A Research Agenda for Heritage Tourism

Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary.This timely Research Agenda moves beyond classic approaches that consider the relationship between heritage and tourism either as problematic or as a factor for local development, and instead adopts an understanding of heritage and tourism as two reciprocally supported social phenomena that are co-produced.

Chapters draw on case studies from Europe, North America and Asia, offering important insights on heritage consumption, hypercommodification, war tourism, dissonant heritage, decolonizing heritage and the rising importance of the digital world of tourism. The book commences with a global overview on the changing paradigm of heritage tourism, before focusing on heritage and tourism at different scales and the impacts of globalization on heritagization. It also examines the political nature of tourism heritage construction and the experiential turn of heritage tourism practices.

An invigorating read for students and scholars of tourism and heritage studies, this book offers a multitude of suggestions for pathways for future research. It is also a timely read for those working with heritage sites and looking to better understand the intersection between heritage and tourism.