World Heritage and Tourism

The inscription of a site on the World Heritage List brings an increase in public awareness of the site and of its outstanding values, thus also increasing the tourist activities at the site. When these are well planned for and organized respecting sustainable tourism principles, they can bring important funds to the site and to the local economy.

As the fastest growing and one of the most profitable industries in the world, tourism offers unparalleled opportunities for the economic development of local communities living in or near heritage sites.

Painful experience in many areas of the world however, has shown that unplanned tourism development, although it may be profitable in the short term, can do irreversible damage to humankind’s most precious heritage sites. Tourism can undermine the heritage value of these sites, despoiling them for future generations of inhabitants, students and visitors. The tourism juggernaut has the power to destroy the landscape with inappropriate infrastructure, force the out-migration of indigenous populations and cause over-exploitation and deterioration of the fragile cultural and natural resources. This vicious downward spiral also undermines heritage tourism by degrading and devaluing the very resources on which the tourism is based.

Where traditional economic activities are in decline, employment in tourism related activities can offer many new opportunities. Properly managed tourism development can help to stem the out-migration of youth and other marginally-employed members of the community, alleviate poverty by providing new employment opportunities, revitalise traditional building and craft industries, enhance both the physical and the intangible heritage and offer a positive, peaceful way for communities to express pride in their cultural identity.