Tourism activities linked to tangible and intangible heritage have experienced an exponential increase in recent years. This interest in heritage has fostered the development of multiple cultural manifestations that have diversified and deseasonalized touris mdemand.The objective of this project is to analyze the profile of tourists to findout if the main motivation for visiting a city with four heritage sites recognized by UNESCO is to attend the Flora Festival.
The methodology used includes fieldwork to determine the socio-demographic characteristics, perception, assessment and motivation of those attending this activity linked to the heritage and culture of the flower.
The predominant profile of the attendees was composed mainly of women between 45 and 55 years of age with high school/vocational education. It was observed a high satisfaction among the participants, showing a strong interest in recommending the event and in coming back in future editions.
The link between the Flora Festival and the Festival of the Patios of Cordoba, declared ICH in 2012, is clear. It would be interesting to learn about cultural activities that have been developed in other heritage cities as an extension of their recognition as ICH to make a comparison and broaden the contributions of this study.
The practical implications of this research are based on the knowledge generated on the implementation of cultural activities linked to heritage. These allow for deepening society’s knowledge about certain artistic manifestations and, in this case, about good environmental practices, botany and culture.
The use of tangible and intangible heritage as a tourist resource can provoke tensions between residents and tourists. Analyzing the visitor profile allows us to determine how many attendees are residents and how many tourists there are. In this sense, the generation of cultural activities linked to heritage in which residents participate improves their perception of tourism activities while contributing to the sustainability of the destination by combining tourism, culture and shared experiences between residents and visitors.
Although there are studies on the involvement of tourists and residents in cultural heritage activities, we believe it is important to delve deeper into this topic in order to understand the different perspectives of both profiles. Likewise, the artistic manifestations linked to places or traditions that have been recognized as humanity’s heritage, their connection and reinterpretation, allow us to learn about ways to deseasonalize tourism.
