Culture, cultural heritage, & history tourism

Scroll down for posts tagged with “cul­ture, cul­tur­al her­it­age, and his­tory tourism”.

Cul­ture, cul­tur­al her­it­age, and his­tory play pivotal roles in the con­text of tour­ism. They are sig­ni­fic­ant in defin­ing the unique iden­tity of a des­tin­a­tion and shap­ing the exper­i­ences of travellers.

When tour­ists engage with the cul­ture, cul­tur­al her­it­age, and his­tory of a place, it deep­ens their under­stand­ing and appre­ci­ation of the des­tin­a­tion, mak­ing their travel exper­i­ences rich­er and more meaningful.

  • Cul­ture encom­passes the cus­toms, tra­di­tions, beliefs, arts, and social norms of a com­munity. It reflects the way of life of the loc­al people and provides insights into their val­ues, his­tory, and way of thinking.
  • Cul­tur­al her­it­age refers to the tan­gible and intan­gible aspects of a com­munity’s leg­acy, includ­ing land­marks, monu­ments, arti­facts, lan­guage, music, dance, cuisine, and rituals.
  • His­tory is the recor­ded past of a place, com­pris­ing the events, stor­ies, and nar­rat­ives that have shaped its development.

Tour­ism provides a plat­form for trav­el­lers to engage with the cul­ture, cul­tur­al her­it­age, and his­tory of a des­tin­a­tion. This can be through vis­it­ing museums, his­tor­ic­al sites, and fest­ivals, or par­ti­cip­at­ing in cul­tur­al activ­it­ies, tra­di­tion­al per­form­ances, and culin­ary exper­i­ences, or oth­er means.

Tour­ism that respects the cul­ture, cul­tur­al her­it­age, and his­tory of a place can foster mutu­al respect, tol­er­ance, and appre­ci­ation for diverse cul­tures, pro­mot­ing cul­tur­al exchange and under­stand­ing between vis­it­ors and the vis­ited. By immers­ing in the loc­al cul­ture, trav­el­lers can gain a deep­er under­stand­ing of dif­fer­ent val­ues and ways of life.

How­ever, tour­is­m’s impact on cul­ture and cul­tur­al her­it­age need to be care­fully man­aged to avoid neg­at­ive con­sequences. Over­tour­ism and the com­modi­fic­a­tion of cul­ture can erode the authen­ti­city and integ­rity of cul­tur­al assets, lead­ing to the degrad­a­tion of loc­al tra­di­tions and loss of identity.

That is why many advoc­ate adopt­ing respons­ible and sus­tain­able tour­ism prac­tices that respect and pro­tect the cul­ture, cul­tur­al her­it­age, and his­tory of a des­tin­a­tion while bene­fit­ing loc­al communities.

Pre­serving and pro­mot­ing cul­ture, cul­tur­al her­it­age, and his­tory is an object­ive of sus­tain­able tour­ism devel­op­ment. Sus­tain­able tour­ism devel­op­ment safe­guards the authen­ti­city and integ­rity of a des­tin­a­tion’s cul­tur­al assets, ensur­ing that they are pre­served for future gen­er­a­tions. It also provides eco­nom­ic bene­fits to loc­al com­munit­ies by cre­at­ing employ­ment oppor­tun­it­ies, sup­port­ing loc­al busi­nesses, and gen­er­at­ing rev­en­ue through tour­ism activities.

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New leaders’ summit on culture & heritage in tourism


New leaders’ summit on culture & heritage in tourism, WTACH Global Leaders Summit which will take place in Valencia, Spain, September 24 – 25, 2023

A dynam­ic new lead­er­ship sum­mit will grapple with the major chal­lenges and oppor­tun­it­ies of cul­ture and her­it­age in tour­ism.  Event organ­iser, the World Tour­ism Asso­ci­ation for Cul­ture and Her­it­age (WTACH), a “Good Tour­ism” Insight Part­ner, invites stake­hold­ers to make their voices heard at the inaug­ur­al WTACH Glob­al Lead­ers Sum­mit which will take place in Valencia, […]

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Appreciate Rwandan culture and traditions at Red Rocks Cultural Campsite


Rwandan culture and traditions thrive at Red Rocks Cultural Campsite

As a travel agent or tour oper­at­or, you are always on the lookout for unique and authen­t­ic exper­i­ences to recom­mend.  If you are look­ing for a whole­some and cul­tur­ally-rich Afric­an exper­i­ence for your cli­ents, then Red Rocks Cul­tur­al Camp­site in Musan­ze, Rwanda, is an excel­lent option for Rwandan cul­ture and tra­di­tions.  Red Rocks Cul­tur­al Campsite […]

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Empower Rwandan women and youth. Support Red Rocks Cultural Campsite.


Red Rocks Cultural Campsit empowers Rwandan women and youth by instilling pride and joy in cultural performance and preservation

Red Rocks Cul­tur­al Camp­site in Rwanda’s Musan­ze dis­trict offers an excel­lent oppor­tun­ity for travel agents and tour oper­at­ors to recom­mend a unique and mean­ing­ful exper­i­ence to their cli­ents. By pro­mot­ing this com­munity-based organ­isa­tion, travel pro­fes­sion­als can help empower Rwandan women and youth through its arts and crafts pro­gramme, while also provid­ing an authen­t­ic cul­tur­al experience […]

Read More Empower Rwandan women and youth. Support Red Rocks Cultural Campsite.

Where is the line between cultural explorer and voyeur? The ‘Batwa Experience’

April 25, 2023

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda, where the Batwa once lived. Image courtesy Nomadic Skies

Where is the line between cul­tur­al explor­a­tion and exploit­at­ive voyeur­ism while trav­el­ling among indi­gen­ous peoples?  In this “Good Tour­ism” Insight, Gav­in Ander­son explores the danger and prom­ise of travel & tour­is­m’s involve­ment with indi­gen­ous people through the lens of his recent work with the Bat­wa of south­w­est Uganda. I first met the Bat­wa, the indigenous […]

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‘Where seagulls don’t land anymore’: Are British seaside resorts trending again?

March 7, 2023
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British seaside resorts: St Leonard’s-on-Sea

Many Brit­ish sea­side resorts are mak­ing a comeback after dec­ades of sniffy cri­ti­cism led by the media, and des­pite a per­sist­ent nar­rat­ive of decay and decline. Dav­id Jar­ratt shares this “Good Tour­ism” Insight; the second in a series ini­ti­ated by Tourism’s Hori­zon, a “GT” Insight Part­ner.  [You too can write a “GT” Insight.] Tra­di­tion­al Brit­ish sea­side resorts […]

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How can travel & tourism help save heritage sites from climate change?

December 6, 2022

How can travel & tourism help save heritage sites from climate change? Venice image by Albrecht Fietz (CC0) via Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/photos/venice-italy-island-historic-center-7572877/

Travel & tour­ism and nat­ur­al and cul­tur­al her­it­age are often inter­de­pend­ent. So how should tour­ism respond to wor­ries that cli­mate change threatens her­it­age sites? It’s a ques­tion posed by Kev­in Phun in this “Good Tour­ism” Insight. Can tour­ism enable and enhance cli­mate change mit­ig­a­tion and adapt­a­tion meas­ures? Can tour­ist activ­it­ies help increase loc­al com­munit­ies’ resi­li­ence?  Global […]

Read More How can travel & tourism help save heritage sites from climate change?