ABSTRACT
Many developing countries have focused on tourism to promote economic growth in economically depressed regions and to enhance the socio-economic well-being of their people (Nyaupane et al. 2006). As a result, tourism has emerged as a crucial contributor to 70 percent of the world’s poorest countries (Lipman 2008). Although these countries are economically poor, they are characterized as culturally rich destinations with many ethnic groups, traditions, religions, and languages, which constitute a major attraction for millions of tourists. However, when people’s private community and sacred spaces are open to masses of tourists, these places may experience negative consequences. Most of these consequences or impacts associated with heritage-based tourism are the same in the developed and developing worlds. However, they tend to be more pronounced in the less-developed parts of the world. Therefore, most of the information in this chapter could be applied to any world context, although less-developed regions will be used to illustrate many of the points being made. This chapter first examines briefly the impacts of tourism in general and then places them into a heritage context.
