Tourism contribution to cultural heritage

It is generally agreed that cultural heritage plays a key role in the European economy (over 300,000 employed people and 7.8 million indirect jobs) and a foremost impact on society by bringing social cohesion and very important, intercultural dialogue. Recently, the European Commission (together with UNESCO, the Council of Europe and other European organisations) announced the official opening of 2018 as the European Year of Cultural Heritage, whereby many initiatives will be developed involving all countries across Europe. The main objective of this initiative is double-fold: on the one hand, to foster the discovery of Europe's cultural heritage; and on the other, to encourage the idea of us all being members of a common European family. There are a number of objectives to be achieved but this paper will focus on one of them, i.e. sustainability, which makes tourism responsible for preservation and good practices around cultural heritage. We will point out how tourism can contribute to strengthening small rural communities around their cultural heritage; and besides, how it can contribute greatly to sustain the local economy of those small communities, thus reinforcing a sense of belonging; and hence, how the afore-mentioned factors may impact on cultural heritage positively. But sustainability cannot develop if all the stakeholders involved in cultural heritage tourism are not aware of the dangers that can derive from overtourism, a cancerous growth in certain destinations that is making people react against the tourist visiting their homeland. This is a serious situation that cannot benefit any of the parties involved and which also, undermines intercultural dialogue, the main pillar of the European Commission.