Tourism sustainability model for a world heritage destination: the case of residents’ perception of Ohrid

Abstract

World Heritage (WH) status is anticipated to promote sustainable development by protecting the destination’s outstanding natural and cultural resources, generating economic advantages, attracting visitors, and improving the quality of life for its residents. Putting the economic advantages and values first has a critical effect on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), which negatively impacts the destination’s sustainability, such as quality of life. This study proposes a sustainability model based on UNESCO OUV to evaluate tourism’s role in a WH destination’s residents’ perception of quality of life. The model was tested on a WH destination Ohrid (North Macedonia). The findings revealed that tourism has a beneficial economic impact while also having a negative influence on the OUV ecological environment and residents’ perception of quality of life. The discussion takes place in UNESCO’s considerations to add Ohrid to the list of WH in Danger due to unsustainable tourism development. The findings encourage destination managers to take responsibility for the OUV resources and to take the necessary actions to improve tourism sustainability. The model can be easily adapted and applied to any WH destination.