Introduction

Analyses of the tourist industry usually make a distinction between mass tourism, characterised in business terms as being a high-volume low-yield operation, and niche tourism, referring to tourism products that cater to small numbers of discriminating tourists with high revenue yield per person. The arts and culture are deeply involved in, and affected by, both types of tourist market. The term cultural tourism is used to relate to both aspects of tourist activity. Cultural attractions of various sorts appear as components of packages put together for the mass tourist, including visits to museums and heritage sites, outings to performing arts events, and participation in entertainments staged in tourist resorts, hotels, etc. Such activities are also undertaken by individual tourists not involved in any organised tour. Either way, ‘cultural tourism’ in its broad mass-tourism sense means large numbers of people, a matter of particular concern to superstar attractions such as the world's major museums, art galleries and heritage locations, which have to deal with the pressure of visitor numbers on a daily basis.

Cultural tourism in its more specific sense, on the other hand, involves smaller numbers of people seeking a more specialised experience.