Why IMPACTOUR ?

Cultural tourism is a type of tourism activity in which the visitor’s essential motivation is to learn, discover, experience and consume the tangible and intangible cultural attractions/products in a tourism destination. 

The size of cultural tourism market accounts for over 39% of all the international tourism arrivals. The various forms of cultural tourism in Europe are important drivers of growth, jobs and economic development of European regions and urban areas.

Cultural tourism contributes to the understanding of other peoples' identities and values. The full innovation potential of cultural tourism in Europe regarding cross- border regional and local cooperation is not yet fully explored and exploited.The level of development of cultural tourism between certain regions and sites is still unbalanced.

There is a knowledge gap concerning possible methods to measure different types of cultural tourism impacts and to assess the contributions of multi-level and cross-border strategies, policies and practices to local, regional or national sustainable development. There is also a significant knowledge gap in terms of availability of both quantitative and qualitative data on the phenomenon of cultural heritage

The project will seek data and evidence to discover why people engage in particular cultural tourism forms and visit certain areas and, also, to learn how the resources and allocated investments can contribute to social, cultural and environmental sustainability.

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