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Recent shifts in tourists' expectations towards more authentic experiences allow us to leverage cultural and heritage resources and capabilities for the upliftment of local communities. In this regard, cultural and heritage tourism can serve as a powerful strategy for the transformation of local communities by supporting their well-being, enabling them to flourish and achieve their potential while providing tourists with unique and enriching experiences (Galeone & Sebastiani, 2021; Wong et al., 2024).
We therefore invite the submission of teaching case studies which redefine cultural and heritage tourism through the lens of transformative service research, aiming to enhance the well-being of the local community and other stakeholders, e.g., consumers, employees, and ecosystems (Rosenbaum, 2015).
Key issues and topics include, but are not limited to:
- Sustainability: The importance of sustainable practices in cultural and heritage tourism. The appeal of eco-tourism. How can destinations balance tourism growth with the preservation of local cultural assets?
- Community Involvement: how local communities can be more engaged in the tourism process, e.g. in promoting their heritage, and how can their involvement support more authentic experiences for visitors? How to effectively share and incorporate indigenous and local voices in the tourism experience.
- Building Resilient Societies: How can cultural and heritage tourism contribute to building resilient societies through sustainable practices and partnerships between tourism and cultural heritage management.
- Technology Integration: How new technologies and digitalization are used to promote cultural and heritage tourism, e.g. virtual tours, augmented reality experiences, Phygital rural cultural heritage, digital storytelling, etc.
- Policy and Governance: The role of specific government policies in promoting cultural and heritage tourism and supporting frameworks that proved effective in supporting sustainable tourism development.
- Cultural Identity and Destination Branding: How can destinations develop a strong brand identity based on their cultural heritage, and what marketing strategies are effective?
- Impact Assessment: Cultural and heritage tourism's social, economic, and environmental impacts. How can these impacts be measured and managed?
- Transformative Experiences: How cultural tourism can support transformative experiences for tourists at personal and social levels by promoting inclusive worldviews and developing cross-cultural understanding.
- Challenges and Opportunities: The Challenges faced by cultural and heritage tourism, e.g., overtourism, cultural commodification, and the impact of unforeseen global events (e.g., pandemics). The opportunities for innovation and growth.
- Entrepreneurship: Success stories in cultural and heritage tourism, emphasizing leadership, creativity, or new business journeys.
About Emerging Markets Case Studies
Emerging Markets Case Studies (EMCS) publishes discussion-based teaching case studies that offer students the opportunity to explore real-world challenges in the classroom environment, allowing them to test their decision-making skills before taking knowledge into the workplace.
All cases accepted by EMCS have teaching notes, which are rigorously reviewed to ensure their learning objectives facilitate dynamic classroom discussion and help faculty plan how best to use the case.
Please note Emerging Markets Case Studies does not fictional cases and will not accept research articles for this special issue.
Submission Guidelines
In preparing cases, authors are asked to follow the standard EMCS Author Guidelines available from the dropdown menu at: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/emcs
A submitted case document should:
- Include primary data gathered from interviews with the protagonist, or reliable sources of secondary data supporting the protagonist's voice.
- Be written in the post tense.
- Be focused on a compelling management decision-making dilemma facing the protagonist.
Have approximately eight single-spaced pages of narrative.
The accompanying Teaching Note document should include well-crafted learning objectives, related assignment questions and comprehensive model answers, and a comprehensive 90-minute teaching plan. Templates, guides, and other author resources are available via the EMCS main webpage above.
To submit your case, first create an author account at https://mc.manuscript.com/eemcs then follow the on-screen guidance. Please select the 'Harnessing Cultural and Heritage Tourism' option when prompted to choose from issue options. If you have any questions, please contact the Cases Commissioning Assistant, Louise Lister at llister@emerald.com
All cases will be double-blind peer-reviewed before acceptance.
Submission deadline: 30 September 2025
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