Heritage and its Feasibility in Tourism Terms

This article deals with the feasibility or infeasibility of heritage as a tourist attraction, in general terms. This issue is initially raised regardless the breadth of the concept of heritage that is used, as well as the economical objectives that are aimed at, such as profit, development or others. The model that is presented is based on the empirical knowledge of the tourist reality and heritage of Spain, in particular, Catalonia. However, it pretends to be contrasted, corrected or even enriched under other situations. The article identifies three geographical-heritage situations where the tourist exploitation of heritage is, in theory, feasible, as well as some agents that enable to partially correct the infeasibility of other assumptions or involve possible complementary threats. Some common assumptions in Spain are also examined and several strategies are suggested in order to overcome the tourist infeasibility of those places where such infeasibility is due to inadequate planning rather than entrenched structural conditions.