Cultural tourism is a division of tourism that is associated with the regions or countries culture. This is specifically associated with those individuals in that specific geographical area with their history, architecture, art, religion and other elements that are influential in their lives. Tourism is one of the activities that bring in cultural, economical and social exchange and a rise in such exchange is stimulus to tourism.
In this times, there has been high attention on cultural globalization which is defined as acceleration in the exchange of cultural symbols among individuals around the world, to an extent that it bring in changes in local popular cultures and identities. This thus implies that any change in the global flow of culture will have an effect on localities everywhere. The implication that globalization has cultural consequences is evidenced by the countervailing process of localization . On the other hand, the idea that local identities are more or less authentic is cemented and founded in the analysis of tourism as well as in the tourism product development practice.
So as a country or region to capture high spending tourists, they have to come up with marketing programs or developing new cultural attractions. An example is the new Niagara Experience Centre which is a cultural attraction that is focused on historic and cultural elements of the Niagara region and id designed to attract tourists in order to boost tourism and attract more tourists and it also is a representative of brand extension of the successful Niagara Falls State Park.
Today, cultural tourism has developed and is even reaching the very least accessible areas such as the Polar Regions. It has been found that approximately 22,000 tourists visit the Antarctica every summer and tourism has become the main human activity in the region.
Works cited
Richards, Greg. Cultural Tourism: Global and Local Perspectives. New York: Routledge, 2007.
