The Role of Architecture on the Tourism Industry

On another yet parallel line, architecture has taken the lead in tourism as the main object of tourist activity and has recently generated a specialized type called architecture tourism whereby specialist trips are organized around the cities worldwide to visit contemporary buildings designed by well-known architects as well as historically important or traditionally characteristic buildings (Chivalrous & Cigarillo, 2007).Tourism event, which boomed particularly during sass, introduced a very dense and over arbitration causing; not only major damages to coastal zones via massive constructions, but also to local life by meaner of conversion of local economies for only tourists, which gradually resulting in the decline of these towns during off-seasons, and eventually destroying both local economy and social life. Nonetheless, despite many negative consequences, tourism activity continued its growth and became the center of global social, cultural and economic life.Therefore, the pheno menon of tourism, in which verse parameters play complex roles, necessitates an intense interaction among sectors and disciplines. Among these disciplines, architecture stands out as a leading actor since it not only facilitates investments, synthesizes the requirements of comfort and entertainment or organizes activities, technologies and spaces, but also creates identities and produces the imagery and iconography associated with branding of the tourism investors. Today, hence, tourism industry and architecture are in a comprehensive and very close interaction.As a matter of fact, authentically satirical architectural edifices have always triggered tourism (Stroller, 1989) by their values as either being witnesses to historical events, or representing various phenomena, or merely by their monumentality, originality or other assets. These unique masterpieces or contexts used to render certain destinations more advantageous over the others. Thus, relatively disadvantageous locations in terms of tourist attractions have developed various strategies to overcome their position by the utilization of architecture again (Donald, 2007) due to its representation capacity.One of these strategies has been to create their own iconic symbols through contemporary architecture and its new forms by well-known designers, who are promoted as celebrities, while the other strategy being to simulate unique buildings and cities in these inopportune places which has no relevance to the location of the original. Recently, tourism industry seems to be promoting not only fake copies of historically important or well-known buildings, cities but also their kitsch and eclectic collage, such as monuments, pyramids, palaces, urban plazas and even the whole city f Venice in resorts.