Marketing Planning as a Tool to Augment the Visitation of Heritage Sites and Museums

Abstract

Heritage, either tangible or intangible, is considered a tool for preserving the inherited past, which forms the present identity, into the distant future for the new generations. Regarding our current socio-cultural needs, the word “Heritage” contributes promoting the image of cultural landscapes, heritage sites, or museums. These heritage attractions are the places where the people can realize the past and communicate emotionally with the heritage area. This paper views the concept of heritage marketing as a process augmenting the visitation of cultural landscapes, heritage sites, or museums. At the same time, it compiles a couple of marketing techniques strengthening the visitor’s satisfaction, within the appropriate offered programs, via selecting the exact target audience. After reviewing the literature, it was found out that heritage marketing is focused on promoting and representing the values of heritage attractions, while there is no main structure or a developed framework for the marketing plan of cultural heritage destinations. As a result, this research aims to fill in this academic and professional gap interpreting the main steps of heritage marketing plan.