Cultural Tourism as a Resource for Memory Studies

The article is devoted to the comprehension of tourism as an important tool for the preservation of cultural and historical heritage and the transmission of collective memory. Cultural and historical heritage (both tangible and intangible) is a factor in strengthening national identity and maintaining collective memory, being at the same time one of the main tourist resources that allow us to get in touch with history and culture. The study of the phenomenon of tourism from the perspective of memory studies clearly demonstrates that the direct visit of tourists to significant historical sites with a high level of symbolic capital contributes to a better perception of the images of the past embedded in them, and the impressions and experiences help not only to remember the information, but also to feel their own belonging to a certain culture. The example of sites important in the context of global and local history, such as the Battle of Stalingrad Museum-Reserve (Volgograd), the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum (Auschwitz) and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, shows how places of memory become popular tourist destinations without being overly commodified and commercialized. Consequently, a targeted approach to the positioning of cultural and historical sites and working with niche types of tourism that reflect the characteristics of specific places of memory provide an opportunity to develop tourism as one of the key forms of actualizing the past. This helps to attract a wide audience to learn about their history through interaction with authentic sites, rather than solely through entertainment media, and also reduces the risk of loss of cultural and historical heritage, which makes it possible to consider areas remote from major cultural centers as promising destinations.