An approach to cultural heritage in relation to the Competitiveness of tourist destinations – With special attention to the spanish context

This paper presents an approach to the relationship between cultural heritage and tourism, given the importance cultural properties have acquired as a competitive differentiator. The search for models for measuring the competitiveness of tourist destinations has paralleled the evolution of the people in the early decades of the present century, and research based on observations of visitors, environments, and of the objects that form Spanish cultural wealth is necessary. Apart from measurement models with objective indicators, we identify a number of intangibles, such as identity, authenticity and even human development; they capture a type of tourist that seeks emotional experiences, while being prone to receiv-ing content to a greater or lesser degree. The new Technologies of Information, Tourist Observatories, and National Plans concerning the different heritages of Spain are tools and instruments that increase the possibility of measuring the economic competitiveness of tourist destinations. * The present study is based on the competitive research project titled “Competitiveness analysis of Spain as a touristic destination: Proposal for a measurement model of tourist intangibles”, which was funded by the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Ref. CEMU 2013-15) and developed by a research team that included the author.