Page 9 - Abstracts of the 2nd Slovenia–Turkey Bilateral Colloquium

Slovenia–Turkey Bilateral Colloquium · Portorož, 19 May 2023

Art and Cultural Heritage
in the Guidebooks of Portorož-Piran

Tomi Brezovec
University of Primorska, Slovenia
tomi.brezovec@fts.upr.si
Aleksandra Brezovec
University of Primorska, Slovenia
aleksandra.brezovec@fts.upr.si

Art and cultural heritage are often crucial tourist attractions and are es-
sential in travel guidebooks. Guidebooks provide visitors with informa-
tion about notable works of art, historical buildings, landmarks, and other
cultural artefacts. They may also provide background information on the
artists or architects who created them and the historical context in which
they appeared. One of the main benefits of including art and cultural
heritage in guidebooks is that they provide visitors with a deeper under-
standing of the local culture. Portorož-Piran is a tourist destination on the
Istrian Peninsula in the northern Adriatic Sea. As a border area, the Is-
trian peninsula has frequently changed its political rulers, reflected in the
destination’s cultural heritage. This paper aims to analyse the representa-
tion of art and cultural heritage in guidebooks of Portorož-Piran from
the 19th and 20th centuries. Using content analysis, we studied the art
and cultural heritage depicted in 24 travel guidebooks. The results show
that the mention of art and cultural heritage in earlier guidebooks often
consisted only of listing and location of important landmarks. However,
in more recent guidebooks, art and cultural heritage are represented in a
way that gives visitors a deeper understanding of the destination’s history,
traditions, and identity.
Keywords: guidebooks, art, cultural heritage, tourism promotion, Portorož-
Piran

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