I. General Concepts 2. Inventories

Objectives and Methods

The aim of this unit is to provide students with a general overview of the process of inventory making in a cultural tourism activity. Although, as we have explained in the introduction, the compilation of inventories is part of a larger process of tourism planning and management and is mostly carried out by public bodies and stakeholders associations, the inventory is also the most useful tool for a small tourism entrepreneur. The kind of inventories proposed in this chapter do not include concise or comprehensive details about conservation or management. Neither do they contain details about tourism infrastructures or facilities.

At the end of the course students will:

• Be able to carry out detailed inventories or the area in which they plan to develop a cultural tourism activity.
• Be able to classify the different cultural resources of a given area into one of the seven categories proposed in this manual.
• Be able to list and compile basic and significant information about the cultural tourism assets of a given area.

This unit offers a practical, concise approach to inventory making. It has been divided into five simple steps to guide you through the whole process.

As in other parts of this manual, Jaraba, a small village in the region of Aragón (Spain) has been chosen to provide examples for most chapters.

Introduction: What are Inventories?

Step 1: Set the Limits