Heritage Education as a Basis for Sustainable Development. The Case of Trujillo, Monfragüe National Park and Villuercas-Ibores-Jara Geopark (Extremadura, Spain)

Rebeca Guillén-Peñafiel, Ana María Hernández-Carretero and José-Manuel Sánchez-Martín
Additional contact information
Rebeca Guillén-Peñafiel: Facultad de Formación del Profesorado, Universidad de Extremadura, 06006 Badajoz, Spain
Ana María Hernández-Carretero: Facultad de Formación del Profesorado, Universidad de Extremadura, 06006 Badajoz, Spain
José-Manuel Sánchez-Martín: Facultad de Empresa, Finanzas y Turismo, Universidad de Extremadura, 06006 Badajoz, Spain

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 8, 1-25

Abstract: Tourist activity offers numerous possibilities for socioeconomic growth while promoting the dissemination, recognition, and appreciation of heritage. Nevertheless, tourism based on a mercantilist approach, oriented mainly towards the maximization of economic benefits and the massive attraction of visitors, can pose a threat to the conservation and integrity of heritage assets. In this panorama of vulnerability, heritage education stands as a primary strategy to resolve the tensions between heritage and tourism. Based on this premise, research aimed at stimulating tourism activity committed to education and sustainability is presented. Said study is framed in three counties of the region of Extremadura, selected for being great centers of tourist attraction: the Monfragüe National Park, the Villuercas-Ibores-Jara Geopark, and the monumental city of Trujillo. The results reveal that introducing educational principles is decisive in improving the value and competitiveness of tourist destinations and contributing to regional development. Despite this, the approaches of heritage education are not yet sufficiently integrated into tourism plans, which distances the territories from sustainability.

Keywords: education; equity; heritage; sustainability; tourism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/8/1183/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/8/1183/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:8:p:1183-:d:874323

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().