Granada, Spain). The method used in this investigation is supported by the employment of a multilayer perceptron's artificial neural network to estimate a visitor's sociodemographic profile based on customisable input values consisting of responses to Likert model questions being used in a questionnaire before. Accordingly, once the network has been obtained and the travellers' responses personalised, a 'composite picture' of this type of tourist can be achieved that meets those characteristics of the profile based on those previously set responses. In this sense, a specific selection of responses will give rise to a concrete profile of potential visitors, helping this so that the tourism sector in this area can adapt its offer to the profile of its clients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Government protected areas are the most dominant governance type in the global network of protected areas, but in recent years, a lack of research compared to indigenous and private nongovernment protected areas has become evident. Consequently, community-inclusive conservation strategies consistent with the advantages of government protected areas are unclarified. Focusing on 49 households living at the Mount Huangshan World Natural Heritage Site in eastern China, this paper uses qualitative research triangulation to explain the causality between community exclusion and local distrust of the protected area and builds an explanation concerning the political and economic context. The questionnaire data analysed from the configuration perspective were corroborated with interviews and archival data, presenting innovative and enlightening findings. Lack of participation alone does not elicit local protests against biohabitat conservation, and government performance determines the trustworthiness of the government protected area. When local households are unaware of the government's efforts, a "trust paradox" in which the households that receive economic gains distrust government PAs emerges. This is caused by the social expectations of the "responsible government" and the survivorship bias of the households who manage to succeed in profiting. Induced or mandatory community participation is needed to strengthen the indigenous perception of the link between local development and government performance. This paper proposes a new strategy for socioecological goals that is consistent with the advantages of government protected areas, the most globally dominant governance type for protected areas and the type employed by the largest number of countries. • Underparticipation alone does not elicit local protest against biohabitat conservation of government PA. • Good government performance is a sufficient condition for the trustworthiness of government PA. • The "trust paradox" in which the benefited households distrust PA is due to the social expectation and survivorship bias. • Induced or mandatory participation generates trust in PA if community is broadly consulted on economic and social areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Naturaliste Canadien is the property of La Societe Provancher and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The purpose of this paper is to explore the main profiles of tourist segments in the agave-tequila industry in Mexico. The blue agave landscape and the ancient tequila facilities are part of the UNESCO's World Cultural Heritage. Heritage sites may operate as a brand and generate tourism externalities. Investigations combining heritage and sustainable tourism are a promising research field, still underexplored, particularly in emerging destinations. This study contributes to the debate on heritage and sustainable tourism through the identification of different tourist profiles visiting the Tequila region. The study applies a market segmentation approach grounded in the concept of 'involvement'. Involvement is a good predictor of tourist behavior. Therefore, our investigation identifies distinctive homogenous segments with different levels of tourist involvement. The data in the empirical study was collected through a questionnaire applied to a sample of 700 domestic and international visitors to the city of Tequila. The questionnaire was directly administered to collect data during a 6-month period in order to avoid seasonal issues. Cluster analysis was performed to identify three distinct segments on the basis of the degree of tourists' 'involvement'. Findings suggest that the agave landscape and knowledge about tequila are the most salient attributes for high- and low-involved visitors. As those factors are closely related to cultural heritage, the study provides guidance for policy makers and marketers protecting and/or promoting the agave-tequila industry. This research project is an initial attempt to segment agave-tequila tourists and creates a pathway for further investigations into this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, research on outstanding universal value (OUV) protection and tourism development at World Natural Heritage sites (WNHSs) has attracted scholarly attention. The aesthetic value of natural landscapes is a powerful driving force for tourism development. Using this approach as an entry point to study aesthetic value protection and tourism development will help to relieve the contradiction between protection and development and promote the sustainable utilization of heritage sites. However, no comprehensive literature review has examined research on aesthetic value protection and tourism development at WNHSs. To fill this gap, we used a systematic literature review framework, and bibliometric analyses of 194 journal articles were collected from the Web of Science (WOS) and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases. The results show the following: (1) the overall fluctuating upward trend in the number of publications indicates that the research in this field is gradually expanding, the regions studied in the literature are mainly focused on China, Italy and Australia, and the research institutions conducting the research are mainly Asian universities. (2) The landmark research achievements mainly focus on theoretical foundation, model construction, monitoring and evaluation, technical measures and other dimensions and the implications for World Heritage karst sites (WHKSs), where theoretical research is the main focus, and that research on monitoring and evaluation, technical measures and model construction is relatively limited. (3) On this basis, 7 key scientific and technological issues are summarized and provide insights into future research directions for the conservation of aesthetic values and tourism development at WHKSs, and future research should strengthen knowledge of natural heritage conservation based on aesthetic value identification and focus on the theoretical basis of the coordination between the conservation of aesthetic value and tourism development at WNHSs. Research should explore the science and technology and measures associated with the coordination between aesthetic value conservation and tourism development, and reveal the mechanisms and paths for coordination between WNHS conservation and tourism development in karst areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

UNESCO World Heritage Sites are a useful tool to protect and promote the legacy human beings leave over the centuries. Ivrea, a 20th century industrial city, is the second Italian industrial site recorded in the UNESCO World Heritage List. It is a city in the North-West of Italy, historically known for the Olivetti factory, which made it world-famous by combining visionary ideals and a careful entrepreneurial policy. Our study focuses on the tourism value of the Ivrea UNESCO site and, in particular, aims at analyzing the level of integration of local stakeholders and their ability to identify guidelines for the promotion of the UNESCO site in terms of tourism. The research process was conducted with an in-depth analysis of the perception and consideration of public and private stakeholders concerning this topic. A questionnaire was prepared by a group of experts and individual interviews were conducted using the Delphi method; then, the results of the interviews were presented and the identification of priorities was carried out using the nominal group technique. Results show that the new UNESCO site in Ivrea has great potential, both in cultural terms, continuing the dissemination of Adriano Olivetti's ideals, and in terms of tourism, because it may turn into a tourist attraction capable of generating new tourist flows and promoting the Olivetti approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Linear cultural heritage (LCH) is a precious treasure of human beings, but its spatial distribution and development modes in the context of tourism value are not clear. This study constructs the resource (R) –natural environment (N) –industrial economy (I) evaluation system through the Delphi method, analytical hierarchy process and entropy method to examine tourism value from the perspective of the whole heritage. This system is verified to the case of a World Heritage Site, the 1800 km-long Beijing–Hangzhou Grand Canal in China. Combined with the situation of 22 cities along the canal, the standard values of each evaluation variable are determined. Besides total tourism value, R–N–I coordination is also calculated through a three-dimensional model. They are regarded as a classification basis in the grouping analysis method. According to the results, a resource is the most important factor, while natural environment and industrial economy are external supports for LCH tourism. Tourism value along Beijing–Hangzhou Grand Canal is divided into 'high-value imbalance type', 'key breakthrough type', 'comprehensive strengthening type' and 'low-value restriction type'. The findings offer theoretical construct and policy recommendations for the development and sustainability of LCH tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small businesses in world heritage sites provide services to visitors and livelihood for residents. Besides the cultural and religious values promoted by these businesses, they also provide socioeconomic support to their owners. The Pashupatinath temple is known as Hindu's major religious and pilgrimage destination in South Asia. Hundreds of businesses around the temple provide services to visitors. This study evaluates the socioeconomic impacts of these small businesses around Pashupatinath temple. Using a survey of 110 businesses, binary logistic regression models find that the owners of larger businesses selling religious supplies in this area are more likely to own houses in Kathmandu and to be more satisfied with their businesses. The study also finds that businesses without permanent stalls faced severe hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study assessed the socioeconomic status of a business owner through house ownership in Kathmandu, and finds that small businesses operating in the premises of the religious heritage site of Pashupatinath temple have a positive relation to the livelihood of the business owners and their families. It concludes that small-scale business in world heritage sites directly contributes to local livelihoods and economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on tourism to Machu Picchu rarely addresses the ways in which transportation, particularly rail travel, is integral to a visit to the UNESCO world heritage site. Yet the majority of visitors to Machu Picchu arrive by train, making rail travel a crucial component to the way in which the site is understood and experienced. This article examines rail travel to Machu Picchu through archival research and ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Cuzco and at Machu Picchu to argue that rail travel capitalizes on historic and cultural imaginings of Machu Picchu as a lost city, transforming the tourist into an explorer in the process. The experience relies on vision and affect as the train acts a temporalizing machine, taking the tourist back in time to visit another world, perpetuating the myth of lost cities, discovery and dispossession in the process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was designed to investigate the impacts of tourism development at the Al-Hijr Archaeological Site, Saudi Arabia. Al-Hijr was inscribed as the country's first UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008 but received little attention as a tourist destination until the launch of the Saudi Vision 2030 strategy in 2016, which positioned heritage tourism sites as important catalysts in the long-term transition to a post-oil economy. Via the implementation of semi-structured interviews with local tourism SME owners and senior managers between January and February 2020, several exploratory observations were made. According to study participants, who typically framed the impacts of tourism development from the perspective of their local communities as well as those of businesses, the genesis of tourism had presented several paradoxes. Whilst the UNESCO listing helped foster community support for tourism due to new economic opportunities, the opening of Al-Hijr to international tourists and the proposed scale of development proposals raised numerous concerns, including fears of 'cultural erosion' and unsustainable growth. This paper therefore positions itself as an important and novel step in identifying local SME stakeholder perspectives on embryonic tourism development at Al-Hijr and offers recommendations to mitigate emerging concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study complements the tourism literature by proposing an asymmetrical effect of the tourism-led growth hypothesis on the city-level economy using panel data from 331 cities in China from 2004 to 2015 (3,972 observations). The results, based on an augmented Solow model and the system-generalized method of moments (GMM), reveal that the impact of tourism on city-level economic growth is indeed asymmetric and heterogeneous, depending on the presence of top-level attractions (TL), which are proxied by the World Heritage Sites or AAAAA (5A) scenic spots. The dynamic panel threshold model's results also corroborate the asymmetric threshold effect of tourism on city-level economic growth. Tourism, in particular, has facilitated positive and significant economic growth in cities with TL but has had an uncertain and statistically insignificant impact on cities without it. The findings indicate that the validity of tourism-led growth depends on the availability and number of TL in each city, which serve as a moderator. As a result, we confirm tourism's asymmetric effect and spatial heterogeneity on urban economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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As the importance given by tourists to the different aspects of gastronomic tourism depends on their profiles, this research aims to determine the relationship between the social characteristics of these culinary tourists (such as gender, age, income, and educational level) and the relevance attributed by them to several opinions and attitudes related to gastronomic tourism. This research is based on field work through surveys filled in by culinary tourists with questions about perceptions and thoughts regarding gastronomic tourism both in general and in the particular case of Córdoba, a World Heritage Site in Southern Spain. Using artificial intelligence techniques as the Multilayer Perceptron, an artificial neural network is developed to estimate a 'tourist profile' based on inputs which are the pre-determined replies to the questionnaire. This technique is rarely used in surveys, especially in tourism sector. The model developed can assess the variations produced along the item valuation in every characteristic of the tourist profile. Thus, an increase in age implies more appreciation for dishes variety, its tasting at destination and willingness to return. Findings presented can be useful for professionals and entrepreneurs dedicated to culinary experiences and for public institutions which aim to promote gastronomic tourism at destination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of China Tourism Research is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Residents are an integral stakeholder in any tourism destination and understanding their sentiments on any tourism activity within their locality is very critical. Although local people are the most affected by tourism development at such places, there is a deficit of research on the local communities' perceptions on the impacts of and changes to their communities due to World Heritage Site (WHS) operations. Thus, the study sought to assess residents' sentiments towards cultural heritage tourism at Chongoni Rock Art Heritage sites. Data were collected from 35 respondents who were purposively selected from three villages surrounding the WHS. Data were thematically analysed and the main theme that emerged was a lack of community involvement in tourism activities at the sites which has destroyed heritage assets. The findings contribute to the extant literature on local communities' participation and perceptions of tourism development at WHS. The study recommends residents' participation as one way of empowering the local community and enhancing economic benefits from tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]