Читать книгу Global Experience Industries - Jens Christensen - Страница 51

The world heritage list of UNESCO includes approximately 800 cultural and natural sites around the world.¹⁰⁵ In many ways, cultural tourism is linked to several of these attractions and the tourism services of transportation, hospitality, souvenirs and sightseeing that have been built around them. Such outstanding sites include the Great Barrier Reef and the Blue Mountains of Australia; the historic centre of Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Saint Petersburg and Lima among other places; the Great Wall and Imperial Palaces of China; the Pyramids of Egypt; the Palace and Park of Versailles, the Eiffel Tower, the Banks of the Seine and Mont-Saint-Michel of France; the Acropolis in Athens; the Taj Mahal in India; historic Rome, Florence, Venice, Assisi and Siena of Italy; the Buddhist Monuments in Japan; the Old City of Jerusalem; the Historic Centre of Mexico City and Mexico’s pre-hispanic cities; Alhambra, Cordoba, Granada and Toledo in Spain; Stonehenge, Bath and historic London in England; Serengeti National Park in Tanzania; and Yellowstone National Park, Grand Canyon National Park and the Statue of Liberty in the USA.

The cultural and natural heritage localities of the world have become the hotspots of national and international tourism.¹⁰⁶ Nature and adventure tourism may be included in this segment of tourism, too. Airlines, tour operators, the hospitality industry and the craft, souvenir and cultural sectors make billions of dollars by servicing these attractions. Without the sites of cultural and natural heritage, the craft industry and museums would probably attract much less attention. The revenues of museums, historical sites and the like in the USA amounted to more than $10 billion in 2005.¹⁰⁷ A global estimate might be approximately $50 billion. This is only peanuts compared to the income that transportation and hospitality industries make from organizing travel, accommodation, etc. to cultural and natural attractions. The worldwide crafts industry is found throughout all nations and corners of the world (see also below chapter on Crafts and Hobbies). Based on US and UK figures, the global industry of crafts may be estimated at a $100 billion business.¹⁰⁸