Importance of Heritage and its Accessibility for Tourism in Diamantina MG: Cultural Heritage of Humanity/ UNESCO

Tourism is considered a major economic power and today´s one of the most dynamic activities. It is noteworthy that, in addition to generating economic benefits, the activity also contributes to the enhancement of cultural and environmental aspects of the recognised tourist destinations. Among heritage charters that guided conservation policies worldwide, the Norms of Quito were the ones that gave more importance to the touristic use of heritage. A meeting held by the Organization of American States (1976), concrete proposals for using the heritage sites were presented, considering as a landscape the transformation of areas with limited economic resources in Latin America. Thus, tourism was considered an essential component in bringing value to natural and cultural monuments, as well as enhancing the importance and significance of heritage sites to the nation. In this context, it is important to understand that in addition to owning monuments of historical and artistic interest, destinations must seek a better use of these monuments by tourism, as well as create strategies to enable cultural tourism while paying attention not banalize its meaning. Tourism, therefore, should fulfill its role of intermediary element that allows the encounter between people and cultural heritage. This article has as object of study the city of Diamantina, declared a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site in 1999. There, cultural tourism is an economic alternative. However, the city is struggling with irresponsible use of heritage buildings for tourist visits, poor accessibility of its monuments and the lack of the perceived value in actions taken. The aim of this paper is to present how the city promotes its monuments for tourist visits; describe the major existing projects to improve accessibility to cultural heritage through tourism; suggest possibilities for enhancing the intangible heritage with tourism; and discuss the contribution of tourism to the valuation of the city’s world-renowned heritage sites