Tourism and History: World Heritage – Case Studies of Ibero-American Space

The relationship between tourism and history based on the use of tangible and intangible cultural heritage for tourism has been growing stronger, potentiating encounters with ‘the other’ and related cultures in countries pertaining to the Ibero-American space. Concurrently, this trend includes an emphasis on cultural heritage classified by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as ‘world heritage’. Many touristic and cultural resources and products of Ibero-America can be understood in the context of common or shared historical and cultural roots from which – from the perspective of Braudelian global history and cultural studies – emerges the concept of ‘Iberian globalisation’. This is associated with a network of exchanges, circuits and routes of people, ideas and goods throughout the world and, more specifically, Europe and the Americas. Once the European world centred on the Mediterranean, but this subcontinent turned to the Atlantic Ocean because of the relationship that developed between the Iberian Peninsula and the Americas within the framework of what Sallmann calls the ‘grande desbloqueio do mundo’ (great unlocking of the world). Recent historiography has thus emphasised not only what the Iberians took from, imposed on or received from other cultures but also primarily how the Iberians contributed to the spread of cultures and intercultural dialogues. These can now be seen as creators of identity, authenticity and distinctiveness in the global tourism market. This book presents a set of 27 case studies anchored in the relationship between tourism and history based on cultural heritage classified as UNESCO World Heritage of Humanity. Monuments, buildings, landscapes, places, museums, battles, personalities, cuisine, dance and music, among other cultural elements, have an economic value that is discussed in the context of an Ibero-American identity. They are reflections of a common socioeconomic and cultural history that can be valued from the point of view of memorable tourist experiences that potentiate knowledge and intercultural dialogues. In addition, since other classifications are also growing in importance, this publication includes studies of UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network, Memory of the World Register and Biosphere Reserves