The Relevance of Intangible Cultural Heritage and Traditional Languages for the Tourism Experience: The Case of Ladin in South Tyrol

Serena Lonardi,Yvonne Unterpertinger

doi:10.3390/su14052729

Abstract

Cultural tourists have become increasingly interested in intangible cultural heritage and in minority, peripheral areas. This paper will focus on the ICH of minority communities, with a closer look at minority languages, considering the Ladin communities of South Tyrol (Italy). This study uses a qualitative methodology—16 semi-structured interviews with German- and Italian-speaking tourists in Val Pusteria, with a video presenting a real-life situation in Ladin. It reveals that, although culture is not the main motivation to travel to South Tyrol, tourists are fascinated by tangible and intangible aspects of the South Tyrolean culture, such as the architecture, traditional lifestyle, events, practices, dresses, and the language. What is particularly interesting is the role that cultural sustainability plays for the region: the successful maintenance of traditions, including the traditional languages—dialect and Ladin—are mentioned with affection. Tourism practitioners in Val Pusteria and the neighboring Ladin valleys should consider experiences in and with the Ladin language as fun and interesting for tourists but should also provide interpretational and educational support.

Highlights

Even though culture remains the main reason for tourism consumption [1], recent years have seen some significant changes in the cultural tourism industry, i.e., increasing interest in intangible cultural heritage and in minority, peripheral areas [2,3]
The findings of this study provide insights into the role of cultural heritage, especially the Ladin language, on the tourism experience of guests in Val Pusteria, South Tyrol (Italy)
Results of this research reveal that the repetitive tourists interviewed had had many positive memorable tourism experiences of their holidays in South Tyrol, which were the reasons for positive word-of-mouth, loyalty, and continuous visits to the destination [13,24]

Summary

Introduction

Even though culture remains the main reason for tourism consumption [1], recent years have seen some significant changes in the cultural tourism industry, i.e., increasing interest in intangible cultural heritage and in minority, peripheral areas [2,3]. ICH includes all practices, traditions, and knowledge that a community considers part of its cultural heritage, and includes, inter alia, oral traditions, and languages [5] Many linguists, such as Heller [6], have seen the language as one of the elements that contribute to defining the cultural heritage of a population, since it is “best able to name the artifacts and to formulate or express the interests, values, and worldviews of that culture” [7] The desire and need for tourists to learn the language of the country they are visiting has resulted in a niche market: language tourism [14]

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion