Sixth International Conference on Tourism & Leisure Studies

Abstract

Memory Tourism is based on qualifying a concrete tourism product whose starting point is a historical heritage that intersects with contemporary mobility. The main focus of this paper is based on the dynamics of the postcolonial return trip of those who seek to experience a heritage legacy transformed into a tourism product and able to provide a gaze on history helping to decolonise mentalities and respecting the other as equal. This return to a past with a common root through the leisure trip and as a tourist attraction owing to its coloniality has been emerging as one of the major drivers behind current mobility. Memory Tourism define-se a partir do tangible colonial built heritage, an architectural legacy petrified in time whose presence takes us back to an age that is already extinct in our ultramodern cities where the tourist now resides. This market segment has seen significant growth due in part to the demand by nationalities unrelated to colonialism and whose tourists are looking to visit charismatic places that are frequently classified as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, a stamp that creates a standard for categorising and recognising world tourism interest.