The tourist experience of historic places

The traditional approach to tourism as a service has been replaced with increased focus on the tourism experience. This book considers the tourism experience of historic urban spaces from two distinct yet overlapping approaches, namely urban design and tourism studies. Broadly, the book is divided into three parts. The first looks at the theory and explores what literature says about features and aspects of historic areas that are most influential to the experience of the visitor. The second part is a case study and presents research on the experiences of tourists in Valletta, a fortified historic city overlooking Maltäs Grand Harbour. The third part develops a model, based on the theory and on the case study, that helps explain how tourists experience historic spaces. The book proposes a practical use of this model for the assessment of the tourism potential of an urban area. Such an assessment enables the relevant authorities to derive proposals for enhancement and for tourism product development. The book is useful reading for tourism students, researchers, tourism practitioners and persons with an interest in historic areas, such as Valletta.