Cultural tourism and art and cultural organizations

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Abstract: Cultural tourism activities includes a diversity of tourism activities. Art and cultural organizations are the agents of developing cultural tourism. They will have to go through changes to undertake their dual responsibilities to preserve heritage and advance creativity in the process of cultural development. Keywords: cultural tourismart and cultural organizationThe development of cultural tourism involves different shareholders including tourists， governmental bodies， private sector suppliers (e.g. restaurants， hotels) and art and cultural organizations. Cultural tourism activities includes a diversity of tourism activities such as visits to architecture， museums and historic buildings， visits to visual arts (art galleries， exhibitions) and to the performing arts presented in theatres and concert halls.For research on cultural tourism， it's difficult for art organizations to get accurate information on the audience composition and to know what the drawing power is of arts and entertainment in such holiday areas. From marketing point of view， we differentiate arts and entertainment and classifies audiences into arts-core or arts-peripheral groups. We also think that a productive arts-tourism relationship may not always be necessary or be looked upon as an opportunity since it is not of significance to all in the arts and tourism. As a tourism attraction， a recent trend in cultural tourism is that traditional art has more rivalries from other forms of entertainment such as sports， cinemas， pop culture shows etc. Providing leisure activities is an important part of cultural tourism development.With cultural tourism's increasing economic significance， more research on it is called upon by policy-makers. Cultural tourism is most quoted in governmental tourism policy. Although cultural policy advocates access to all artistic quality， there is always an imbalance in terms of government's support for different regions and support for traditional arts or contemporary arts. Usually the most visible cultural programs such as traditional culture，high' culture institutions will be chosen to sell the city and tourists can normally see mainstream art organizations more easily than others. Many national companies will get substantial support from government， much more than other art organizations. Non-mainstream art organizations or artists will be marginalized and have to seek development elsewhere or join other related events， perhaps marginal events. Therefore， creativity can be obstructed. The real cultural diversity is the purpose of cultural development. In consideration of economic and cultural merits， city planners' strategy for usingflagship' big events is not sufficient to achieve the status of a culturally diversified and creative society where citizens or society members can enjoy free expression of their cultural identities.Researchers put emphasis on marketing perspective to give recommendations for art and cultural organizations to attract cultural tourists. Economic view of art does not study the real intrinsic value or people's love for art. For instance， it leaves the judgment of reproduction of art to consumers， remaining neutral until economic behavior or transactions take place.Therefore marketing's contribution to art management should not be used in a way to make artistic compromise in its excellence or creativity.Art and cultural organizations are the agents of developing cultural tourism. They are important in cultural tourism development， yet they are under the pressure from the cultural and tourism conflicts， cultural policy， tourism policy and marketing necessity. In such a situation， art and cultural organizations will have to go through changes to undertake their dual responsibilities to preserve heritage and advance creativity in the process of cultural development. Art and cultural organizations need to find a balance to present the cultural heritage. On the one hand， they need to take measures to attract tourists to survive the competition and gain market; on the other hand， they need to try all means to preserve the cultural heritage. They should base their development on sustainable programming. This requires art and cultural organizations to establish cooperation and collaboration with other stakeholders of cultural tourism as tourism is an activity involving a wide variety of stakeholders. It is challenging for art and cultural organizations to achieve cooperation and coordination with all the stakeholders of cultural tourism because of their divergent interests. But cooperation and coordination is key to sustainable development of art and cultural organizations in cultural tourism.Art and culture are connected with or inspired from the past， thus art and cultural organizations should undertake the responsibility to pass the cultural heritage forward and strive for professional development of excellence and creativity; and its genuine and sustainable implementation of artistic policies or mission statements will decide the scope and the extent of its quality contribution to the cultural tourism.

References:

[1]McGuigan， Jim. Rethinking Cultural Policy. England：Open University Press，2004.

[2]Peckham， Robert Shannan. Rethinking Heritage: Cultures and Politics in Europe. London: I.B. Tauris，2003.

[3]Smier， Joost. Arts Under Pressure: Promoting Cultural Diversity in the age of Globalization. London: Zed，2003.[4]Reid， Donald G. Tourism， Globalization， and Development. London: Sterling， Va：Pluto Press，2003.