Walking and stumbling on the paths of heritage-making for rural development in the Arica highlands

To reflect on the potential of the Cultural route heritage category as an instrument for cultural revitalization and community strengthening in highland territories, we analyze an interaction of actors involved in the co-construction of a hiking circuit in northern Chile that succeeded in its heritage-based design but not in its touristic implementation. Based on an in-depth analysis of the socioterritorial context and on participatory action research carried out to design the circuit, we discuss the reasons for the project’s failure during the phase of community-based tourism model definition. This leads to broader conclusions on the intersections between current policies on heritage, multiculturalism, and environment, relating to the 2014 inscription of the Qhapaq ñan Andean road system on the World Heritage List. Finally, we highlight 3 lessons: (1) the need to clarify risk of confusion between cultural revitalization and cultural tourism; (2) the complexity of the Cultural Route as a heterogeneous heritage construct for its social use on the local scale, and (3) the need to further develop Latin American regulations on heritage.

Cultural heritage. Indigenous territoriality. Rural development. Heritage tourism. Landscape. Andes. Chile. Bolivia.