Cultural Tourism

A key feature of the tourism system is its ability to adapt to new demands while generating others. Tourism's capacity for renewal is based largely on a balance between competitiveness and opportunity to transform places and objects or even people into socioeconomic resources. The modern tourist has become more aware of the pitfalls of mass tourism, leading to a growing demand for variety. As a consequence of environmental awareness, tourism has been shown to be one of the economic activities that contribute most to the deterioration of the landscape.Today a reinterpretation of the negative effects of conventional tourism has emerged, resulting in the gradual appearance of prestigious tourism offers based largely on demand for authentic 'nature' and 'culture' experiences. This type of tourism is often associated with responsibility, participation and sustainability. Tourism planners are aware of this fact and have therefore adapted their products and destinations to new market demands.All this can affect the identity of the local people and the landscape of the destination; the challenge entails studying ways to preserve the natural and cultural heritage while avoiding the undesirable effects of new forms of tourism.The selection of papers presented in this book deal with cultural tourism, and comprises case studies and theoretical contributions. The volume addresses issues of cultural tourism management, demand analysis, post-tourism, new forms of tourism, cultural effects on destinations and products of sustainable cultural tourism. The contributions are edited versions of selected papers presented at the International Conferences on Sustainable Tourism organized by the Wessex Institute of Technology, a forum for discussion of theoretical developments related to tourism sustainability, classical and new forms of tourism and their socio-ecological effects.