Economics and marketing of heritage: when tourism is an added value

This paper shows that economic growth is affected by public and private expenditure for culture, because heritages attract national and international tourists. International tourists generate shares of the private expenditure for culture and international tourism receipts. Heritage promotion can improve thanks to marketing and branding. Managers and policy makers have to be aware that, in order to be competitive at the level of marketing, destinations need to build a brand and brand positioning that are in keeping with the sense of place, and that reflect its identity. Marketing and branding contribute to protect heritage and in the same time to develop economies, resulting in positive outcomes for destinations and local populations. Thanks to cluster analysis of macroeconomic data of EU-27 countries three profiles will emerge. The cluster The Best Performer profits by the highest public and private expenditure for recreation and culture and increasing GDPs, international tourism receipts and exports