Heritage tourism and regional growth: New insights and implications from spatial analysis

This study applies the theory of new economic geography to investigate the impact of heritage tourism on regional economic growth. We develop a novel theoretical framework and analyse British regional data using a spatial Durbin model with an instrumental variable approach to capture economic spillovers and tourism-related agglomeration. We also examine how different types of heritage influence regional growth. The findings indicate that both visits to heritage attractions and visits to attractions overall have statistically significant direct and total effects on regional economic growth, and provide evidence on the underlying mechanisms. The type of heritage attraction also matters. Museums and Art Galleries generate positive spillovers to neighbouring regions, while Historic Properties mainly produce local effects. Positive spatial growth dependence also persists. The results are robust to alternative spatial weight matrices and to controls for attraction distribution. These results have important implications for the management of heritage resources and for the design of policies to promote tourism-led regional growth.