Describe the Structure of Heritage Tourism in a Natural, Built and Cultural Context and Analyse Its Importance to the Uk Tourism Industry.

Heritage tourism is an extremely important part of the UK tourism industry and without it the industry would suffer greatly, the amount of income taken from tourism would drop significantly as there would be less attractions for people to visit. There are three different types of heritage tourism; natural, built and cultural, each playing a vital role in the structure of the UK tourism industry.
Natural Heritage sites are places of importance or outstanding beauty that have, by definition, been created by nature. Most natural heritage sites are very old as they have been made by the effects of nature over millions of years and can include anything from interesting formations of stones to geothermal features. According to the World Heritage List, which can be found on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) web site1, there are 176 natural heritage sites in the world. One example of a natural heritage site is the Grand Canyon which is a spectacular gorge carved in the state of Arizona by the Colorado River. The canyon lies in the Grand Canyon National Park and is protected by the National Park Service.   A Natural Heritage site here in the United Kingdom is the Dorset and East Devon Coast which boasts stunning cliff exposures dating back 185 million years. Known as the Jurassic Coast, the site has been important for scientists to understand the history of the nation due to the massive amount of fossils that can be found in the cliffs themselves. The only other natural world heritage site that can be found in the UK is the Giants Causeway that is around 40’000 black basalt pillars sticking out into the sea that scientists have found were created 50-60 million years ago by volcanic activity.
Another type of heritage site are those of built heritage that obviously have been man-made. They are usually old buildings or structures that hold some sort historical importance and are not necessarily attractive to look at. One of the... [continues]

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