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Tourism-enhancing effect of World Heritage Sites: Panacea or placebo? A meta-analysis

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  • Yang, Yang
  • Xue, Lan
  • Jones, Thomas E.

Abstract

UNESCO’s World Heritage inscription is considered to positively influence tourism demand. However, relevant econometric research has yielded inconsistent results. In this study, we used a meta-analysis to synthesize the effects of World Heritage Site (WHS) status across 344 econometric estimates from 43 studies. Meta-regression results reveal several factors explaining the effect size of WHS status on tourism demand, such as the research period, level of development in the destination country, heritage type, dyadic data type, WHS endowment measure, and use of robust standard error. A sub-group analysis identifies different factors in developing vs. developed countries and cultural vs. natural WHS types. Lastly, implications are provided for destination/heritage management and tourism researchers based on meta-regression results.

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  • Yang, Yang & Xue, Lan & Jones, Thomas E., 2019. "Tourism-enhancing effect of World Heritage Sites: Panacea or placebo? A meta-analysis," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 29-41.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:anture:v:75:y:2019:i:c:p:29-41
    DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2018.12.007
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    Cited by:

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    3. Mohamed Abdalla Elsayed Hassan & Konstantina Zerva & Silvia Aulet, 2021. "Brand Personality Traits of World Heritage Sites: Text Mining Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-19, May.
    4. Vinko Muštra & Blanka Škrabić Perić & Smiljana Pivčević, 2023. "Cultural heritage sites, tourism and regional economic resilience," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 102(3), pages 465-482, June.
    5. Elisa Panzera & Thomas de Graaff & Henri L.F. de Groot, 2021. "European cultural heritage and tourism flows: The magnetic role of superstar World Heritage Sites," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 100(1), pages 101-122, February.
    6. Zhixin Zeng & Xiaojun Wang, 2023. "Will World Cultural Heritage Sites Boost Economic Growth? Evidence from Chinese Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-19, May.
    7. Cheng Zhang & Wei Cheng & Wanli Zhang, 2023. "Does World Heritage inscription promote regional tourism? Evidence from China," Tourism Economics, , vol. 29(4), pages 929-951, June.
    8. Sifeng Nian & Honglei Zhang & Ling Mao & Wenjing Zhao & Hui Zhang & Youhai Lu & Yingying Zhang & Yifan Xu, 2019. "How Outstanding Universal Value, Service Quality and Place Attachment Influences Tourist Intention Towards World Heritage Conservation: A Case Study of Mount Sanqingshan National Park, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-18, June.
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