UNESCO World Heritage List

Abstract

Although tourism is not the main objective of the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted at 1972 UNESCO General Conference, tourism is a cause of site degradation but also contributes financially to its maintenance. UNESCO therefore encourages heritage site managers to closely monitor tourism activities around such sites. The inscription of a site on the world heritage list is not, however, a guarantee of an increase in tourism. It may attract some more tourists in the first few years following inscription, especially of cultural tourists. The world heritage fund managed by UNESCO is mainly used for technical assistance towards heritage site conservation. In France, Reims, La Charite sur Loire, Beziers, Bourges, Provins and the Val de Loire region experience various impacts from their inscription on the world heritage list. For Dubrovnik, Croatia, being a world heritage site reinforces its strategy to move from mass tourism to cultural tourism. The inscription of Moroccan major sites on the world heritage site is a recognition and an encouragement for the country's commitment toward the preservation of its heritage. In Tel-Aviv, Israel, listed as a world heritage because of its 20th century architecture, inhabitants rediscover their city with a new interest, waiting for a better political situation to develop tourism.