Cultural heritage and tourism: who pays for preservation?

October 21, 2013 by Harold Goodwin

Bushman rock art in Kamberg, South Africa. Who ensures its preservation?

The brief answer is no. Many regard access to a nation’s or a community’s heritage attractions as a “Merit good”. The belief is that people should have free, or low cost, access to their heritage as it is theirs, because enjoyment of it contributes to their education, and because there is a public interest in the maintenance of culture. In the UK the major national museums are free to enter; yet some 40% of visitors are internationals who are enjoying a freebie for which they make no contribution as a taxpayer. The British Museum was the UK’s most popular visitor attraction in 2012 – a status which it has enjoyed for the last six years. In 2012 it attracted 5.6 million visitors, 60% of them were international visitors making no contribution to its maintenance.

Government-sponsored museums ceased charging admission in 2001, as part of a government plan to widen access to the nation’s culture and heritage. Almost 18 million people visited the 13 attractions in 2010-11, compared with only 7 million in 2000-01. Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) figures suggest that eight of the top 10 most-visited attractions in the UK are free, government-sponsored national museums. The total visitor numbers to DCMS-sponsored museums for 2010-11 was 43.8m – a free cultural heritage and tourism success.

Source: blog.wtmresponsibletourism.com/