About partners for livable

2 | PARTNERS’ COMMUNITY BUILDING 
APPROACH TO CULTURAL HERITAGE 
TOURISM
OVERVIEw
Partners for Livable Communities’ approach to cultural heritage tourism emphasizes the multiple ways 
that tourism development projects can improve residents’ quality of life. In addition to their tangible 
elements—such as the construction and renovation of new and existing facilities and the expansion of 
economic opportunities—community-building projects also have intangible aspects such as an increase 
in the sense of trust, respect and togetherness among residents. These values tend to promote a greater 
involvement in public life and create a more vibrant community. Cultural heritage tourism projects can be 
excellent opportunities for realizing both the tangible and intangible benefits of community building.
In most communities, local officials and developers make the key decisions about tourism development 
projects, just as they do for other types of development. On the whole, the community’s input tends to be 
reactive. Public meetings afford the opportunity to comment on the plans being proposed, and different 
communities go to different lengths to make sure their residents have a chance to weigh in on matters. 
But it is still fairly rare that community members are invited to participate in the entire process from 
beginning to end. 
Partners believes that decisions about cultural heritage projects should involve the entire community. 
Public recognition of the importance of cultural heritage sites and events is a powerful means for 
building community pride. While economic development projects in general provide direct benefits to 
a community, tourism development projects, and cultural heritage tourism projects in particular, have a 
different salience for the community. 
Tourism brings people from other areas into the community. This means that the community has 
attractions that others are willing to travel to in order to see. Some tourist destinations, such as water 
parks, have a generic quality to them that does not say anything special about the community where they 
are. But cultural heritage attractions are by their very nature specific to a community’s past or present 
characteristics. Decisions about how to develop and manage cultural heritage attractions are decisions that 
help define the community and present it to the outside world. Participation in these decisions helps to 
build community and bolster pride among residents.
This chapter distinguishes Partners’ community building approach to creating and managing cultural 
heritage assets from other more conventional development perspectives. Properly conceived and 
executed, cultural heritage tourism is a means of providing economic and social benefits to communities 
through sustainable development and community empowerment. Using cultural assets to appeal to the 
cultural heritage tourist, low-income and minority communities can reinstall pride and a sustainable 
economic base where none existed. The tourism industry is more interested in the business of tourism. It 
is up to communities to take hold of their futures in constructive ways while improving the community 
around them rather than falling prey to the ravaging effects of bottom-line-based tourism.

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Cultural Heritage Tourism
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As in its other work dedicated to improving the livability of communities, Partners’ approach to cultural 
heritage tourism depends on a process that helps the community come together to make decisions 
for the benefit of all residents. The balance of this chapter discusses Partners’ concept of community 
building and the values—inclusiveness, transparency, trust, respect, and sustainability—that underlie 
it. This perspective frames an approach to developing cultural heritage tourism attractions that puts the 
community at the center of the process. 
While it is essential that cultural heritage tourism projects succeed in attracting tourists, the focus of 
Partners’ approach is on creating attractions that residents see as celebrating their culture. Partners 
believes that this community building strategy is not only more equitable and more encompassing than 
other approaches, but it is also more sustainable. 
As tourism (and by extension cultural heritage tourism) can be a renewable resource, sustainability is vital 
for realizing a project’s full potential. 
The Reno Arch was built in 1926 to commemorate the completion of the Lincoln and Victory Highways. Photo credit: Jorg Hackemann.

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Cultural Heritage Tourism