Cultural Tourism: Motivations, Benefits, and Authenticity

Posted on Aug 9, 2025 in Tourism

A visit to a cultural property is primarily driven by two key motivations:

  • Education: Educational visits, often linked to formal schooling.
  • Leisure: Visits undertaken for enjoyment, often categorized as cultural tourism.

Understanding Cultural Tourism

Defining Tourism

Tourism is defined as traveling to and staying in places outside one’s usual environment temporarily for leisure.

Key Aspects of Tourism

  • Temporary: Implies a return to one’s usual environment.
  • Leisure: Involves discretionary time and financial resources for travel.

However, not everyone has the means or desire to engage in tourism, making it a pursuit often associated with privilege.

During the second half of the 20th century, tourism began its widespread adoption, evolving into a significant mass phenomenon for many countries. This growing desire to travel significantly impacted cultural heritage. Initially, tourists were primarily interested in leisure activities (e.g., beach holidays). However, with the rise of successful package tours, the concept of “cultural tourism” emerged.

Forms of Cultural Tourism

There are two main versions of cultural tourism:

  • Participation in or contemplation of cultural elements.
  • Focus on the tour and enjoyment of cultural assets.

Cultural Heritage as a Tourist Resource (Prats’ View)

According to Prats, cultural heritage, as a tourist resource, can occur in three forms:

  1. As a tourism product itself: It can be a source of direct purchase. Example: Trips to the pyramids of Egypt.
  2. As a tourism product associated with another (in a package): Example: Trips organized by an agency where tourists visit assets and enjoy other products as well.
  3. As added value for destinations: This is the most common form. Example: Going to Costa Brava and, incidentally, visiting Ampurias.

Prerequisites for Cultural Tourism

Conditions necessary to engage in or consider cultural tourism include:

  • Cultural Heritage Conservation: Ensuring visits do not damage the property.
  • Accessibility of Cultural Heritage: Making sites reachable for visitors.
  • Cultural Education: Fostering understanding of diverse cultures and providing prior context for visited sites.
  • Financing: Revenue generated should finance protection and conservation efforts.
  • Public Support: Support from various public institutions.

Martí Hernández refers to these conditions as “patrimonial cultural boundaries.” He argues that the tourism industry often imposes its economic logic on historical or humanistic aspects, potentially causing irreparable damage.

Limits to Cultural Heritage Diffusion (Martí Hernández)

For this author, the diffusion of cultural heritage is restricted by the following limits:

  1. Hybridization between past and present.
  2. Danger of trivialization.
  3. The aforementioned hybridization and trivialization can foster an uncritical view of the past.
  4. Sustainability.

Benefits of Cultural Heritage Tourism

Beneficiaries of Cultural Tourism

Cultural tourism is beneficial for:

  1. Visitors: Benefits are primarily educational, influenced by:

    • Internal factors (e.g., educational background, desire for knowledge).
    • External factors (e.g., level of site presentation).
  2. Local Communities: Economic benefits, including new job creation.
  3. The Cultural Site: Receives special treatment and financial resources from visitors.

However, these benefits can be negated if management practices are poor. Cultural heritage tourism operates within an economic framework.

Public Expectations for Cultural Heritage Tourism

The primary expectation is authenticity. This refers to anything – a product, a manufacturing process – regardless of its time or style. It is authentic simply because it was created and exists.

Cultural heritage should also be original and unique, ideally “typical of a certain period.” Its uniqueness is often enhanced if it is no longer manufactured or created.

Finally, it should be traditional, having been created a long time ago and perhaps less common today.

If cultural heritage embodies these qualities, it will meet the expectations of tourists and the public, thereby fulfilling its purpose.