ABSTRACT
A second group of motivation-related definitions focuses on the belief that cultural tourists are motivated to travel for different reasons than other tourists. Organizations such as the UNWTO (2006a) and the Canadian Tourism Commission (Whyte, Hood and White 2012) describe cultural tourism on the basis of the desire to learn about a destination’s cultural heritage as a significant travel motive. Building on this idea, a third group of definitions adopts an experiential approach that argues motivation alone does not encapsulate the full magnitude of this sector. Instead, cultural tourism involves some meaningful experience with the unique social fabric, heritage and special character of places (Blackwell 1997; Schweitzer 1999), or as a quest or search for greater understanding (Bachleitner and Zins 1999; Hannabuss 1999). The US National Endowment for the Arts, for example, defines it as “travel directed toward experiencing the arts, heritage, and special character of a place” (Whyte, Hood and White 2012: 8). Almost all definitions, though, are circular in nature, for most of the tourism motivational and experiential definitions also include an operational component, often to illustrate the point being made. The UNWTO (2006a) suggests cultural tourism represents movements of people motivated by cultural intents such as study tours, performing arts, festivals, cultural events, visits to sites and monuments, as well as travel for pilgrimages. Whyte, Hood and White (2012), for example, indicate the Canadian Tourism Commission definition includes performing arts (theatre, dance, music), visual arts and crafts, festivals, museums and cultural centres, and historic sites and interpretive centres, while the US National Endowment for the Arts specifies museums, historic sites, dance, music, theatre, book and other festivals, historic buildings, arts and crafts fairs, neighbourhoods, and landscapes. Indeed, it is common to define cultural tourism by activity, using definitions that read something like ‘cultural tourism includes visits to …’. The Australian State of Victoria, for example, defines cultural tourists as “those who attended a theatre performance, a concert or other performing arts, a cultural festival, fair or event; or visited a museum, art gallery, art or craft workshop or studios, and/or a history or heritage site while on their trip to Australia” (TV 2013). Richards (2011) has adopted a hybrid definition linking motivation to behaviour, when he suggests cultural tourism essentially involves visits to cultural attractions and events by culturally motivated people.
