Buying Heritage but Missing the Maker: Craftsmanship, Cultural Tourism, and Rural Development

This paper examines whether the cultural, professional and personal values that artisans attach to their craft are effectively conveyed to wider audiences, and how craftsmanship and cultural tourism are perceived as drivers of rural revitalisation. Drawing on qualitative interviews with practitioners and survey data collected from potential consumers across seven European countries participating in the EU-funded CULTURALITY project, the study contrasts artisans' understanding of craftsmanship as a living cultural practice, a profession and a way of life, with the more object and market-centred perceptions held by the public. While survey results show that consumers already associate handcrafted products with authenticity, heritage and local identity, the interviews reveal that the deeper professional and economic realities behind craft-based livelihoods remain only partially understood. The paper argues that experiential cultural tourism, when built on genuine interaction rather than simplified representation, offers one of the most promising ways to close this gap, with implications for rural development and tourism policy.