The Influence of Heritage on the Revealed Comparative Advantage of Tourism—A Worldwide Analysis from 2011 to 2022

A country’s development is crucially determined by its cultural and natural heritage, and it is reflected in its industrial structure and its success in the global marketplace. The present paper looks at the global performance of tourism, comparing its performance measured by the Normalised Revealed Comparative Advantage (NRCA) index to the components of natural and cultural heritage, analysing 117 countries of the world. Natural and cultural heritage indicators were derived from the tourism competitiveness reports of the World Economic Forum for the years 2011–2013–2015–2017–2019–2022. Panel regression analysis was applied, with NRCA as the dependent variable and eight indicators of natural and cultural heritage as independent variables, comparing regions of the world. The main findings show considerably differing patterns between regions; Europe and Eurasia being similar to the Americas, with decreasing competitive advantage associated with more focus on endangered species and observance of environmental treaties, while the Middle East and North Africa show a strongly opposite pattern. Cultural heritage has a positive impact only in Sub-Saharan Africa, while Asia and the Pacific benefit mainly from the increase of protected areas and abundance of species. These differences shed light on differences in tourism competitiveness in the global market and may guide policymakers towards utilising heritage items for improving tourism performance.