TSTT Tourism & Society - Tourism that puts down roots in local communities

Tourism that puts down roots in local communities

20-10-2026

The second day of the fourth Liangzhu Forum, held in Hangzhou until 20 October under the theme "Bridging the past and the future: safeguarding cultural heritage for our times", opened this morning with a reflection that speaks to the entire sector. Dr Antonio Santos del Valle, Chairman of the Tourism and Society Think Tank (TSTT), told an audience of international leaders that culture and heritage are not a stage set for visitors, but the living memory of a community and a lever for local development that is fair, creative and inclusive.

His remarks formed part of the high-level roundtable "Embracing the Future: Cultural Heritage Preservation, Transmission and Sustainable Tourism", moderated by Peter DeBrine, head of UNESCO's Sustainable Cultural Tourism Programme. Santos del Valle shared the panel with Raphael Callou, General Director for Culture at the Organization of Ibero-American States; Abdulrahman Alsuhaibani, Vice President of Culture at the Royal Commission for AlUla; and Carolina Pérez Dattari, former Undersecretary of Cultural Heritage of Chile.

The TSTT Chairman began with a question as simple as it is uncomfortable: who is tourism for? He then warned that heritage is a double-edged sword. The same legacy that brings jobs, pride and a future to a town can also empty a historic neighbourhood, drive up housing costs or turn a traditional festival into a soulless spectacle. In his view, the difference never lies in the heritage itself, but in the decisions taken about it and in who takes them.

To illustrate the point, he recalled the experience of many rural areas that were losing their population. There, the revival of a festival, a historic route or a traditional craft first restored collective self-esteem, then brought back some young people and, only at the end, attracted visitors. That order, he stressed, is decisive. When heritage is rescued solely for tourists, it freezes, whereas when it is recovered for the community it stays alive, evolves and feels more authentic to those who come from outside. He therefore proposed that every tourism policy should begin by asking residents what they wish to share and what they would rather protect, because not everything has to be for sale.

Santos del Valle also championed the creative economy that grows out of cultural heritage, one capable of anchoring value in the territory, diversifying activity and retaining young talent. For it to work, he called for digital connectivity, flexible financing, training and the protection of collective intellectual property. Tourism, he said, should be a shop window that buys and pays a fair price, not one that merely looks.

Turning to inclusion, he put forward three practical questions: who decides, who benefits and who has access. A destination with record figures and precarious employment, he added, is not an inclusive success.

He did not shy away from the risks. He listed overcrowding at sites and in small towns, the displacement of residents under pressure from short-term rentals, the commodification of rituals and dances, the unequal distribution of value in favour of global intermediaries and the growing exposure of heritage to climate change.

Looking ahead to the Strategy for Sustainable Cultural Tourism that UNESCO is preparing, the TSTT Chairman identified five areas where it could make the greatest impact. He urged placing communities at the heart of governance, measuring beyond arrivals and overnight stays, managing visitor flows before they become crises, ensuring that value stays in the territory and integrating climate action. He added two cross-cutting conditions: building capacity in small municipalities and ensuring coherence between policies on tourism, culture, housing, the environment and employment.

All of this, he explained, comes together in the concept of strategic tourism, a perspective on planning and governance that places tourism within a wider project for the territory. He likened it to a great game of chess.

He closed with a telling image. There is a kind of tourism that passes through like the wind, consumes and leaves with a photograph, and another that resembles rain, soaking into the soil and helping something grow long after it has gone. Santos del Valle offered the experience and networks of the TSTT to accompany UNESCO along this path, and concluded that the success of cultural tourism will not be measured by the number of visitors, but by whether those who live in each place can still call it home fifty years from now.

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