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Observing visitors' behaviour in places presenting heritage and reviewing the tourism literature dealing with 'heritage tourism', led to this research that aimed to clarify the core of heritage tourism. In this research the common approach that tourists visiting heritage sites is called "heritage tourism", was challenged. The relationship between four groups of variables (1- the tourists' personal characteristics, 2- the tourists' awareness of the history of the site, 3- the tourists' perception of the site in relation to their own heritage and, 4 - the site attributes) and the tourists' visitation patterns (before the visit, during the visit, and after the visit) as the outcome variables was investigated. The actual study was conducted in Israel, due to its attributes as an area containing a variety of heritage sites in a relatively short distance, which relate to different tourists on different grounds, mainly looking at two sites: the Wailing Wall and Massada. The results indicate that the relationship between the tourists and the heritage site attributes is at the core of this social phenomenon. Specifically it was revealed that the tourists' perception of the site as part of their own heritage is associated with the tourists' visitations patterns at the site. The understanding of this relationship is useful for the study of heritage related behaviour including heritage tourism and has also potential contribution for the management of sites presenting historic and heritage artefacts. The approach used in this research could also be useful for challenging the existence of other sub-groups of tourism, and for the understanding of tourism as a general phenomenon. The study also suggests new approaches for the understanding of social behaviour in the context of heritage-related behaviour, which could be useful for other social research disciplines.

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Tourism is an open system. Tourism development is conducted in an ever-changing environment. The central task of development is to maintain a dynamic fit between the development opportunities determined by its external environment and industrial capabilities conditioned by its internal one. This dissertation aimed to study the environment of tourism development at national level with a global perspective. By adopting the systems approach and inter-disciplinary methods, the nature, functioning, evolution and spatial distribution of the tourism system were first analysed in Chapter 2. The environment of tourism was partitioned into three distinct but interlocking levels: the internal environment, the operating environment, and the macro environment. The study then focused on the examination of the macro environment, which was divided into five dimensions: economic, political, socio-cultural, geographical and technological. These interrelated dimensions were analysed respectively in Chapters 3 to 7 in the following fashion: first, the main variables in the special dimension were identified and categorised; secondly, the causes and extents of their influences on tourism were interpreted; thirdly, the patterns of environmental change and their future trends were contemplated and predicted; and finally, the consequent implications for tourism development were highlighted. Chapter 8 provided a comparative analysis of the various environmental factors and a holistic view about the interrelations between the tourism system and its environments. In Chapter 9, the key ideas and main findings of the study were reiterated and further developed into a integrated discussion of the principles of tourism development. The study found that a pro-active approach to environmental management is essential in successful tourism development. Among the important issues to be researched in the future are: the codification and quantification of environmental variables, the reliable forecasting of environmental changes, and the dynamic interaction between the three levels of environment.

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