Unesco - Cultural Heritage and Cultural Tourism

Unesco Action (Heritage Redefined)

This extension of the notion of heritage is expressed in two of the most recent major initiatives taken by UNESCO. The first of these concerns increased interest in the intangible heritage. The first Proclamation of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, on 18 May 2001, reveals the list of 19 modes of cultural expression, languages, music, ceremonies, rites or traditional expertise as well as cultural sites inseparable from the practice of these traditional forms. This list heralds a future international convention, currently under preparation. The parallel that could be established with the World Heritage Convention is obvious enough and not merely through the form of the List of Masterpieces and the various procedures related to it.

Once again, it is a question of identifying, protecting and enhancing an exceptional heritage, threatened with disappearance, particularly in the face of the uniformity frequently brought about by globalization.

The need for protecting this intangible heritage reflects the emergence of the same values: cultural diversity which is in no way less necessary than biodiversity, the deep-rootedness of the identity of communities, the resourcing of their creativity through contributions from the past, the role of a living memory in our methods of living together. In a context of essentially oral cultures where, according to the African parable, “when an old man dies, a library disappears”, these notions havebecome crucial. Furthermore, emphasis placed on intangible heritage contributes to establishing a more balanced view of cultural heritage which, for a long time, has focused on an exceptional masterpiece or on architectural perenniality.

Lastly, the Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, adopted in November 2001, attempts to respond to another danger. Part of the tangible heritage such as sunken vessels, cities and buildings, escapes the public’s notice, but is not protected from the appetites of those who plunder it or from the errors of amateur excavations. The States which will become parties to this Convention will promise to take measures and to cooperate for the benefit of heritage that is often situated outside their territorial waters. This legal instrument will prohibit the plundering and destruction of sunken vessels and archaeological sites. It provides for measures to ensure conservation in situ of cultural property located underwater for more than 100 years.

The coherent nature of UNESCO’s action can be more readily perceived with hindsight. It is intended to save the tangible and intangible heritage, often in an emergency situation, when it is threatened by conflict, natural disasters, the passage of time, economic expansion and mere human negligence. It does so by promoting solidarity, educating, disseminating expertise and training and creating awareness. But what also matters is to identify the heritage, to give it a meaning which is perhaps to reflect human diversity and solidarity and to nurture our future through our common past. Acting on things, people and ideas: in addition to a half-century marked by an abundance of upheavals, this task has proved more ambitious but also more necessary than anything that UNESCO’s founders could ever have imagined.


Tourism can provide an appreciable means of communication and dialogue between individuals and civilizations, as well as an economic activity and a means of presenting and enhancing the heritage.


Unesco and Cultural Tourism

That is why UNESCO’s endeavours are aimed essentially at helping Member States to devise cultural tourism policies which can sustain cultural pluralism and preserve cultural diversity as well as the authenticity of the living and monumental heritage. Such policies are also aimed at encouraging greater awareness of cultures, combating cultural prejudice and contributing to development and the fight against poverty.

The policies and activities devised or put forward by UNESCO in favour of cultural tourism comply with the principles of the 1970 International Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property and the 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Culturaland Natural Heritage. Such activities are an integral part of major international initiatives which – as in the case of the Action Plan of the Intergovernmental Conference on Cultural Policies for Development (Stockholm, 1998), the United Nations Year for Dialogue Among Civilizations (2001), the Action Plan of UNESCO’s Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, and the United Nations Year for Cultural Heritage (2002) – have so far contributed to defining the major lines of emphasis for action on the part of the international community in this field.

As regards initiatives aimed at information and training, UNESCO has organized conferences and seminars at the request of States and in cooperation with public or private partners and the United Nations system (e.g. the World Tourism Organization). The outcome of these meetings may serve as guidance to decision-makers in operational, educational, fiscal and normative terms. Networks of specialists have been established in the wake of these meetings at regional and international level, as in the case of the UNESCO Chairs Network in cultural tourism. The most recent seminars have taken place in Asunción (Paraguay), in Siem Reap/Phnom Penh (Cambodia), Damascus (Syria) and Bruges (Belgium). All these meetings resulted in the preparation of studies and the making of practical decisions in terms of standards, training and higher education, and the creation of ecotourism sites.

UNESCO publishes or supports the publication of texts disseminated among Member States on questions related to cultural tourism and specific study files.