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Cultural tourism, the best way to travel and get to know the world
Nothing defines a country and makes it unique like its culture. Seeing its art, experiencing its traditions, trying its cuisine and strolling through its history are without doubt the best guides to discovering a country. And that, precisely, is what cultural tourism is all about. Fancy a trip to cities like Amsterdam, London, Paris or Barcelona?
Unlike sun and beach tourism, where the main attraction is rest, cultural tourism basically pursues one objective: understanding, in the broadest sense of the word. Getting to know the history, art and people of a place, tasting its food, discovering its customs and enjoying at first hand a different way of seeing the world.
WHAT IS CULTURAL TOURISM? IMPACTS AND BENEFITS
Although tourism, in one form or another, has always been linked to learning, the fact is that since the 1970s, when UNESCO produced the Convention on World Cultural and Natural Heritage together with proposals to conserve and promote it, cultural tourism has experienced huge growth throughout the world, but especially in Europe. In fact, currently there are 1,121 declared World Heritage Sites, the majority of them spread around three countries: Italy (55), China (55) and Spain (48) – two of them on the Old Continent.
“Culture is one of the driving forces for the growth of tourism.” This was stated barely a year ago by the Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), Zurab Pololikashvili, during the third conference on cultural tourism organised by the UNWTO and UNESCO. And one statistic backs it up – cultural tourism in the world represents nearly 37% of the total for the sector.
Benefits? There are many. Intangible ones, like the conservation of cultural and artistic heritage, local prosperity for non-traditional tourist destinations and the establishment of links between different cultures. And also tangible ones, like the impact on the economy and jobs. The money spent by cultural travellers has a very positive repercussion, both at financial level and in the creation of jobs in sectors such as the hotel and catering industry, trade and culture.
