Culture and tourism: natural partners or reluctant bedfellows? A perspective paper
ISSN: 1660-5373
Article publication date: 13 September 2019
Issue publication date: 20 February 2020
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to review the development of the relationship between culture and tourism over the past 75 years and outline some future developments over the coming 75 years.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on a review of previous major work on cultural tourism.
Findings
Tourism and culture have been drawn inexorably closer over the years as culture has become one of the major content providers for tourism experiences, and tourism has become one of the most important income streams for cultural institutions. In the future, this is likely to change, as cultural institutions find it increasingly difficult to maintain their authority as the dominant producers of local, regional and national culture and as tourism becomes increasingly integrated into the everyday culture of the destination.
Practical implications
Cultural institutions will need to change their relationship with tourism as flows of tourists become more prevalent and fragmented.
Social implications
The authority of high cultural institutions will be eroded as tourists increasingly seek authenticity in the culture of everyday life and the ‘local’.
Originality/value
This study reviews the dynamics of the cultural field and sketches the long-term future development of the relationship between tourism and culture.
Keywords
Citation
Richards, G. (2020), "Culture and tourism: natural partners or reluctant bedfellows? A perspective paper", Tourism Review, Vol. 75 No. 1, pp. 232-234. https://doi.org/10.1108/TR-04-2019-0139
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited