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European cultural heritage and tourism flows: The magnetic role of superstar World Heritage Sites

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  • Elisa Panzera
  • Thomas de Graaff
  • Henri L.F. de Groot

Abstract

Cultural heritage is a potentially important determinant of international tourism flows. Apart from being an enrichment for both individuals and communities and an opportunity for different cultures to meet, tourism also represents a significant industry for European economies. We empirically investigate the impact of the endowment of tangible cultural heritage on tourism attractiveness of European regions. We measure material forms of cultural heritage both as regional density of locally defined monuments, cultural landscapes and museums, and as number of cultural sites listed in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites international programme. Using a Bayesian multilevel gravity model, we find that UNESCO cultural World Heritage Sites are associated with an increase of 6,000 (one site) to 60,000 (eight sites) international tourists from each European country to an average European region. On the other hand, regionally or nationally defined tangible forms of heritage play a more limited role as pull‐factors for international tourism. Moreover, we show that the presence of UNESCO sites reduces the distance decay effect. International tourists are willing to travel longer distance if a destination is endowed with UNESCO cultural World Heritage Sites. El patrimonio cultural es un determinante potencialmente importante de las corrientes turísticas internacionales. Además de ser un enriquecimiento tanto para los individuos como para las comunidades y una oportunidad para el encuentro de diferentes culturas, el turismo también representa una industria importante para las economías europeas. En este artículo se investiga empíricamente el impacto de la dotación de patrimonio cultural tangible en el atractivo turístico de las regiones europeas. Se midieron las formas materiales del patrimonio cultural, en lo que respecta tanto a la densidad regional de los monumentos, paisajes culturales y museos definidos localmente, como al número de sitios culturales incluidos en el programa internacional de Lugares UNESCO Patrimonio de la Humanidad. Mediante el uso de un modelo bayesiano de gravedad multinivel se encontró que los Lugares UNESCO Patrimonio de la Humanidad están asociados con un aumento de entre 6.000 (para un sitio) a 60.000 (para ocho sitios) turistas internacionales de cada país europeo para una región europea media. Por otra parte, las formas tangibles de patrimonio definidas a nivel regional o nacional desempeñan un papel más limitado como factores de atracción para el turismo internacional. Además, se muestra que la presencia de sitios UNESCO reduce el efecto de decaimiento por distancia. Los turistas internacionales están dispuestos a viajar más lejos si un destino está dotado de Lugares UNESCO Patrimonio de la Humanidad. 文化遺産は、国際観光客の移動の重要な決定要因となりうる。観光は、個人とコミュニティの両方を豊かにするもの、または異文化交流の機会であるばかりでなく、欧州経済の重要な産業でもある。本稿では、欧州の地域の観光地としての魅力に対する有形文化遺産の資源の影響を実証的に検討する。文化遺産の物質的形態を、地域的に定義されるモニュメント、文化的景観、博物館の密度およびUNESCO世界遺産の国際プログラムに登録されている文化遺産の数として測定する。階層ベイズ重力モデルによる分析から、UNESCOの文化世界遺産は、平均的な欧州地域に訪れる欧州各国からの国際観光客が6,000人(1つの目的地)から6万人(8つの目的地)に増加することに関連していることが分かった。一方で、地域または国が定義した有形遺産は、国際的な観光旅行の誘因として、かなり限定的な役割しか果たしていない。さらに、UNESCO世界遺産の存在が距離減衰効果を低減していることが示された。国際観光客は、目的地にUNESCO指定文化世界遺産があれば、長距離でも厭うことなく訪問している。

Suggested Citation

  • Elisa Panzera & Thomas de Graaff & Henri L.F. de Groot, 2021. "European cultural heritage and tourism flows: The magnetic role of superstar World Heritage Sites," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 100(1), pages 101-122, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:presci:v:100:y:2021:i:1:p:101-122
    DOI: 10.1111/pirs.12562
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    4. Bertacchini, Enrico & Revelli, Federico & Zotti, Roberto, 2023. "Lord, how I want to be in that number! On the blessing of UNESCO World Heritage listing," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 202304, University of Turin.
    5. Grigore-Teodor Samoila & Alina Samoila, 2024. "The European Perspective on the Digitization of Cultural Heritage," Economics and Applied Informatics, "Dunarea de Jos" University of Galati, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, issue 1, pages 64-70.
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    9. Vinko Muštra & Blanka Škrabić Perić & Smiljana Pivčević, 2023. "Cultural heritage sites, tourism and regional economic resilience," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 102(3), pages 465-482, June.
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    13. Blanka Škrabić Perić & Blanka Šimundić & Vinko Muštra & Marijana Vugdelija, 2021. "The Role of UNESCO Cultural Heritage and Cultural Sector in Tourism Development: The Case of EU Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-14, May.
    14. Yuqing Geng & Hongwei Zhu & Renjun Zhu, 2022. "Coupling Coordination between Cultural Heritage Protection and Tourism Development: The Case of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-22, November.
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