According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), international tourists engaging in cultural activities accounted for more than 500 million of international tourist numbers in 2017. City tourism relies on culture as a major product, providing benefits not only for interested visitors, but also for the local resident population. New trends in tourism include "experiential tourism", where the interactions between tourists and residents become a key part of the tourism experience and overall customer satisfaction. New technologies and IT applications allow tourists to design their own trip, given the presence of global companies like Trip Advisor, Booking.com and AirBnB.
This comprehensive volume explores new trends in cultural tourism, demonstrating how and why culture has become a central factor in tourism. The authors analyse a wide range of relevant issues, including: how heritage-based and cultural tourism could contribute to the sustainability of destinations; the increase of religious travels to and within Arab countries; and how cultural tourism fosters understanding among people and cultures, and could even potentially help to consolidate peace at a regional level. The book also analyses interactions between hosts (the local residents) and guests (the cultural visitors), revisiting the pioneer hippy travelling experiences in Turkey of the 1960s and how they shaped youth culture.
This book will be of great interest to students and researchers of cultural tourism. The chapters were originally published in the journal Anatolia.
