The role of cultural activities in tourism development: An urban-rural perspective

Abstract

Drawing on a main tenet of attraction systems theory, the article describes and explains the importance of cultural activities for tourism development in the context of the urban-rural relationship. The impact of culture on regional and tourism development has been an important research focus in recent years. However, the role of cultural activity in tourism development and its impacts on the urban-rural relationship have received little attention from academics. This article contributes to research by identifying problems associated with tourism development and the potential of cultural activities to overcome such challenges. The study draws upon the theory of the tourist attraction system that was developed by Leiper in 1990. Qualitative inquiry was used to ensure depth and richness in our case analysis. The results show that cultural activities in the small town setting have substantial importance for tourism development in both the city and in surrounding areas. However, it was found that awareness of the offer is limited to the immediate region. It is proposed that tourism service providers should identify more closely with the available cultural activities in order to create a valuable tourist offer that has potential to reach new target groups.