Local dimensions of cultural tourism

Abstract

Contemporarily, tourists are mainly interested in broadly understood culture. In the case of rural areas, manifestations of culture, previously discerned only by ethnographers, may be turned into their assets. Thus, preservation of the local heritage takes on an economic dimension, with au the positive and negative consequences it implies. In the regional policies of the European Union, cultural tourism is regarded as a development opportunity for economically back warded areas, the backwardness of which facilitates the preservation of old traditions. The strategic documents formulated at the Community level are reflected by activities undertaken by the Member States and the candidate countries- as part of the PHARE programmes. The author, based on the case study of the Mielnik gmina (municipality), situated in the Podlasie region in the poorly developed, north-eastern part of Poland, discusses some problems which may arise while trying to utilise the cultural potential as one of he local development factors in poorly developed rural areas