From Tangible Heritage to Intangible Heritage: Dimensions of the Cultural Tourism

In an increasingly competitive tourism panorama where destinations and the offer of products has increased significantly, both in quantitative and qualitative terms (OMT, 2015), the Alentejo Regional Tourism Entity (ARTE), as part of its development and communication strategy, has been claiming the intangible heritage as a differentiating element of its offer, as way to ensure a distinctive international position. The strategic option of submitting several intangible cultural resources, representative of Alentejo s memory and identity, to UNESCO s Intangible Heritage, aims at promoting the region s culture in addition to legitimizing new attributes for a tourist approach centred on creativity and innovation, having the experience as a paradigm and disruptive element. The framework of the new tourism development-operating model presented here is supported on assumptions, such as: network development, business shared development, implementation of museum interpretation units, storytelling and the integration of do it yourself base technologies.