The role of cultural and historical heritage in tourism development of the Maleshevo mountains

Although gastronomy as a science developed in close connection with tourism,
research in the field of gastronomic tourism is quite rare. However, due
to the increThe cultural and historical heritage belongs to the group of developed, anthropogenic
values, which play or may play a major role in the overall tourism
development. All objects that are part of the cultural and historical heritage are
characterized by different levels of attractiveness, and therefore, are not equally
important for tourism development. Those objects of cultural and historical
heritage, which are well preserved, have a greater cultural and historical value
and are characterized by their greater attractiveness. Accordingly, if the area
has a number of such objects, they can represent individual tourist motives.
By contrast, there are objects of cultural and historical heritage that are less
attractive and they have a lower tourism value, and thus, their function is to
complement the tourism offer of the area.

The purpose of this paper is to present the objects of cultural and historical
heritage of the Maleshevo Mountains, through recognition of their cultural
and historical value as well as tourism objects and attractions. The Maleshevo
Mountains include settlements located there that represent attractive tourism
destinations in the country. These towns have developed and are developing
several tourism forms such as ecotourism, rural tourism, mountain tourism,
winter sports tourism etc. Taking into account the existing forms of tourism,
this paper will identify the opportunities that can be offered by the cultural
and historical heritage of the Maleshevo Mountains in order to supplement
and enrich the tourism offer and stimulate tourism growth of the area.asing popularity of this type of tourism, one of the growing trends
is precisely the research on food. Gastronomic tourism is gaining more attention
each year, both in the scientific community and among users of tourism
services. The purpose of this study is to determine the importance of gastronomic
tourism for tourism destination competitiveness. The author argues
that gastronomic tourism is one of the answers to the demands of new forms
of tourism demand and that the culture, tradition and identity of the local
community are an integral part of this kind of tourism. The study confirms
the tendency of tourists to highly value local cultural values. Therefore, in
developing destination competitiveness, one must take into account the global
and the local component of gastronomic products.