EXPLORING THE LINK BETWEEN MANAGING CULTURAL HERITAGE AND TOURISM INDUSTRY COMPETITIVENESS: A TWO COUNTRY COMPARISON

Abstract

Purpose of the Paper – Built cultural heritage, such as museums, are deeply linked to their locations and have a crucial role to play in tourism developments. Yet, the literature on museum management is focused upon museums without considering the competitiveness of the tourism industry where they are located. This paper will seek to address this lacuna, and attempt to connect or link museums management and competitiveness in the tourism industry.
Design – Two samples (most visited U.K. and Italian museums) will be analysed together with the competitiveness of their (local) tourism industry.
Findings – Research findings will allow classifying most visited U.K. and Italian museums in clusters. The comparison will reveal country-specific differences and tourism industry competitiveness of regions of most visited Italian and U.K. museums.
Practical Implications – The differences in tourism industry competitiveness and the museums appeal will enable elaboration of specific strategies for museums and the
tourism industry for each identifiable cluster.
Originality/value – The link between museum marketing strategies and destination competitiveness has been quite neglected by researchers to date. This paper is a first
attempt to address this gap, with regard to U.K. and Italian context.