OECD Culture and Local Development.pdf - PACA

2. LOCAL DEVELOPMENT BASED ON ATTRACTING VISITORS AND TOURISTS
are deprived of the funds that they would normally reap from visits to it. The
secondary good in this case becomes the primary good, and drags the heritage
site down with it.
• The real tourists may also suffer from the exploitation of sightseers. The prices
of their accommodations are sure to rise if sightseers continue to come only
for entertainment purposes (nightclubs, dancing, sex shops, or casinos). We may
find then that tourists stop spending at the site, or even abandon it altogether.
• Local residents will also feel the effects of these higher prices and the tarnishing
of their territory’s image. They may soon find themselves facing the following
dilemma. If sightseers are a high proportion of visitors, residents must expect
that the site’s reputation will slide further, and that speculation will drive up
property prices, recognising that the continued flow of sightseers depends on
entertainment facilities. If the proportion of sightseers is controlled in favour
of tourists, residents are not necessarily better off. A high proportion of tourists
will drive up both quality and prices to high levels 70 , and lead to the gentrification
of the site. Site degradation or gentrification: these are the two horns of the
dilemma involved in shifting the proportion between tourists and sightseers.
Thus, perfectly rational behaviour can have fatal consequences. The better-known
a heritage site is, the more sightseers it will attract in addition to the ranks of informed
tourists, and the more exposed it will be to the denaturing or collapse of its quality.
From this situation we may draw some pointers for the sustainable development of
such sites:
• Give priority to quality over quantity targets, recognising that spending per visitor
is more important than the number of visitors.
• Encourage cultural over amusement or recreational uses for the site, so as to
attract serious tourists as opposed to casual sightseers.
• Maintain some control over pricing mechanisms, which means controlling real
estate prices and negotiating restraint agreements.
Other approaches to measurement
To overcome these difficulties, other tools have been proposed in recent years.
The first approach seeks to make the multipliers more meaningful by using inputoutput
tables and inter-industry trading data. This approach was used in a Welsh study,
although it was more limited than the conventional input-output method (WERU &
DCA, 1998). It identified six cultural industries: Performing Arts; Visual Arts; Crafts and
CULTURE AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT - ISBN 92-64-00990-6 - © OECD 2005 91