Economic and Societal Impacts on Cultural Heritage Sites, Resulting from Natural Effects and Climate Change

Abstract

The demand for a new concept of heritage, in which monuments and landscapes are considered active factors in creating a sense of history, is esteemed not only from a scientific and academic perspective, but as well as part of a more sensitive and efficient strategy to link cultural heritage and tourism, by bringing an integrative perspective to the forefront. Implementing such strategies is strictly correlated with the ability to support decision-makers and to increase people’s awareness towards a more comprehensive approach to heritage preservation. In the present work, a robust socioeconomic impact model is presented. Moreover, this work attempts to create an initial link between the economic impacts and natural hazards induced by the changes in the climatic conditions that cultural heritage sites face. The model’s novel socioeconomic impact analysis is the direct and indirect revenues related to the tourism use of a site, on which local economies are strongly correlated. The analysis indicated that cultural heritage sites provide a range of both market and non-market benefits to society. These benefits provide opportunities for policy interventions for the conservation of the cultural heritage sites and their promotion, but also to their protection against the impacts of climate change and natural disasters.