ABSTRACT
What does the future hold for cultural tourism? Depending on your perspective, you might be extremely optimistic or extremely pessimistic about the future. On one hand, cultural tourism is arguably the fastest-growing aspect of tourism. Demand is high for cultural experiences and will only continue to grow as tourists become more sophisticated and as more people can afford to travel globally. On the other hand, our collective cultural heritage, the raw material of cultural tourism, is under threat from many sources. War, natural disasters, increasing population, developmental pressures, lack of management resources, lack of clear policy guidelines in some jurisdictions, and use pressures all combine to create a sector under stress.
