Adaptation of cultural heritage for tourism use: A methodological proposal for evaluation

Abstract

Heritage is regarded as a socio-cultural construct whose function depends on the values, interests, traditions and identities of each society at each moment in time. In this sense, heritage is understood not only in terms of its intrinsic value, but also its meaning. Given that heritage was not originally conceived of for purposes of leisure, when heritage attracts tourism it assumes a new function that must be accommodated in a suitable manner. This investigation focuses on the process of creating immovable cultural heritage for tourism use in order to identify the necessary transformations to successfully fulfill visitors’ expecta-tions. To evaluate this issue, a questionnaire was administered to academics (via Delphi) and visitors (via a survey). In the majority of items, the results showed a consensus between both groups regarding the assessment methodology, although significant differences were also found, thus leaving the door open to future research.