ABSTRACT
Cultural tourism is arguably the oldest of the “new” tourism phenomena. People have been traveling for what we now call cultural tourism reasons since the days of the Romans; it is just that they were never recognized as being a discrete group of travelers before. Visiting historic sites, cultural landmarks, attending special events and festivals, or visiting museums have always been a part of the total tourism experience. Indeed, all travel involves a cultural element. By its very nature, the art of traveling removes tourists from their home culture and places them temporarily in a different cultural milieu, whether in an adjacent city or in a village halfway around the world. But cultural tourism is seen as offering something more or different both to the tourist and the community that hosts the tourist.
