Cultural UNESCO Heritage in COVID-19 Pandemic Times
Abstract
Being on the unesco list is a privilege and a sign of exclusivity and uniqueness. Destination Management Organizations (dmos) extensively use the international popularity of the unesco list inscription. Many researchers have confirmed that unesco list inscription is an advantage. However, there are also papers with opposite results. Several factors influence the visitor numbers at the unesco site – the structure of the visitors (international and domestic), and location, including accessibility, seasonality, and regional importance. covid-19 dramatically affected world tourism. This research aims to answer whether unesco heritage list inscription was an advantage in the covid-19 pandemic times and what role international tourism plays in unesco sites. The authors used a method of comparative analysis based on available statistical data, correlation analysis and t-test. The paper compares the change in the number of visits to unesco attractions to similar tourist attractions. The Czech Republic has 16 tangible attractions on the unesco list. The analysis includes 12 cultural unesco attractions. The results show that unesco list inscription was rather a disadvantage in the first year of the pandemic (2020) but brought a faster recovery in 2021. The role of changes in international tourist arrivals is important for collective accommodation establishments in both unesco and non-unesco sites, but more for unesco sites. The correlation of changes in international tourism with changes in visitor numbers in the unesco attraction is also high; however, it is not statistically significant.
Keywords: tourist attractions, unesco sites, Czech Republic, covid-19 pandemic
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