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14 The approach to tourism and natural/cultural heritage
in the Carpathians region
14.1 Tourism
The economic impact of tourism, the role of tourism – the “business sector of the
21st century” – in economic and regional development has been a commonplace
for a long time. In the 1990s the relatively rapid general growth of the world
economy created favourable conditions for the growth of tourism. Presently tour-
ism accounts for approximately 12% of the worlďs GDP and employs over 200
million people worldwide. In 2005 the number of tourist arrivals reached 808
million, exceeding all previous figures.
The year 2007 has started with a very positive growth of global tourism. From
January through April, international tourist arrivals worldwide rose by over 6% to
252 million, representing an additional 15 million arrivals as against the same
period in 2006. Asia and the Pacific (+9%) achieved the strongest growth, fol-
lowed by Africa (+8%), the Middle East (+8%) and Europe (+6%). Several posi-
tive factors contributed to the growth registered in the first four months of this
year, and are likely to help sustain it through the coming months.
Continuing world prosperity has clearly been a main driver. Emerging markets
and developing economies in general, and especially those of Asia, maintained
their extraordinary strength. Meanwhile, in continental Europe, and in Germany
in particular, economic growth has picked up substantially. With increasing dis-
posable income and factors such as the continued development of low cost air-
lines making travel available for larger shares of population, international tourism
has a development potential for another year of above average growth.
The growing recognition of tourism’s contribution to economic growth and job
creation means that it is being given more and more attention by national gov-
ernments, especially those in developing regions. Increased investment in infra-
structure, marketing and promotion, development of domestic markets, liberaliza-
tion of air transport, growing intraregional cooperation, and a growing number of
public-private partnerships are key factors that have helped the tourism industry
to expand.
Although Europe (+6%) is the worlďs most visited and most mature destina-
tion region, its arrivals growth rates in 2005 and 2006 were not far short of the
worldwide average. And growth continued even more strongly through the first
four months of 2007 supported by the sustained boom in the world economy – a
boom in which Europe is now sharing more emphatically, with notably higher
rates of GDP growth in the eurozone (Source: World Tourism Organisation).

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A social and economic phenomenon of this volume has a huge influence on
the economic, social and cultural life of the concerned countries and greatly con-
tributes to the alteration of the physical environment of the human kind.
The impacts of tourism can be classified as economic, socio-cultural and
physical-environmental effects. The economic impacts of tourism can be taken as
changes in the economic features and economic structure of places of origin and
destinations, induced by tourism; the physical-environmental effects are changes
taking place in the natural and the built environment of destinations as an effect of
tourism; the social effects are changes that take place in the quality of life of the
people of the destination (and to a lesser extent in the lives of the tourists) as a
development of the tourism sector. While the economic impacts are visible in
both the places of origin and destinations (although they are usually stronger at
the destinations), the socio-cultural and the physical-environmental effects are
much more striking at the destinations.
There are possible overlaps among the economic, physical and cultural im-
pacts of tourism. E.g. the development of infrastructure needs in order to meet
tourism demand or on the basis of revenues from tourism can be seen both as
economic results and as factors improving the quality of life of the local popula-
tion; on the other hand, the conditions of the natural environment are mostly
negatively affected by the infrastructure investments.
If we concentrate on the socio-cultural impacts of tourism, the social effects
are the changes in the everyday lives of the local population, the adaptation of the
local citizens to the presence and operation of tourism, whereas the cultural ef-
fects are those changes in the value system of the local population which also
influence the social relations and the material culture of the local community.
The social effects of development or transitions can be categorised in the fol-
lowing way (Rátz, 1999):
  Grouping of the social impacts of tourism:
  Impacts on the population.
  Change in the number of population.
  In outflow of temporary employees.
  Presence of temporary population (holidaymakers).
  Movement of individuals and families.
  Change of the distribution by age, gender, race and ethnic group.
  Urbanisation of the population.
Transformation of the labour market:
  Creation of new jobs.
  Growth of seasonal employment.
  Diversification of the economic activities.

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  Increase in the economic disparities.
  Changes in the employment opportunities of the minority groups.
  Change of employment possibilities.
Transformation of the community features and structure:
  Emergence of new social classes.
  Change in the economic orientation of the community.
  Emergence of weekend (recreation) residents.
  Conflicts with those coming from the outside.
  Transformation of the political, social, religious and ethic value systems.
  Emergence of religious differences within the community.
  Changes in the infrastructure of the community.
  Changes in the access to land and disposition over land.
Changes at the individual and family level:
  Disturbance of the daily routine.
  Change of the family structure.
  Disintegration of the social networks.
  Change of the attitudes towards public health and public security.
  Changes in leisure activities.
  Transformation of the consumption patterns.
Impacts on the natural and cultural resources:
  Increased protection of resources.
  Damage or deterioration of resources.
  Crowdedness, over-exploitation, pollution.
  Commercialisation.
  Transformation of traditions and habits.
The regions of the Carpathian Mountain Range have usually many tourist at-
tractions and relatively long traditions of tourism.
The following section is to illustrate the main tourism endowments of the
countries constituting the Carpathians cooperation area, with special emphasis on
the regions in the respective countries that are actually located in the Carpathian’s
physical geographical area.

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14.1.1 General features of the tourism endowments in the cooperation area
Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and
Ukraine have relatively little in common, especially e.g. between Austria and
Serbia, two countries that do not even have territories directly belonging to the
Carpathian Mountain Range. Slovakia has practically its entire territory in the
cooperation area (and much of the country in the actual mountain range), rela-
tively large parts of Romania belong to the Carpathians, whereas in the Czech
Republic and Poland it is a much smaller part of the country, in Ukraine a negli-
gible part of the vast country is part of the cooperation region in question. Hun-
gary has no direct physical geographical part on the Carpathians mountain range,
either.
In Austria, Serbia and Romania the relatively more advanced region(s), in
Hungary and Poland the less developed ones, in Ukraine definitely the poorest
region make parts of the cooperation area, so the socio-economic development
level across the Carpathian’s area is varied. The facts that the mountain range is
less suitable for intensive agricultural activities and in some cases they are the
least developed parts of the respective countries make a large the Carpathians
cooperation area suitable for the environmental conscious forms of tourism (ecot-
ourism). The Carpathian EcoRegion Initiative (CERI) is a cooperation of seven of
the eight respective countries (all but Austria), in which the development of tour-
ism is an important activity. The CERI Tourism Working Group was established
to support high quality tourism with special focus on ecotourism in the Carpathi-
ans, which has an enormous potential to bring together nature conservation and
rural development. The working group consists of CERI members from all over
the Carpathians. At their first workshop held on October 2-3, 2006, not only
members of the CERI Tourism WG, but also interested people working in the
field of ecotourism or in Protected Area Authorities, came together to actually set
up the group and discuss future plans. The group elaborated the list of threats and
obstacles for sustainable development in terms of sustainable tourism in the Car-
pathians. Furthermore, the CERI Tourism WG agreed to develop a Carpathian-
wide ecotourism project, which will be its major task for 2008 and will help to
strengthen the ‘Corporate Identity’ within the Carpathians.

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14.1.2 Basic tourism endowments of the respective countries of the Carpathian
regions
Austria
In Austria the most advanced areas of the country (Lower Austria including Vi-
enna) are parts of the Carpathians cooperation area. Given the importance of the
tourism sector in Austria (around the eighth-tenth position as regard international
tourism revenues and the first place in the world as regards the tourism revenues
per capita), the project area is also a very important tourism destination with
many sorts of attractions (architecture, arts, events and festivals, skiing, water
sports, hiking etc.) Lower Austria is a colourful mosaic of its counties, each with
an individual attraction (huge pear tree fields, impressive wine terraces like in the
Wachau valley, many wine cellars and cellar lanes in the country around Retz,
wine taverns in the spa region and primeval forests like along the Danube, March
and Thaya rivers.
Czech Republic
The White Carpathian’s territory was established hundreds of years ago and has
the character of an extensive English park. The forest areas (45%) alternate flow-
ery meadows with solitary, ragged oaks and beeches. It is unique in Europe.
This is the southwest end of the Carpathian Mountain range, which includes
highlands and mountainous areas in the Moravian part of the White Carpathian
Mountains, in the regions of Zlín, Hodonín and Uherské Hradiště. The White
Carpathians are orchid flower meadows in the vicinity of Čertory, the picturesque
landscape of Kopanice, with scattered settlements and an area of beech groves in
the surrounding area of the Vlárský Pass. The mountain range of the White Car-
pathians extends over the border between the Czech Republic and Slovakia at a
length of over 80 kilometres.
The Czech part of the protected landscape area is 70 kilometers long. The
White Carpathians represent an exceptional area among large-scale protected
areas in the Czech Republic, above all because this area is the highest mountain
range in the southwest border of the actual Carpathian Mountains.
The White Carpathians are a European biosphere reservation in terms of the
Man and Biosphere program (MAB) implemented by UNESCO.
The White Carpathians have become known for being a territory with the
highest level of diversity and greatest number of orchidaceous plants (orchids) in
Central Europe.

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Poland
Poland has one of the most varied tourism assets in the cooperation area. Moun-
tains, forests, sandy beaches, culture and more than a thousand years of history –
all that can be found here and the country is becoming more and more popular as
a holiday destination.
The Carpathian and Sudety Mountains form Polanďs southern boundary with
the highest summit in the country, the Rysy (2,499 m), located in the Tatra
Mountains. Probably one of Polanďs greatest attractions is nature, coming from
the variety of breathtaking natural landscapes. Wild, untouched, more diverse
than in most countries either in Europe or the world and, what is more, easily
accessible. Tourists value this greatly and their number is constantly increasing.
Zakopane, Polanďs premier mountain resort and one of the country's most
popular holiday destinations, both in the winter for skiing, and in the summer, for
hiking and camping, can be found in the Carpathian part of Poland. The town
called the Winter capital of Poland lies in the southern part of the Podhale region,
at the foothills of the Tatra Mountains, with the exception of the Karkonosze
mountains the only Alpine mountain range in this part of Europe. Zakopane is the
biggest Polish centre of mountain hiking and skiing. The town is visited by about
2,000,000 tourists a year.
The Carpathian area of Poland is home to several national parks of which the
tourism value is ever increasing. These national parks are the Babia Gora National
Park (region of Malopolska), on the border with Slovakia; the Bieszczady Na-
tional Park, the third largest national park in Poland, also located at the border
with the Slovak Republic and Ukraine. The Park is populated by a relative high
number of species, which are considered to be threatened or rare in other parts of
Europe (particularly large carnivorous mammals such as bears, wolves and
lynxes); the Gorce National Park in the central and north-eastern part of Gorce
mountain range, in southern Poland (region of Malopolska), where forests, most
of which exceed 100 years of age, cover almost 95% of the Park’s area; the Góry
Stolowe National Park, spreading over the Polish part of the Stolowe Mountains,
which create the central part of Middle Sudety range, in south-western Poland
(region Lower Silesia) of on the border with the Czech Republic. The Park has
huge and dense forests; the Karkonosze National Park (in Dolnoslaski region in
south-western Poland at the border with the Czech Republic. Karkonosze), the
highest mountain group of the Sudety range; the Magura National Park (located in
Podkarpackie and Malopolskie regions), the river head of the Wisloka, a typical
mountain river which together with its many tributaries is a significant element of
the landscape, forming picturesque gorges and bends and often changing direc-
tions. The Park is one of the richest animal mainstays in the Beskid Niski range;
the Ojców National Park (in Malopolskie region), the smallest National Park in

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Poland, with a surface built of Jurassic limestone, where karst waters sculpted in
the valleys peculiar landscape forms, steep canyons and various rocks and
mogotes; the Pieniny National Park in the Pieniny Mountains in Malopolskie re-
gion at the border with the Slovak Republic, formed of various types of limestone,
the hardest of them, called cornstone, forming picturesque, almost vertical white
cliffs over the Dunajec river; and finally the Tatra National Park, located in
Malopolska region, at the border with the Slovak Republic, founded in 1954 to
protect the Tatra Mountains. The Park is founded on the area of the youngest,
highest and Polanďs only Alpine mountains with diverse relief and height differ-
ences reaching up to 1700 m. The highest peak in the Polish part of the Tatras is
Mt. Rysy (2,499 m). The Park has more than 650 caves, 6 of which are open for
tourists. The Park has numerous streams and about 30 lakes, which are an impor-
tant element of the landscape of the High Tatras.
Romania
The National Tourist Office of the country does not specifically list the Carpathi-
ans among the main tourism attractions of Romania on their official website, but
some attractions among the special interests contain a Carpathian elements. These
elements are listed in the pages below.
The Dracula Legend
Many “Dracula Tours” are being offered throughout Romania, including the
most important historical places related to Vlad Tepes, such as 14th century town
of Sighisoara – Vlaďs birthplace; the Snagov Monastery – where, according to
legend, Vlad is said to be buried after his assassination; Castle Bran (Castle Drac-
ula); the Poenari fortress; the village of Arefu – where many Dracula legends are
still told; the city of Braşov – where Vlad led raids against the Saxon merchants;
and, of course, Curtea Domneasca – Dracula’s palace in Bucharest.
German (Saxon) Heritage
Romania’s significant German (Saxon) heritage is obvious in Southern Tran-
sylvania; Transylvania is home to hundreds of well-preserved Saxon towns, vil-
lages and fortified churches built between the 13th and 15th centuries by Saxons.
Saxons came to Transylvania during the mid 1100s from the Rhine and Moselle
Rivers’ regions. The result of almost nine centuries of existence of the Saxon
(German) community in Southern Transylvania is a cultural and architectural
heritage, unique in Europe. Besides the well-known Sighisoara, Sibiu and Braşov
the following towns also feature a unique Saxon Heritage: Biertan, Saschiz, Me-
dias, Sebes, Bistrita, Cincu, Prejmer, Harman, Rupea.

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Arts & Architecture
Romanians’ vivid imagination and intense spirituality have always been ex-
pressed through their architecture. Fortunately, they also have strong preservation
instincts, resulting in village museums that display bygone ways of life through
found and restored peasant houses, elaborately carved gates, barns and other ar-
chitectural elements. Such a museum in the cooperation area is the Museum of
Peasant Techniques (Muzeul Tehnicii Populare) in Sibiu, with collections of early
farm tools and household implements.
Romania’s most renowned architectural treasures in the Transylvanian region
are Black Church (Braşov), Bran Castle (Bran), Brukenthal Palace (Sibiu), Hune-
doara Castle (near Deva), Sighisoara Medieval Town, Sibiu – Old Town, Braşov
– Old Town, Fortified Churches in Biertan, Harman and Prejmer; in Maramureş
the most interesting places to visit are the Wooden Churches, Wood Museum,
Sighet Synagogue (Sighetu Marmatiei), and Satu Mare Synagogue, as well as the
traditional villages of wooden houses, many with sculpted designs on balconies
and around the entrances, towering carved wooden gates, attached to fences half
their size, rising even in front of modest dwellings. Popular motifs include grape-
vines, acorns, twisted rope, sun symbols, crosses and forest animals. The villages
of Barsana and Oncesti have, perhaps, the greatest number of impressive gates.
Hardly a village lacks its own small wooden church dating back to the 17th
and 18th centuries. These are exquisite, high-steepled jewels with multiple gabled
roofs, all of the pattern, yet each distinctly unique. Seeing at least a few interiors
is a must as many frescoes remain at in good condition.
While the main tourist activities in Maramureş are gate-, church- and people-
viewing, the town of Sighetu Marmatiei has a few attractions worth visiting. The
outdoor village museum, on the road into town, boasts of dozens of homes and
farm buildings assembled from around Maramureş County.
Slovakia
Tourism in Slovakia began to develop in the mid-19th century, when travellers
started to visit the High Tatra and Low Tatra Mountains. The first accommodation
and catering facilities were built in the late 19th century and this development was
accelerated after 1918 with the creation of Czechoslovakia. After the fall of
Communism in 1989, Slovakia's tourism began to adapt to the conditions of mar-
ket economy. The facilities were gradually privatised and new facilities were
built.
Tourism in Slovakia offers natural landscapes, mountains, caves, medieval
castles and towns, folk architecture, spas and ski resorts. The most attractive des-
tinations are the capital of Bratislava and the High Tatras. Some 40% of Slovakia
is covered with forests which, contain a wide biodiversity and animals. Slovakia

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features a high percentage of wildlife included in protected areas. There are
hardly any mountain ranges and areas not protected in some way. Among Slova-
kia’s main tourist attractions we find the Tatra Mountains, particularly the High
Tatras), the highest part of the Carpathians. They feature many rare plant and
animal species and offer numerous ski, hiking and mountaineering opportunities.
Rivers and streams in the mountains of Slovakia are often used for rafting and
other white-water based activities and sports. The use of rafts has a very long
tradition and especially rafts on the spectacular Dunajec river are very popular
among tourists.
Slovakia contains numerous mineral springs and spas. Slovakia’s spas, in-
cluding Balneological spas (Bojnice, Brusno, Dudince, Lúčky, Piešťany, Sklené
Teplice, Sliač, Smrdáky, Trenčianske Teplice, Turčianske Teplice), climatic spas
(Nový Smokovec, Štós, Štrbské Pleso, Tatranské Matliare, High Tatras) and
mixed spas (Bardejovské Kúpele, Číž, Nimnica, Rajecké Teplice and Vyšné
Ružbachy).
New water parks are mushrooming throughout the country (for example
Tatralandia in Liptovský Mikuláš, Aquacity in Poprad, and Aquathermal in Se-
nec).
Slovakia’s karst areas offer an extremely high number of caves and their list is
being expanded every year due to new discoveries. The number of caves per cap-
ita is among the highest ones in Europe. Thirteen caves are open to the public, the
longest one being 9 kilometres long. Some of them have been proclaimed
UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites. Among them, Ochtinská Aragonite Cave is one
of three aragonite caves in the world.
Slovakia has a lot of castles, most of which are in ruins. The best known cas-
tles include Bojnice Castle (often used as a filming location), Spiš Castle (the
largest fortified castle in Europe, on the UNESCO list), Orava Castle, Bratislava
Castle, and the ruins of Devín Castle. Čachtice Castle used to be home of the
worlďs most prolific female serial killer, the ‘Bloody Lady’, Elizabeth Báthory.
Due to Slovakia’s central position in Europe and the country’s past, most cities
and towns are similar to the cities in the Czech Republic (such as Prague), Austria
(such as Salzburg) or Hungary (such as Budapest) and are rather cosmopolitan. A
historic centre with at least one square has been preserved in almost every town in
Slovakia. Large historic centres can be found especially in Bratislava, Košice,
Banská Štiavnica, and Levoča. Some towns have their own castles (for example
Kremnica, Bratislava, and Banská Štiavnica). Most town centers have been rear-
ranged in recent years.
Ancient stone churches can be found in virtually any village and town in Slo-
vakia. Most of them are built in the Baroque style, but there are also many exam-
ples of fine Romanesque and Gothic architecture. The St. James Church in
Levoča (with the highest wood-carved altar in the world) and the Church of the

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Holy Spirit in Žehra (with precious medieval frescos) are UNESCO’s World
Heritage Sites.
Very precious structures are the complete wooden churches of northern and
northern-eastern Slovakia. Most were built from the 15th century onwards by
Catholics, Lutherans and members of eastern-rite churches.
Slovakia is also rich in songs, dances, folk art, folk costumes and folk archi-
tecture.
The national parks of the country are Vysoke Tatry, Nizke Tatry, Mala Fatra,
Slovensky raj, Pieniny, Poloniny and Muranska planina.
Ukraine
The region of Transcarpathia is one of the most picturesque places in the country
and has particularly pleasant conditions for tourism and recreation development.
Transcarpathia is considered to be one of the best ecological regions in the coun-
try.
The diversity of landscape, unspoiled countryside, and a temperate climate
create favourable conditions for recreation and skiing in winter. Mineral and
thermal water resources contribute to the development of tourism and leisure ac-
tivities as one of the main fields in the regional economy.
Nowadays the regional system of sanatoria and tourist-recreation institutions is
one of the biggest in Ukraine, numbering 17 sanatoria, 19 sanatorium-preventive
clinics, more than 70 tourist centres, leisure centres, and medical and health care
institutions. The system can cater for more than 12,000 people at any time.
The pride of the region is “The Centre of Europe”, Lake Synevyr, Narcissus
Valley and many others. The Biosphere reserves, national and regional parks,
which cover an area of more than 130 hectares, are also major tourist attractions.
Some 62 agencies and enterprises provide tourism services in the region.
Construction of new modern hotels, tourist and skiing centres continues apace.
In the last few years the following centres and complexes were opened: tourist
centre Podobovetz’ (Mizhgirya district); tourist and health care complex Vo-
jevodyno (Perechyn district); hotel complex At Taras’s Place (Svalyava district);
motel Nadiya (village of Volovetz); and the hotels Duet, Eduard and Atlant
(Uzhhorod).
About 600 tourist itineraries and routes facilitate the development of internal
tourism throughout the region by way of hiking, bus, train, skiing routes and chil-
dren’s excursions.
Transcarpathia is famed for its landmarks. There are several notable historical,
archeological and architectural heritage sites in the region. The best known
among them are: Fortress of Uzhhorod (16th century); Castle Palanok in Mu-
kachevo (14th–17th centuries); Palace of the Counts Schönborns in the village of

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Chynadievo; fortifications (castles) in Khust, Korolevo, Serednye, and Nevits’ke
villages. There is much to see of preserved local folk heritage.
Recently the countries of Central and Western Europe have started showing
particular interest in non-traditional types of tourism and recreation in the region,
e.g. rural, bicycle and ecological tourism. At present many locals are eager and
able to be hosts to visitors from other regions and abroad.
Many tourist and recreation services in Transcarpathia are based on natural re-
sources. Top place belongs to mineral waters, whose medicinal characteristics
were mentioned in the ancient archive documents of the mid-15th century. Some
deposits are unique, and their water is effective and valuable for sanatorium
treatment and preventing diseases of the digestive organs, vestibular and locomo-
tion systems, and cardio-vascular and peripheral nervous systems. The most
popular among the sanatoria are: Svalyava district – Sonyachne Zakarpattya,
Polyana, Kvytka Polonyny’; Mukachevo district – Karpaty, Synyak; Mizhhirya
district – Verhovyna; Khust district – Shayan.
Ecological and rural tourism is a significant development factor in the moun-
tain areas of the region, especially in Rakhiv district, supported by the Carpathian
Foundation. There, an ecological route has been created through Chornohirya
virgin forests to as far as Hoverla, Transcarpathia’s highest summit.
Hungary
Although most foreigners only acknowledge the capital city, Budapest and the
Lake Balaton, and perhaps the “puszta” (Great Hungarian Plain) as the tourism
destinations in Hungary, there is much more in Hungary than these. Despite re-
peated historical disasters which devastated both the people and their heritage,
much remains of great value that is worth visiting and getting to know, including
2000-year-old Roman ruins and 400-year-old Turkish monuments (which can
sometimes be found side-by-side), beautiful churches from the Romanesque pe-
riod, stately castles, magnificent palaces functioning as hotels awaiting tourists.
Hundreds of therapeutic mineral springs gush up from the depths, helping many
thousands to recover their health (Hungary is among the worlďs richest countries
in thermal and mineral waters); the rich Hungarian folk art also attracts a number
of tourists.
Among the physical geographical endowments of Hungary with a special
value for tourism are the ten national parks in Hungary. In addition to the visit to
national parks, several other nature-based activities can be pursued in many
places in Hungary, including hunting, angling, horse riding etc. Gastronomy and
the historic wine producing regions (and the established wine roads) are also at-
tractions of international recognition.

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Hungary is becoming a more and more popular MICE (meetings, incentives,
conferences, events) tourism destination (congresses, arts festivals, summer uni-
versities, international fairs and exhibitions, sports events etc.).
In those areas of Hungary where the favourable physical geographical condi-
tions are matched by cultural and economic assets, contiguous tourism regions
were born. The most important of these is the Selected Holiday Region of the
Lake Balaton, but there are other significant tourism regions such as the Danube
Bend, the Velence Lake, the Mátra and Bükk Mountains, Sopron–Kőszeghegyalja
and the Mecsek–Villány region.
14.2 Heritage sites in the Carpathians area
14.2.1 Culture as a driving force of economic development
Culture used in the most comprehensive approach covers practically all fields of
life from the mother language, education, sports, arts, public collections, cultural
heritage, media, higher education, science, moral life and faith. Nevertheless in
the public thinking it is usually only a narrower definition of culture that is
frequently used: mostly arts, cultural heritage and media.
It is meaningless to put a sharp division line between traditional, “economic”
products and cultural products. The economy cannot function efficiently and
cannot be competitive in the long run without continuously absorbing culture,
both as regards the methods of production and the final products, and – above all
– the human communities, the individuals that create and operate the systems of
productions and the physical goods themselves. Culture and economy are thus
interrelated and mutually depend on each other. This also means that culture
cannot exist without the financial support of the economy; the different forms of
arts cannot exist without state support, or sponsorship.
Many studies have been carried out so far on the economic impact of cultural
industry. The earnings in the cultural or creative industry are usually above the
average; also, culture is a powerful tool to strengthen urban or regional identity
which can be a valuable development asset of any territory.
There is a very tight correlation between culture and knowledge based society,
for the creation of which many efforts have been made in many countries of the
world. Although much of the literature and survey on the economic impact of
heritage and culture is connected to the Anglo-Saxon countries of other parts of
Western Europe, the growing interest in the countries involved in the Carpathians
area is also indicated by the fact that culture is no longer considered as a “side-
product” in these countries but as an import economic development tool.

The Approach to Tourism and Natural/Cultural Heritage in the Carpathians Region.
In: Socio-Economic Analysis of the Carpathian Area.
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 2008. 133-147. p. Discussion Papers, Special
THE APPROACH TO TOURISM AND NATURAL/CULTURAL HERITAGE…
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14.2.2 Heritage sites in the Carpathian’s area
Within culture, heritage is one of the most important assets on which development
in general can be built on. In tourism, the role of natural and cultural heritage is
even more important.
In this respect the regions in the Carpathians area are in a relatively good
position, as most of the world heritage sites of the respective countries can be
found in the regions of the Carpathians Mountain Range (Table 37).
A specific feature of the Carpathian area is that there are several areas inhab-
ited by more than one nationality with distinctive cultural heritage and there are
areas which were inhabited in the past by national and religious groups which do
not live there any more. Several churches, synagogues, monuments and buildings
became victims of national ideologies. These ideologies promoted and cared for
the protection of national cultural heritage supporting their interpretation of na-
tional history, and neglected those elements of cultural heritage, which did not fit
into this conception. Therefore, in all countries of the region legal and profes-
sional arrangements are needed to preserve the respect for and memory of all
nations and nationalities, language and religious groups, which created a specific
cultural heritage.
Table 37
Total number of UNESCO world heritage sites in the countries
of the Carpathian area and number of world heritage sites in the respective
Carpathian regions in our survey
Country
Total number of UNESCO
Number of UNESCO world
world heritage sites
heritage sites in the
Carpathian regions
Austria 8
4
Czech Republic
12
3
Hungary 8
7
Poland 13
4
Romania 7
6
Serbia 3
0
Slovakia 5
5
Ukraine 3
1
Source: UNESCO.

The Approach to Tourism and Natural/Cultural Heritage in the Carpathians Region.
In: Socio-Economic Analysis of the Carpathian Area.
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 2008. 133-147. p. Discussion Papers, Special
THE APPROACH TO TOURISM AND NATURAL/CULTURAL HERITAGE…
147
In the Carpathian region deliberate destruction of cultural heritage – experi-
enced in the Balkan wars – did not occur. But some bias in favour of national
heritage occurred. UNESCO World Cultural Heritage nominations serve for it as
an example.
There are 36 registered UNESCO World Heritage items in the Carpathian area
(Figure 14).
Poland signed the agreement with the UNESCO in 1976. Until 1997 no heri-
tage site was nominated in the new territories, belonging formerly to Germany.
Romania signed the agreement in1990. The first Saxonian city, Sighisoara was
nominated in 1999.
A large part of Ukraine’s valuable architectural heritage – the countries only
renaissance castles, palaces are in the Carpathian area which was part of Poland,
Austria and Hungary at that time. So far only the inner city of Ľviv is nominated.
The Carpathian area had 4 million Jewish inhabitants before World War II. No
Jewish quarters or buildings (synagogues) are nominated so far from the region.10
After 1999, this attitude changed significantly and more nominations were
made from the formerly neglected types of heritage.

10 The Jewish Quarter of Třebíč int he Czech Republic is registered as World Heritage, but it is
outside the Carpathian area in the region of Vysocina.