A management perspective on threats to Cultural World Heritage Sites

ABSTRACT

This study examines factors associated with threats to Cultural World Heritage Sites as perceived by their management. Employed for the analysis are data on 396 UNESCO Cultural World Heritage Sites in North America and Europe as well as 2158 threats identified by the UNESCO Second Cycle of Periodic Reporting for Europe and North America in 2014. One out of seven sites report that there are no threats at all and 2.5% do not provide information on the threats. Probit models show that sites inscribed early, those considered as “masterpieces” and sites located in certain countries are more likely to report a threat. Ordered Probit estimations, including three levels of threats (negligible, minor and major), reveal that the degree of threat perception is highest for entire cultural cities and cultural landscapes. The severity also varies by kind of threat and country of location. Climate change and severe weather as well as sudden geological events have the highest probability of being perceived as major threats. The third group of the most frequently mentioned major threats encompasses factors including local conditions affecting the physical fabric, social/cultural use of the heritage (tourism/visitors/recreation) as well as buildings and development.

KEYWORDS:

• Cultural World Heritage Sites
• risk factors
• climate change
• natural hazards
• Ordered Probit model

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the participants of the online Atlas conference on 10.9.2021 and the Conference on Managing Tourism Across Continents – Tourism For A Better World (Mtcon-2022) for helpful comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. These ten cultural sites are Auschwitz Birkenau, Birka and Hovgården, La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia, Maritime Greenwich, Mines of Rammelsberg, Historic Town of Goslar and Upper Harz Water Management System, Old town of Regensburg with Stadtamhof, Palmeral of Elche, Rock Carvings in Tanum, Routes of Santiago de Compostela and Routes of Northern Spain and Royal Domain of Drottningholm.

2. Source: https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20200603-hallstatt-austrias-tiny-village-with-10000-day-trippers.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Martin Falk

Martin Falk is Professor at the University of South-Eastern Norway (School of Business). His research interests include sustainability and environmental management, tourism and innovation as well as quantitative methods in the field of social sciences. Since 2016 he is visiting professor at the Shanghai Lixin University of Accounting and Finance (School of economics and trade).

Eva Hagsten

Eva Hagsten holds a PhD in economics from the University of Iceland and a master’s degree in economics from Örebro University (Sweden). She is an Associate Professor at the University of South-Eastern Norway. Her research interests encompass applied economics oriented towards firm behaviour, firm performance, tourism economics, ICT and international economics. She also has experience from leadership of large EU-funded research projects.