Abstract

Nowadays intangible cultural heritage is undoubtedly significant for travel destinations. However, this was already the case at the time when Swiss tourism was born, as travel guides from that time prove: democracy and freedom, overwhelming alpine scenery, the (idealized) life of shepherds in the mountains, and the experience of (more or less traditional) celebrations have been reasons for travelling to Switzerland since the beginning of the 19th century. Compared to earlier times, the gastronomic dimension of travelling has become more important, and traditional dishes promise a regional – even exotic – feature. The advertisement of cultural tourism has also changed considerably, having grown in quantity and type of materials, as well as tourist information in print and on the internet. Today living traditions are often presented by tourism stakeholders as ahistorical phenomena. The alpine mountain landscapes, along with intangible cultural heritage are presented as peripheral spaces, in which people are able to opt out of modern, frantic, urban, everyday life. Tourists, often seeking their rural “roots”, allow the living traditions to delight them because of their “typical character” and their “authenticity”. Ultimately, the tourist gaze influences and changes the intangible cultural heritage.

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