The World Heritage Centre is at the forefront of the international community’s efforts to protect and preserve.
World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Programme
The UNESCO World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Programme represents a new approach based on dialogue and stakeholder cooperation where planning for tourism and heritage management is integrated at a destination ...
Featured
Guide 10: Monitoring success with sustainable tourism
This guide 10 will tell you why benchmarking matters and suggest some ideas on how you can develop site and destination specific benchmarks.
Promoting sustainable tourism in response to COVID-1
Many of the world’s World Heritage sites are dependent upon tourism to maintain their economic, environmental, social and cultural well-being. However, the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic has hit World ...
Educating visitors on how to enjoy Namibia’s World Heritage Wonders Responsibly
Educating visitors to enjoy Namibia’s World Heritage responsibly © Putting tourism on a more sustainable path has been a core priority of the Government of Namibia as visitors return to the ...
Restoring Life to the Community in Lamu Old Town, Kenya
The Lamu Old Town, a World Heritage Site on the coast of East Africa about 350 km north of Mombasa, has seen its public spaces refreshed, access improved, and pride in the city's status as the oldest and best ...
Helping local homestay hosts to be more sustainable businesses in Indonesia
Helping local homestay hosts to be more sustainable in Indonesia © Tourism constitutes one of Indonesia's priority government investment areas to boost national GDP. A programme of tourism ...
Reducing waste and improving visitor experience in Viet Nam
Reducing waste and improving visitor experience in Viet Nam © The long closure of the sites led to reduced income, disruption of community life and reduced maintenance. Viet Nam’s international ...
Building the skills to care for Georgia’s Colchic Rainforests and Wetlands
Building the skills to care for Georgia’s Colchic Rainforests and Wetlands © Around 100 people are employed across the parks and protected areas that make up the Colchic Rainforests and Wetlands ...
Improving visitor infrastructure in Angkor, Cambodia.
Improving visitor infrastructure in Angkor, Cambodia © The Angkor World Heritage site has long attracted visitors to Cambodia, providing a major driver for the country’s economy with a steady ...
Supporting local tourism in the Old City of Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Supporting local tourism in the Old City of Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina © The picturesque Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar was the first World Heritage site in Bosnia and Herzegovina ...
Guide 8 – Case Study: Wadi Al-Hitan (Egypt)
Wadi Al-Hitan – also known as Whale Valley – is located in the Western Desert of Egypt. It is an ‘open-air museum’ of invaluable fossil remains of the earliest, and now extinct, suborder of whales (Archaeoceti), as ...
Guide 3 – Case Study: Melaka and George Town, Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca (Malaysia)
George Town and Melaka were jointly inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2008 due to their shared rich multi-cultural trading heritage. However, they have also been subject to criticism and a feeling of ...
Guide 1 – Case Study: Historic Town Of Vigan (Philippines)
Vigan is an exceptionally intact and well-preserved example of a European trading town in East and South-East Asia. The architecture of the city reflects its historic roots and rich culture in both materials and ...
Guide 2 – Case Study: Ichkeul National Park (Tunisia)
Ichkeul National Park is characterized by a very specific hydrological functioning system, based on seasonal alternation of water levels and salinity. The lake and surrounding marshes constitute a stopover for ...
Guide 4 – Case study: Old and New Towns of Edinburgh (United Kingdom)
The World Heritage Status Report showed that 41% of visitors to Edinburgh are aware that it is a World Heritage site, and 17% of all visitors think that Edinburgh’s World Heritage status influenced their choice. ...
Guide 4 – Case study: Røros Mining Town and the Circumference (Norway)
Røros Mining Town and the Circumference is linked to the copper mines, established in the 17th century, which were used for 333 years until 1977. The site includes the Town and its industrial-rural cultural ...
Guide 2 – Case Study: Angkor and The Tourism Development Strategic Plan 2012–2020
Guide 2 Case Study: Angkor and The Tourism Development Strategic Plan 2012–2020 © Toolkit About the Sustainable Tourism Toolkit How to use this guide? Our Objective Resource ...
Guide 6 – Case Study: Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape (United Kingdom)
The Cornwall and West Devon mining landscape was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2006 comprised of 10 different mining landscapes across the area. As the largest World Heritage site in the United Kingdom, ...
Guide 7 – Case study: Røros Mining Town and the Circumference (Norway)
Røros Mining Town and the Circumference is a clear case of a cultural landscape sustained by traditional socio-economic systems. In 2009 there were 21 active farms within the property and a number of redundant farms ...
Guide 9 – Case study: Land of Frankincense (Oman)
The Land of Frankincense (LoF) World Heritage site is composed of four archaeological sites related to the antique trade of Frankincense and other luxury items across the Dhofar province of Oman: Shisr (sometimes ...
Guide 4 – Case Study: Avebury World Heritage site, Wiltshire (United Kingdom)
Avebury stone circle or ‘henge’ lies at the centre of half the Stonehenge, Avebury, and Associated Sites inscribed as World Heritage. It is the sister-site to the perhaps more widely recognizable monument: ...
Guide 4 – Case study: Great Barrier Reef (Australia)
Coral reefs around the world are threatened both by natural and anthropogenic factors, with tourism having an important role in the latter. Direct impacts in coral reefs are related with badly managed tourism ...
Guide 5 – Case study: Røros Mining Town and the Circumference (Norway)
In was back in 1922 when the Chief Inspectorate of Ancient Monuments and Buildings (Riksantikvaren) first understood the potential value of Røros Mining Town heritage. At that time, a recommendation of protection ...
Sustainable Tourism Capacity Building
In the framework of the World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Programme (WH+ST Programme), the UNESCO World Heritage Centre has developed a capacity building tool for site managers (“How To” Guides) to help them ...
The France-UNESCO Cooperation Agreement, similar to the technical cooperation provided to the Town of Luang Prabang in the Lao People's Democratic Republic, has provided technical and financial support to national ...
Heritage and poverty alleviation (Senegal, Benin, Lao People's Democratic Republic, China, Guyana)
Urban heritage preservation policies, when separated from development strategies, can lead to a marginalization of the poorest populations. Constraints caused by regulations, in the absence of assistance mechanisms, ...
Seminar at the Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans (France) on Tourism and World Heritage Sites
An international expert meeting focusing on “Tourism and World Heritage Sites” was held from 6 to 8 March 2008 at the Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans, France. (The Saltwork is part of a property inscribed on the ...
Preparatory assistance for the inscription of the Southern Oasis of Morocco
At the initiative of the Permanent Delegation of Morocco and the “Agence pour la promotion et le développement économique culturel et social des provinces du Sud du Royaume du Maroc” (agency for the economic, ...
Case Studies on the Conservation and Management of Historic Cities
Since 2008, the World Heritage Centre, within the framework of the France-UNESCO Cooperation Agreement, supported and participated in the initiative “Developing Historic Cities: Keys for Understanding and Taking ...
IMPACT publication: Luang Prabang
The first in a series of studies examining the impact of tourism on culture and the environment in selected sites in the Asia-Pacific region, this IMPACT publication: Tourism and Heritage Site Management in the ...
This publication focuses on the impacts of tourism on the Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras, an outstanding model of sustainable use of limited land resources, using traditional knowledge-based technology ...
Developing a Sustainable Tourism Strategy for the Silk Roads Heritage Corridors
Developing a Sustainable Tourism Strategy for the Silk Roads Heritage Corridors © UNESCO / Roland Lin Acclaimed as the ‘greatest route in the history of mankind’, the ancient Silk Road formed the ...
This publication examines the impacts of tourism in the World heritage site of the Hoi An Ancient Town, an exceptionally well preserved example of a traditional Asian trading port and an outstanding material ...
The technical cooperation for the protection, enhancement and development of the Town of Luang Prabang, Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a remarkable example of tripartite cooperation between the Lao People's ...
Entitled “The Power of Culture: Supporting Community-Based Management and Sustainable Tourism at World Heritage sites in South-East Asia, the UNESCO Office in Jakarta with the technical assistance of the UNESCO ...
World Heritage and Tourism in a Changing Climate
This report provides an overview of the increasing vulnerability of World Heritage sites to climate change impacts and the potential implications for and of global tourism. It also examines the close relationship ...
Towards a Nordic-Baltic pilot region for World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism
The project Towards a Nordic-Baltic pilot region for World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism (2012-2014) was initiated by the Nordic World Heritage Foundation (NWHF). With a practical approach, the project has ...
Linking Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Tourism at World Heritage Sites
The US$3,5 million aims to link the conservation of biodiversity with sustainable tourism at six World Heritage sites: El Vizcaíno (Mexico), Komodo (Indonesia), Río Plátano (Honduras), Sian Ka'an (Mexico), Tikal ...