Tourism and Cultural Identity. Promoting Buenos Aires as the Cultural Capital of Latin America

GÓMEZ SCHETTINI, MARIANA, CLAUDIA TRONCOSO

Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies

Intellect Journals

Lugar: Bristol; Año: 2011 vol. 3 p. 195 - 209

1757-1898

Some urban areas in Buenos Aires were neglected for many decades by both public and private investment. As a result these areas underwent a process of degradation. However, in the last twenty years the city has undergone renewal processes and urban restructuring that have slowly redefined different cultural and tourist enclaves. As part of this process, and in the context of a tourist boom, public and private investment flourished, rooted in new public policies whose main purpose was to promote cultural tourism. At the same time several cultural manifestations considered threatened by globalizing forces were protected by heritage legislation. The main purpose of this article is to analyse the role of culture in tourism promotion of Buenos Aires. In particular, it examines the urban heritage and local identity valorization processes as part of tourism policies developed specially during the 2000s