Heritage as a Driver for Development - Its contribution to sustainable tourism in contemporary society

The Paris 2011 ICOMOS Scientific Symposium will explore how Heritage can contribute to and stimulate development in a modern world. Theme 3 -Tourism and Development focuses on the role of heritage in the development of sustainable tourism and on the potential for tourism to be a major factor in building public awareness and support for heritage conservation. The contribution that tourism can make to poverty alleviation, to conservation of the natural and cultural heritage and to overall sustainable development, can be substantial. Tourism and culture are seen as two powerful drivers for growth in many parts of the world. They play a vital role in fostering a greater understanding of the rich diversity of regional cultures. Cultural tourism is an inevitable component of cultural heritage. Tourism has the power to deliver significant earnings for environmental protection, as well as giving economic value to cultural heritage. It is a sector built on bringing people together in order to learn about and understand each other, fostering mutual respect and tolerance. As one of the world’s most powerful economic and social forces, well managed tourism can and does give heritage, both tangible and intangible, a major role in contemporary society, reinforcing cultural identity and diversity as key reference points for development. The tourism sector is well aware of the issues surrounding heritage conservation and its role in contemporary development. Natural and cultural heritage sites are now major components of the world’s tourism assets. The UN World Tourism Organization research demonstrates that interest in the environment, culture and heritage is a primary motivation for more than 50\% of travel, and is consistently growing as a market sector. The paper will summarise the contribution of the ICOMOS International Cultural Tourism Committee and others over the last decade to the development of well managed tourism as a major contemporary force for heritage conservation and human development.