Cultural tourists have become increasingly interested in intangible cultural heritage and in minority, peripheral areas. This paper will focus on the ICH of minority communities, with a closer look at minority languages, considering the Ladin communities of South Tyrol (Italy). This study uses a qualitative methodology—16 semi-structured interviews with German- and Italian-speaking tourists in Val Pusteria, with a video presenting a real-life situation in Ladin. It reveals that, although culture is not the main motivation to travel to South Tyrol, tourists are fascinated by tangible and intangible aspects of the South Tyrolean culture, such as the architecture, traditional lifestyle, events, practices, dresses, and the language. What is particularly interesting is the role that cultural sustainability plays for the region: the successful maintenance of traditions, including the traditional languages—dialect and Ladin—are mentioned with affection. Tourism practitioners in Val Pusteria and the neighboring Ladin valleys should consider experiences in and with the Ladin language as fun and interesting for tourists but should also provide interpretational and educational support.

Cultural heritage still accounts as one of the main motivations for international tourists; recent research has observed an increasing interest in the living culture of a population as well as in minority, peripheral areas. Since UNESCO recognizes oral traditions and languages as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of a population, minority languages, i.e. local languages spoken by a minority of the population, have the potential to represent an added value, differentiate the destination, and attract tourists to the area. Using the approach of David and Han (2004) and Newbert (2007), this study aims at providing a systematic, transparent and replicable review of previous contributions regarding tourism and minority languages and identifying areas that need further research. Through a detailed coding and analysis of 52 contributions, a framework was identified. Minority languages are perceived as authentic by cultural tourists and are therefore used to differentiate the tourism experiences and promote the destination. The use of elements of the cultural heritage, like languages, as promotional material, can contribute to language preservation, thus enhancing an authentic use of the language. Tourism, on the other hand, could also lead to language endangerment, risking commodifying the use of the language in tourism experiences.

This chapter discusses the pillars that have enabled the development of the Dolomite winter tourism offer in the Italian Alps, the limits of this...