The EU's Research and Innovation agenda emphasises the significance of cultural tourism, and it is centred around generating new knowledge and evidence-based solutions that address these challenges and promote sustainable cultural tourism.

A new CORDIS Results Pack focuses on eight Horizon 2020 research projects, including ERRIN's Be.CULTOUR project where members are directly involved, demonstrating the EU’s commitment to conserving Europe’s cultural heritage and transitioning to sustainable cultural tourism.

It explores the potential of cultural tourism for regenerating and valorising cultural heritage and empowering local communities by creating sustainable jobs and opportunities for entrepreneurial activity. The pack will help policymakers to better understand cultural tourism, develop evidence-based policy options and give stakeholders greater insight into the latest research results. It will also help cultural tourism practitioners to fine-tune their activities based on the latest research and test new tools and solutions developed by the projects.

This Results Pack aims to contribute new perspectives on and insights into cultural tourism and making the target audience more aware of the opportunities that this form of tourism has to offer through the eight projects:

• Be.CULTOUR focused on Europe’s remote, rural and less-known destinations, employing a circular tourism approach to reduce waste, conserve resources, promote green transportation and support local products.
• IMPACTOUR created a methodology and tool to measure and assess the impact of cultural tourism on regional European economic and social development. The
• INCULTUM project worked with communities in out-of-the-way regions to pursue sustainable bottom-up strategies for social, cultural and economic development that benefits both tourists and locals alike.
• RurALLURE developed a platform that allows travellers along Europe’s historic pilgrimage routes to customise their travel itineraries according to their interests and learn more about the surrounding cultural and natural heritage.
• SmartCulTour conducted field tests in six living labs and identified which co-created sustainable practices have a positive impact, especially in rural peripheries and the urban fringe.
• SMARTDEST set up eight city labs to conduct in-depth analysis of the social impacts of tourism, give a voice to local communities, and contribute to a more just and inclusive social and economic model. 
• SPOT explored emerging forms of cultural tourism, identifying opportunities and developing strategies that allow local people to gain benefits from their precious cultural assets.
• TexTOUR conducted eight cultural tourism pilots in deprived areas of Europe and beyond to create a methodology that enables communities to develop sustainable tourism based on local heritage.

Learn more here.

ERRIN members have expressed interest in being part of sustainable tourism projects through the latest Interreg call, learn more by expressing your interest on our new Project Development Tool here.

Learn more about the Tourism Transition Pathway at the next Cultural Heritage and Tourism Working Group meeting on 26 March 2024.