Assigning value to assets of cultural and natural heritage in tourism: guidelines for building an integrated network of tourism products associated with the Llobregat River (Catalonia, Spain)

Abstract eng:
In recent years, regional-level policymaking in tourism has adopted strategies to assign value to cultural and natural heritage in tourism and so extend the activity of tourism across the country. This paper analyzes these developments using the document Guidelines for building an integrated model of tourism products associated with the Llobregat River (Catalonia, Spain) (2009–2010). The result of applied research initiated by the Government of Catalonia’s tourist authority the Direcció General de Turisme, the document assigns value to assets of cultural and natural heritage in the Llobregat River. The document proposes that building a network for the region’s tourism products will add value to the market as it presently stands and that identifying assets of cultural and natural heritage will also lead to growth in the sector. The research and the document were completed in three phases: first, the researchers analyzed the region and its tourist activity; second, they interpreted and valued assets of cultural and natural heritage; finally, they prepared a series of proposals and guidelines. At the time of writing, some recommendations are already being followed and the Guidelines document is being used in other tourism policy instruments in the region. 1 INTRODUCTION This paper uses the document Guidelines for building an integrated network of tourism products associated with the Llobregat River (Catalonia, Spain) (2009–2010) to analyze the incorporation in regional-level policymaking of strategies to assign value to cultural and natural heritage and so extend the activity of tourism across the country. The document is one of the regional planning initiatives currently being conducted by the tourism authorities in Catalonia and it comes at a moment when the sector is witnessing the effects of at least three different forces: new approaches to development and new territorial processes at a regional level; a climate of crisis in the country’s model of tourism and changes in that model (as well as new trends in tourist demand) (Anton, 2009); and governmental policymaking in tourism that is fostering sustainable development by assigning value to the country’s cultural and natural heritage (Vera et al., 2013; López Palomeque & Sánchez Aguilera, 2009) and by exploiting the synergies between heritage and tourism as a means of economic development (Prats, 2003). The Guidelines document is based on the results of applied research conducted in the period 2009–2010 and it proposes that value should be assigned to assets of cultural and natural heritage in the region of the Llobregat River1. The document was prepared by members of the University of Barcelona research group Análisis Territorial y Desarrollo Regional (Territorial Analysis and Regional Development, ANTERRIT) (2009SGR235) working for the Government of Catalonia’s tourist authority the Direcció General de Turisme (hereafter, DGT). During the period in question, the research group coordinator was Francesc López-Palomeque and the researchers were Sole Jiménez-Setó, Cristina Llagostera-Pàmies, Llorenç Prats-Canals and Anna Torres-Delgado.

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