SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY BASED HERITAGE TOURISM: A MODEL OF SUCCESS IN THE OLD CITY OF NAZARETH

The paper focuses on a case study of a small-scale heritage tourism venture that seeks to influence tourism development in the old city of Nazareth. This is an exploratory case study that uses qualitative research methods, including extensive participant observation and in-depth interviews with the venture’s senior management group and selected employees. The research findings indicate a model of the relationship between community-based tourism development, heritage, and peace building in a city that has experienced a wide range of cross-cultural conflicts. This model represents an alternative view to the notion that heritage serves to enhance differences and dissonance between different cultural groups. In contrast, findings from this study suggest that heritage in the form of tourism can help to create shared interests between different communities in settings characterized by cross-cultural conflict.