1. Future Strategies for Cultural Tourism
and Heritage Management
Brussels, 7 September 2011
Mrs. Marie Paule Roudil
Head of the UNESCO Liaison Office in Brussels and
UNESCO Representative to the European Union

2. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
“That since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the
defences of peace must be constructed”
UNESCO constitution, adopted in 1945.
 UNESCO’s mandate is to contribute to peace and security by promoting
collaboration among the nations through education, science, culture and
communication.

3. UNESCO and Culture
 UNESCO is the sole UN agency with a cultural mandate
 UNESCO’s policies and actions aim at:
Promoting cultural diversity by safeguarding heritage in its
various dimensions and enhancing cultural expressions.
Promoting social cohesion by fostering pluralism, intercultural
dialogue, and a culture of peace.
Emphasizing the contribution of culture for sustainable
development and for the achievement of the Millennium
Development Goals.
 UNESCO has developed 7 Conventions that support the
elaboration of national cultural policies

4. Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and
Natural Heritage (1972)
 ratified by 187 States Parties
 UNESCO encourages the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and
natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to
humanity.
 The concept of World Heritage has a universal application : the sites inscribed on
the World Heritage List constitute a world heritage for whose protection it is the
duty of the international community as a whole to co-operate. (article 6)
 UNESCO leads international efforts to protect World Heritage, by launching
international safeguarding campaigns.

5. World Heritage List
 936 properties in 153 States Parties (in August 2011)
725 cultural, 183 natural, 28 mixed properties
 Inscription of new sites decided by the World
Heritage Committee once a year
Source: The World Heritage Center (2011); AFR: Africa, APA:
Asia and the Pacific, ARB: The Arab States, EUR: Europe and
North America, LAC: Latin America and the Caribbean

6. Intangible cultural Heritage
 The 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding
of the Intangible Cultural Heritage aims to
provide protection for often age-old oral and
intangible cultural practices.
 Ratified by 136 States Parties
 232 Intangible Heritage elements inscribed on
the List

7. Fight against illicit traffic of cultural property
 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit
Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, adopted
in 1970 and ratified by 120 Member States.
 A framework for discussion and negotiation: the Intergovernmental
Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of
Origin or its Restitution in case of Illicit Appropriation

8. Cultural Heritage
a vehicle for building mutual understanding
 Rebuilding of the Old bridge of Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
It was destroyed in 1993 during the Bosnian war and rebuilt in 2004 thanks to a coalition of
international partners, among which, the World Bank and UNESCO and funds from Italy, Croatia
and the Netherlands.
Objective : Fostering reconciliation between war-divided populations living on the banks of the
Neretva River, through the recognition and rehabilitation of their common cultural heritage.

9. Cultural Heritage
a potential resource for economic development
 Cultural heritage tourism contributes to:
improve local economy by generating employment and
incomes, and thus enhance the quality of life for local residents.
enhance cultural and creative industries.
generate wider Economic benefits at long term at the
regional and European levels.

10. An Indicator suite to showcase the value of culture
 Launched in 2009, the UNESCO Culture for Development
Indicator Suite seeks to establish a set of indicators that
measures and describes the contribution of culture to
development at national level.
 This advocacy and research tool aims at encouraging the
growing recognition of culture’s development potential and its
integration in national and international development strategies.
With the support of AECID
www.unesco.org/culture/CDIS

11. UNESCO Indicator suite applied to Bosnia and Herzegovina
Some Preliminary results
Culture as an Economic activity
Indicator : Added value of cultural activities (contribution of cultural
activities to GDP)
Cultural activities represented 6.67% of GDP (1.6 billion KM or 818 000 €)
Indicator: Employment in culture
The share of the number of employed persons in cultural activities compared to the
number of employed in all activities amounts to 3.36%
Heritage
Indicator : The allocations for cultural Heritage (government expenditure)
The share of expenditure for cultural heritage in total expenditures amounts to 0.48%.

12. Challenges
 Such a touristic development, if poorly managed, threatens directly
integrity and value of the sites.
In order to ensure an appropriate conservation and protection of our
common heritage, UNESCO encourages the development of
partnerships between the main stakeholders involved in cultural
tourism and the exchange of best practices and experiences in
terms of sites management.
 Economic benefits remain unequally distributed at national level.

13. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION
www.unesco.org/culture
http://whc.unesco.org/
brussels@unesco.org