World Heritage

This chapter explores the situation with the inscription of tangible heritage on the World Heritage Convention, 1976 and therefore mainly deals with tangible cultural heritage. World Heritage is discussed as a unique element of cultural tourism due to the largely political nature of World Heritage status acquisition. On the one hand, World Heritage areas are identified based on their Outstanding Universal Value to humanity. Tourism potential is not one of the criteria used to identify prospective World Heritage areas. Yet, many governments pursue World Heritage status explicitly for their tourism potential as a top brand. This duality creates a range of challenges from a tourism and tourism management standpoint. New online tools for World Heritage management are also covered.