Direct economic impact of tourism on World Heritage Cities: An approach to measurement in emerging destinations

Abstract In 2013, it had been ten years since the World Heritage designation of Úbeda and Baeza. After this time period, there should have been a change in the image of this tourism destination, which should have been translated, according to the literature, into an increase in tourism, and, consequently, into a greater impact of this activity on the economy of both cities. The aim of this work is to evaluate whether the designation of Úbeda and Baeza as World Heritage Cities has led to an increase in the economic impact generated by tourism in these destinations. To do this, the evolution of the main tourism variables of these cities over the last decade has been analysed, concluding that, indeed, there has been an increase in the direct economic impact generated by tourism in these cities, which is mainly explained by an increase in average daily expenditure.