Kulttuuriperintö ja Dracula-turismi

Authors

• Tuomas Hovi

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30666/elore.78778

Abstract

The article examines how Dracula tourism in Romania can be approached within the concept of heritage. Although Dracula tourism as such cannot be considered as heritage tourism, it has many characteristics that are common with the latter. The author shows how the tradition about a 15th-century Romanian ruler Vlad the Impaler is being used in modern Dracula tourism, and how this tradition connects with the fictional vampire Count Dracula known from popular culture. Here, the use of tradition and heritage in Dracula tourism is approached with theoretical tools and concepts such as authenticity and cultural stereotypes. Besides, this article argues that tourism is not just a threat to cultural heritage, it can also help in the preservation of the latter. Interestingly, heritage is most visible in Dracula tourism through the different arguments opposing this tourism. The data for the article comes mostly from literature, Internet, and the author’s personal observations.