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Tourism Management 24 (2003) 489–493
Book reviews
Cultural attractions and European tourism
Greg Richards (Ed.); CABI Publishing, Wallingford,
2001, x+259pp., ISBN 0-85199-440-7 (hbk)
This collection of papers, the second to be edited by
Richards concerning the theme of cultural tourism (see
Richards, 1996), moves away from the country-based
focus of the former (although still the examples are
drawn from Europe) to a thematic analysis examining
the role of culture, and more specifically the creative
industries and cultural events, in constituting the
attractiveness of place. The eight case studies encompass
a number of issues concerning the shift from a ‘product-
orientated’ approach to cultural tourism, whereby
cultural facilities are underpinned by public subsidy, to
an analysis of the voluntary dimensions to do with the
reasons why people visit cultural attractions and what
makes them attractive.
The book is divided into two parts; in Part I Richards
revisits some of the earlier arguments presented in the
1996 volume, briefly reviewing the contribution of
familiar theorists such as Urry and MacCannell to our
understanding of the relationship between tourism,
culture and authenticity. He extends the conceptual
theoretical formulation further, developing Debord’s
concept of the ‘‘spectacle’’ and Ritzer’s notion of
‘‘cathedrals of consumption’’ in the context of what he
argues is the shift away from merely visiting monuments
and sights, towards ‘‘consuming the way of life of the
areas visited’’ in order to collect ‘‘new knowledge and
experiences’’ (p. 7). In this respect, the growth of interest
in culture, and more precisely, events and creativity can
be seen to represent the apotheosis of postindustrial
capitalism whereby value is extracted from a series of
experiences rather than merely the passive consumption
of monuments and sites or service delivery. The
constantly evolving nature of cultural tourism is
manifested in a shift away from the mere promotion
of a static set of attractions to an emphasis on capturing
the performing nature of cultural experiences (cf.
Edensor, 1998), often augmented by specific policy
measures to stimulate cultural performances.
Part II contains a series of case studies carried out
under the auspices of the ATLAS Cultural Tourism
Research Programme. The starting point for the
research presented in this volume is based on an
analytical framework which attempts to elucidate upon
the cultural constitution of the attraction and the use to
which cultural resources are put as opposed to the
descriptive typologies favoured by most conventional
studies. Similarly, as illustrated by some of the
contributors, it is apparent that public authorities have
often been slow to come to terms with the changing
configuration of cultural tourism, in particular the need
to reconcile the cultural needs of their citizens with the
demands of consumers. Indeed, the studies in this book
are part of an evolving research process which is
attempting to come to terms with the elusiveness of
‘‘cultural tourism’’ and the diverse processes of commo-
dification which accompany the consumption of cultural
experiences.
The fluid nature of cultural attractiveness is demon-
strated, for example, by Munsters in Chapter 5. In his
examination of the Bonnefanten Museum in Maastricht,
he illustrates how museums have become increasingly
renown not only for their content but also in the
aestheticisation of their architectural forms, which in
turn, are associated with celebrity architects (in this case,
Aldo Rossi). There are obvious parallels here with
Frank Gehry’s spectacular design for the Bilbao
Guggenheim as well as numerous high-profile architec-
tural projects in other European cities. More significant
perhaps is the degree to which this demonstrates the
dissolution of boundaries between heritage, culture and
design in the context of the emergence of the ‘‘experience
industry’’. Similarly, Leslie’s (Chapter 6) examination of
the changing role of art museums in the post-industrial
cultural economy, in this case the Burell Collection in
Glasgow, illustrates how the city authorities have sought
to develop the international recognition of Glasgow as a
center for creativity and cultural attractiveness rather
than focus on its industrial heritage. However, the
heightened territorial competition between cities that
has accompanied the increased emphasis on the cultural
economy, brings with it another set of problems.
This is demonstrated in the case of the Budapest
Spring Festival, which according to Puczko! and Ra! tz
(Chapter 10), lacks internationally recognisable cultural
capital, thus, impeding the ability to attract inter-
national visitors.
Conversely, McGettigan and Burns (Chapter 7)
demonstrate how the increasing appeal of ancestral
origins and heritage in Ireland to the global Irish
diaspora has resulted in congestion at the religious
attraction of Clonmacnoise in a rural setting in Ireland.
Although the nature of the survey evidence presented
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
490 Book reviews / Tourism Management 24 (2003) 489–493
does not shed much light on the specific reasons for
the overwhelming popularity of this particular site, the
authors suggest that ‘de-marketing’ the site may be
necessary in order to ensure that the visitor and local
resident uses of the site can be properly reconciled. Berry
and Shephard (Chapter 8) suggest that in order to
combat the problems associated with the over-supply of
cultural heritage sites, in this case in southern England,
the managers of different cultural attractions need to
become more attuned to the complex mosaic of visitor
demand. They conclude that smaller cultural heritage sites
have a limited ability to adapt their approach to attracting
visitors without damaging their uniqueness/physical
infrastructure by, for example, becoming more commer-
cially orientated, whilst larger sites are able to attract
more visitors by expanding their facilities to include
interpretative centres.
However, as the contributions by Green (Chapter 9)
and Bonink and Hitters (Chapter 12) demonstrate, the
changing configurations of cultural tourism consump-
tion in Europe do not merely respond in a deterministic
fashion to the wider processes of de-industrialisation
and economic liberalisation. Rather, in order to
comprehend the precise configurations of urban cultural
tourism, we need to examine the manner in which local
and regional actors engage with and adapt to the wider
transformations which are brought about by processes
of globalisation. In this regard, Green contrasts the
different ways in which local and regional agencies
shape the development of cultural tourism in three
European cities (Tilburg, Bilbao and Leicester), which
have been undergoing similar processes of de-industria-
lisation. In their analysis of the Westergasfabriek in
Amsterdam, a former gas works which has been
converted into a multifunctional site for cultural
performance and exhibitions, Bonink and Hitters
(Chapter 12) illustrate the degree to which this
form of ‘‘creative tourism’’ displays the logic of the
‘‘network society’’ (cf. Castells, 1996). In a case study
which perhaps best exemplifies Richard’s conceptual
framework outlined in Chapter 1, they emphasise
that while cultural producers (in this case a mix of
public, private and civic bodies) are plugged into
transnational flows of culture, communication and
ideas, they derive much of their symbolic value through
being embedded into local clusters of creative activity.
Moreover, the Westergasfabriek has facilitated the
spatial proximity of a diverse range of creative activities,
from the experimental/avant-guarde to more commer-
cially orientated media and fashion events, thus creating
what they refer to as a ‘‘network of innovative
creativity’’.
Notwithstanding the contributions by Richards (in
particular Chapters 1–3 and 13) and one or two others
(Green, Chapter 9; Bonink & Hitters, Chapter 12), the
overall tone of the volume is quite descriptive. Whilst
they shed new light on myriad aspects of cultural
tourism in the broader European context, the case
studies vary quite significantly with regard to their
theoretical content as well as the degree to which they
engage with the issues outlined by Richards in the
opening chapters. Indeed, some of the contributors
(Berry & Shephard, Chapter 8) fall back on rather
simplistic statements regarding the threat of commodi-
fication and loss of authenticity, which assume a direct
causative link between policy and the manner in which
these sites are ‘read’ by visitors and their meaning
encoded, precisely the kind of normative assumptions
which Richards and other authors in this collection
(Green, Bonink, & Hitters) have set out to challenge in
this book.
There are also significant shortcomings related to the
use of the survey research method as the principal means
of gathering data for much of the work carried out here.
The attempt to incorporate questions concerning intent
in the 1997 ATLAS survey, so as to distinguish the
‘‘culturally motivated’’ from the ‘‘culturally interested’’
visitor, to some extent illustrates the shortcomings of the
survey methodology being deployed. For example, in
Marciszewska’s study of cultural tourism in Poland
(Chapter 12), although we learn that 34.2% of visitors
to 13 types of cultural attractions in Poland aspired to
‘‘experience new things’’, such pre-determined categories
of response fail to capture the nuances of cultural
difference with regard to the locally mediated nature of
cultural consumption and the meaning of such cultural
experiences to the respondents. Nevertheless, given the
scale and scope of the ATLAS Cultural Tourism
Research Programme, the need to deploy a relatively
standardised survey instrument is to some extent
understandable.
In conclusion, Richards notes important certain
absences, in particular, the under-emphasis on the
contemporary (as well as historical) cosmopolitan
realities of European cultures, such as those linked to
transnational movements of populations and processes
of cultural creolisation. More perhaps could also have
been said with regard to the subtle yet distinctive
political–ideological alignments, which mediate the use
of culture/events for the purposes of tourism. This book
does offer a useful addition to the burgeoning field of
literature on cultural tourism, and provides further
empirical evidence of the degree to which the forces of
globalisation and localisation have dramatically trans-
formed the landscape of cultural tourism in Europe. It
will be a valuable resource for students, academics and
policy-makers in seeking to gain further insight into the
complex and diverse dynamics of cultural tourism in
Europe, whilst at the same time also contributing to the
development of a more robust conceptual–theoretical
platform with which to carry out further investigations
into this subject.
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Book reviews / Tourism Management 24 (2003) 489–493
References
Castells, M. (1996). The rise of the network society. Oxford: Blackwell.
Edensor, T. (1998). Tourists at the Taj: Performance and meaning at a
symbolic site. London: Routledge.
Richards, G. (Ed.), (1996). Cultural tourism in Europe. Wallingford:
CAB International Publishing.
doi:10.1016/S0261-5177(02)00116-4
Tourism and development in mountain regions
P.M. Godde, M.F. Price and F.M. Zimmermann (Eds.);
CABI Publishing, Oxon, 2000, ISBN 0 85199 391 5 (hb)
Mountain regions provide a diverse resource base of
great importance to the tourism industry. However, the
development and management of tourism interests in
mountain regions cut across a number of related issues
that are prominent on global agendas. Mountain
regions cover one-fifth of the earth’s land surface and
supply important resources to over half of the world’s
population. Most important among them, one might
argue, are the sources of freshwater that issue from
mountain regions. The editors note in Chapter 1 that
mountain regions demonstrate unique biophysical char-
acteristics that provide a richness and diversity of species
and ecosystems, which supply valuable natural sources
of food and medicine. Mountain regions also hold
important human values. In many parts of the devel-
oped world, mountains form the nucleus of protected
wilderness areas. Their transformation from wastelands
to World Heritage Areas renders mountains the last
vestige of primeval naturalness in many parts of the
world. Approximately 10 percent of earth’s human
population inhabit mountains, including diverse cul-
tures and the largest number of ethnic groups. Physical
constraints on communication and mobility, coupled in
many cases with extreme remoteness and isolation, have
safe guarded traditional ways of life for generations.
Mountains, as the editors state in Chapter 1, are also
spiritual centres, places of power, abodes of deities,
places of worship, divine ancestors and the dead, and
sources of inspiration. Issues of mountain development
are, therefore, complex indeed.
In the 1990s a strong commitment to research in the
field of mountain tourism has been established. Projects
and programmes to be implemented during this
time include the International Centre for Integrated
Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and a number of
important books that address the specific issues arising
from the development of mountain tourism. The new
millennium brings evidence of continued concern for
and interest in this important field. The Seventh
Conference of the Parties to the Convention on
Biological Diversity (2001) will focus on the biological
491
Raoul Bianchi
International Institute for Culture,
Tourism and Development,
London Metropolitan University,
166-200 Holloway Road, London N7 8DB, UK
E-mail address: r.bianchi@unl.ac.uk
diversity of mountains ecosystems. The General Assem-
bly of the United Nations has declared 2002 the
International year of Mountains and the International
year of Ecotourism. To this groundswell of academic,
government and popular interest the current title
‘Tourism and Development in Mountain Regions’, edited
by Godde, Price and Zimmermann, makes a significant
contribution.
The editor’s have succeeded in bringing together 16
chapters that represent the works of a broad range of
leading scholars in the fields of mountain development
and tourism. The scope of the contributors, in terms of
specific research, regional, environmental and socio-
cultural interests is equally creditworthy. The first
chapter by the editors conveys not only the diversity
of research interests relating to tourism development
in mountain regions, but also the range of issues
that apply to mountain developments in different
peaks and ranges around the world. This provides an
engaging and thought-provoking introduction to the
subject and general issues addressed in the following
chapters.
In Chapters 2–4 attention focuses on the measure-
ment and management of tourism’s physical impacts.
Buckley et al. (Chapter 2) address the development of
resorts in Australia’s mountain regions and issues
arising therefrom. Monz (Chapter 3) presents important
techniques in data collection, relating to trails and
campsites. Resource assessment and management issues
are also considered by Valaoras in Chapter 4. This
chapter explores the threat of deforestation and issues
of conservation versus development in the Greek
Mountains. Chapters 5,7 and 8 provide economic
analyses of mountain tourism development. Moss et al.
(Chapter 5) provide a valuable regional analysis of the
integration of tourism into the wider economic processes
in the Czech Republic. Snowdon (Chapter 7) and Barkin
(Chapter 8) consider the economic impacts of mountains
tourism in Western Europe and Mexico, respectively,
the latter providing intriguing insights into the econom-
ics of ecotourism in upland Mexico.
Chapters 9–15 (excluding Chapter 12) address issues
of tourism policy and planning. MacLellan (Chapter 9)
makes a valuable contribution in examining the
strategic policy implications of mountain tourism in