Identification of Challenges for the Reconstruction of Heritage Tourism—Multiple Case Studies of European Heritage Cities

Abstract

The process of coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic is an opportunity to create various scenarios for returning to the path of tourism development. The search for suitable and effective solutions was at the heart of the Tourism Friendly Cities project, in which eight European cities participated. The aim is to define the challenges and tools related to the sustainability of urban tourism. The empirical research was based on the opinions of experts from eight cities involved, and concerned four thematic areas: the quality of life and tourism in the city before and during/after COVID-19, tourism dysfunctions, the sources of conflicts between local stakeholders, and the tools for the sustainable reconstruction of tourism. The results confirmed the existence of a wide range of declared tools for the development of sustainable tourism after the pandemic. The conducted research indicates key areas of conflict in the field of tourism activity. The authors also come to the conclusion that tools for regulating tourist traffic should not be universal, but should meet the individual needs of the city.