Romanian Newly-Nominated WHS and Current Tourism Development in the Associated Rural Localities

Author(s):  
Cornelia Pop ◽  
Cristina Balint

The aim of the chapter is to investigate the current status of tourism development within the rural localities adjacent to the newly nominated natural world heritage sites (WHS) in Romania. The general methodology will be that of a case study, combining deductive and inductive approaches and the critical interpretation based on the available data. The results show a modest to non-existent tourist infrastructure and shallow tourist activity in the rural area adjacent to the 12 locations of the new natural WHS. The findings also show a low level of awareness regarding the WHS designation among the local authorities and the absence of real cooperation between the custodians of the related protected areas and the local communities. The new WHS locations have a long way ahead to become attractive and sustainable tourist destination by applying adequate destination management which should include the special status of these rural destinations.

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (45) ◽  
pp. 25-44
Author(s):  
Zsuzsanna Bacsi ◽  
Éva Tóth

AbstractThe paper deals with the relationship between the presence of world heritage sites in a country and the volume of international tourist arrivals and international tourism receipts. World heritage sites are unique tourist attractions with enhanced attention paid to their protection, preservation and sustainability. The paper analyses whether the needs of sustainability can be harmonised with the requirements of a profitable and successful tourism sector, by statistical analysis of data about world heritage sites and tourism performance, for 129 countries of the world from 2014 to 2017. The results show that both cultural and natural world heritage sites are generally strong attractions for tourists and can contribute to increased arrivals and receipts. Cultural sites were found to have higher impact on arrivals, while natural heritage sites seemed to have more impact on receipts, which suggest, that visitors of natural world heritage sites are usually higher spenders, than tourists visiting cultural sites. Countries widely differ, however, in this respect by their geographical locations. Countries in Europe and Latin-America & the Caribbean region benefit most from cultural world heritage sites, while African, and North American countries experienced the benefits of natural world heritage sites more. The general level of development measured by per capita GNI also mattered for the less developed areas, but not so much for developed regions that possess a suitable level of infrastructure, health and education, and living standards.


Climate ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 128
Author(s):  
Jim Perry ◽  
Iain J. Gordon

Protected areas, such as natural World Heritage sites, RAMSAR wetlands and Biosphere Reserves, are ecosystems within landscapes. Each site meets certain criteria that allow it to qualify as a heritage or protected area. Both climate change and human influence (e.g., incursion, increased tourist visitation) are altering biophysical conditions at many such sites. As a result, conditions at many sites are falling outside the criteria for their original designation. The alternatives are to change the criteria, remove protection from the site, change site boundaries such that the larger or smaller landscape meets the criteria, or manage the existing landscape in some way that reduces the threat. This paper argues for adaptive heritage, an approach that explicitly recognizes changing conditions and societal value. We discuss the need to view heritage areas as parts of a larger landscape, and to take an adaptive approach to the management of that landscape. We offer five themes of adaptive heritage: (1) treat sites as living heritage, (2) employ innovative governance, (3) embrace transparency and accountability, (4) invest in monitoring and evaluation, and (5) manage adaptively. We offer the Australian Wet Tropics as an example where aspects of adaptive heritage currently are practiced, highlighting the tools being used. This paper offers guidance supporting decisions about natural heritage in the face of climate change and non-climatic pressures. Rather than delisting or lowering standards, we argue for adaptive approaches.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (10) ◽  
pp. 104047 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salma Sabour ◽  
Sally Brown ◽  
Robert J Nicholls ◽  
Ivan D Haigh ◽  
Arjen P Luijendijk

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