Cultural Tourism: (1 Tourism Today)

A key feature of the tourism system is its ability to adapt to new demands while generating others. Tourism's capacity for renewal is based largely on a balance between competitiveness and opportunity to transform places and objects or even people into socioeconomic resources. The modern tourist has become more aware of the pitfalls of mass tourism, leading to a growing demand for variety. As a consequence of environmental awareness, tourism has been shown to be one of the economic activities that contribute most to the deterioration of the landscape. Today a reinterpretation of the negative effects of conventional tourism has emerged, resulting in the gradual appearance of prestigious tourism offers based largely on demand for authentic 'nature' and 'culture' experiences. This type of tourism is often associated with responsibility, participation and sustainability. Tourism planners are aware of this fact and have therefore adapted their products and destinations to new market demands. All this can affect the identity of the local people and the landscape of the destination; the challenge entails studying ways to preserve the natural and cultural heritage while avoiding the undesirable effects of new forms of tourism. The selection of papers presented in this book deal with cultural tourism, and comprises case studies and theoretical contributions. The volume addresses issues of cultural tourism management, demand analysis, post-tourism, new forms of tourism, cultural effects on destinations and products of sustainable cultural tourism. The contributions are edited versions of selected papers presented at the International Conferences on Sustainable Tourism organized by the Wessex Institute of Technology, a forum for discussion of theoretical developments related to tourism sustainability, classical and new forms of tourism and their socio-ecological effects.

Table of Contents:
Factor contributing to the success of cultural event management: The Phanom Rung Festival, Burirum province, Thailand; Ecotourism as a catalyst for social resiliency and the cultural preservation of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara tribes; Socialist Heritage Tourism in the Municipality of Koper: valorisation of newly recognized tourist sites; Dynamic of Boon Kam Fa tradition of Phuan Ethnic Group in the Thailand tourism context; Enhancing services provision in urban greenspaces through tourism promotion: the case of the private patios in Central America; Characterizing rural tourism in Japan: features and challenges; The role of geotourism in supporting regeneration in disadvantaged rural communities in Ireland; Can vernacular buildings survive with traditional life inside and tourism outside?; Welcome to Brazil, Amazon Region, the green center of the world: a strategy for sustainable tourism and eco-tourism; Sustainable tourism and land resources for non-motorised mobility; Sustainable strategies for regeneration of rural building heritage; Global perspectives in sustainable urban environments

About the Author :
Pablo Diaz has a law degree (2003) and cultural anthropology (2006). Master in social research applied to the environment and specialist in quantitative research methodology. PhD candidate in environmental studies in the Pablo de Olavide University of Seville, is member of a transdisciplinary research team from universities Complutense of Madrid and Tourism Institute of La Laguna (Social and Political Sciences Institute, Canary Islands University, La Laguna), specialized in tourism and environmental research as applications of anthropology, environmental sciences and law. He develops analytical applied work related to tourism, environment, patrimonialization processes and its socioecological effects. Among the projects in which he has participated may be mentioned the Study for the Natural Resources Management Plan of the National Park of Fuerteventura (2007 - 2012) or the Characterization of the ecological connectivity in the Spanish National Park network (2008 - 2010), among others projects of anthropology. He has edited specialized books in responsibility and tourism. Author of several book chapters (Island Sustainability, Sustainable Tourism, Tourism and Heritage,...)and of a significant number of articles in some journals (Asian J. of Tourism & Hospitality Research, Internat. J. Web Based Communities, Pasos, Gaudeamus, Maria F. Schmitz is a professor of ecology at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid since 1994. PhD in biology (1990), she has extensive experience in landscape ecology. She has participated as a researcher in several projects funded by public calls and contracts, in recent years as a coordinator of several of them. She has published numerous papers in various forums, most recently in J. Biogeography, Landscape and Urban Planning, Environm. Monitoring & Assessment, Environm. Management, Ecological Indicators, Environm. Conservation, Biol. Conservation, Ecol. Modelling, etc., as well as books and chapters of books of her specialty - the last one Pineda, F. & Schmitz, MF 2011. Ecological connectivity. OAPN, Ministry of Environment, Madrid, Sustainable Tourism I, II, III, IV. WIT Press, Southampton; Advanced computing techniques. Aconcagua, Sevilla; Nova Science Publ., New York, among others.