An Introduction to Narrative Tourism

Narrative tourism can be referred to a type of tourism or a strategy through which stories, legends, myths, rituals of a destination or stories, memories, and experiences of a tourist from the destination are used as an effective tool to create and increase the attractiveness of a place or destination. Sustainable narrative tourism not only increases tourist attraction, increases incomes of government and local community, and enhances the quality of life of local people in the region, but also makes tourists more respectful of the conditions, traditions, and culture of the host community. Narrative tourism resources can be classified into two categories: the first category includes history, stories, myths, and legends of the destination, and the second includes experiences, memories, stories, and souvenirs of the tourist. In the following, the relationship between narrative tourism and historical-cultural tourism, nature-based tourism, adventure tourists, the quality of life of locals, and the digital age are discussed. With the help of new technologies in the digital age, the development and exploitation of narrative tourism are much easier than ever. Finally, narrative tourism is a simple strategy to use the potential of attractions in story-building, storytelling, and story-listening, which aims to maintain the variety of stories, narratives, and cultures by creating diverse stories, in addition to creating new attractions and reviving old attractions. However, narrative tourism is a new concept that needs further statistical and numerical research to understand its capabilities, effects, and consequences in various economic, social, cultural, and environmental aspects.