PANEL 9-A: The cultural legacies of tourism in history: a heritage to consider

The relationship between tourism and culture is usually regarded as something negative. On the one hand, tourism has been understood as a practice of cultural homogenization that has contributed to the disappearance of local cultures. On the other hand, it has been seen as a device for the commodifi cation of culture that has trivialized it and emptied it of content. At this session, we assume the cultural creativity of tourism and defend the historical configuration of tourist cultures within the framework of which local, regional or national identities have been able to develop. Th is culture has left a legacy and a heritage that the traditional elitist disdain for tourism has prevented it from being valued in its rightful measure. From a transdisciplinary perspective, in this session we are interested in discussing and comparing knowledge about the appearance throughout the 19th and 20th centuries of different cultural manifestations that can be valued as tourist heritage: literature, architecture, paintings, cinematography, graphic arts, music and aesthetics in general, originated from the practice of tourism and the experiences it entails.