Minority languages as sustainable tourism resources: From Indigenous groups in British Columbia (Canada) to Cimbrian people in Giazza (Italy)

摘要

Cultural aspects of a destination have always been part of the discourse on sustainable tourism, i.e. tourism that attempts to preserve cultural and environmental resources for future generations. Particular attention has to be paid to Intangible Cultural Heritage, especially languages, since they will be available to future generations only with daily practice. Through twenty semistructured qualitative interviews, the paper considers two Indigenous languages in British Columbia (Canada) and the Cimbrian language in Italy and concludes that the genuine interest shown by tourists contributes to language revival in contexts of minority cultural groups by strengthening the sense of pride and identity of members. This study hopes to be a stepping stone in the analysis of minority languages as sustainable tourism resources.