Abstract
The evolutionary economic geography approach has been frequently employed to analyse the long-term dynamics of a tourism region and the evolutionary trajectories of a tourism destination. However, some sites that meet specific conditions, such as heritage tourism destinations (HTD) in protected rural regions, may undergo a particular evolution process, which is framed by natural and historical protection and conservation concerns, the carrying capacity limitations of delicate natural resources or artefacts, and specific legal and governance frameworks. This research aims to contribute to the understanding of the evolution of HTDs through the lens of the tourismification of protected sites in rural regions. The paper briefly sets out a conceptual framework based on former research on the evolution of tourism destinations and proposes a model of the evolution of HTDs in which development continues in defiance of counter-discourses such as protection, conservation, carrying capacities and governance. As an example of this phenomenon, an archaeological and natural protected heritage destination that is located in a rural area—as is the case with many Mediterranean HTDs—named Olympos, an ancient city in Antalya/Turkey, has been selected as a case study.
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