Introduction

Law-tourism connection is a dynamic phenomenon that is experiencing changes. Within law, the domain of world trade is increasingly significant. In addition, the conceptualisation of culture and heritage is ongoing and as the law has implications for the development of those concepts, then correspondingly the law-culture and heritage connection should be considered. World trade law in turn has culture and heritage implications. Tourism will be affected by both the evolution of world trade and evolving conceptions of culture and heritage, not least legal ones. Accordingly, as a result of the increasing interpenetration and interconnections of issues, it is submitted that consideration of the four conceptual domains of world trade, law, tourism and culture and heritage, suggests the desirability of a holistic approach to (or awareness of) the consideration of certain issues that may fall into the intellectual space advanced by the potential intersection of these issues. Thus it is argued that it is important to consider the domain delineated above in a holistic way, recognising that the forces of development act reflexively on each other as a start in order to overcome inevitable epistemological difficulties.

Sourece: Law Division, Dundee Business School, University of Abertay, Dundee.  2004

Essay by Borislav Hadzhiev
Master in Tourism Destination Management student 2008/2009

Discussion of issues associated with tourism is necessarily an interdisciplinary endeavour, which must consider law as an important component. While law, lawyers and legal systems are facing much well-deserved criticism, it would be a mistake to underestimate their pervasive influence. It should be pointed out that some jurists argue that a lot of legal theory (as opposed to legal reasoning, say, in courts) is vacuous. That having been said, domains such as ‘travel and tourism law’ are especially relevant to tourism studies. Travel law, travel and tourism law, tourism law and sub-groups such as ‘holiday law’ and ‘hotel and catering law’ all deal with tourism. Laws in relation to ownership and safeguarding of cultural property may impact on the tourism industries. Competition law may also dictate the evolution of the structure of the industry. Unsurprisingly, academic tourism literature reveals an increased consciousness of specific legal issues, such as the implications of the Disability Discrimination Act.

New directions, such as what might be termed genetic heritage tourism, give rise to legal issues that are likewise evolving on a parallel trajectory. There have been many other significant cases at national level where travel and tourism issues have been centre stage, as for example over issues of civil rights. Within law, it could be argued that the evolution and impact of ‘world trade law’ may represent one of the greatest sources of potential conceptual challenge to the landscapes of tourism and tourism studies in the long-run. As the law-tourism nexus is becoming clear, so is that of law-world trade in parallel. But when one also considers the law-culture and heritage connection, it is clear that a dynamic field of academic debate is being framed.

At national levels, there is a diverse range of legal instruments that reflect political, economic, religious and cultural concerns to a greater or lesser degree. Relevant constitutions, statutes or judicial pronouncements deal with the ownership of natural or physical resources and cultural heritage as well as more specifically with management, commercial exploitation, access and dispute settlement. Culture and heritage may be significantly regulated at an intra-regional level, as (for example) in the 1976 Convention on the Protection of the Archaeological, Historical and Artistic Heritage of the American Nations, an instrument deriving from the Organisation of American States. Heritage and cultural issues are also regulated by the Council of Europe, and they figure prominently in the separate legal system of the EU. Furthermore, culture and heritage interest groups often overlook the relevance of other facets of law, like that of competition, as they may not initially appear to be relevant. In the EU, the protection of culture was inserted in the treaty.

Tourism and heritage are complex human phenomena reflexively bound up with legal systems. The inherent proximity of issues of culture and heritage to tourism and the reflexive relationship between them (as well as with law) means that there is in reality a complex multi-layered dialogue. In world trade regulation, one danger is that the dialectical process of evolution will shift in favour of potentially dominant trade paradigms in the absence of more sophisticated counter-weight doctrines. A holistic disciplinary approach that includes sophisticated legal inputs could be part of a pragmatic solution that offers options. Failure to do so may create a momentum of opposition that will not only threaten a negative impact on world trade, but also the tourism industries