Sustainable Tourism Law

504 SUSTAINABLE TOURISM LAW For this reason, more and more territories are opting to revalue the tangible and intangible elements of local heritage. Thus, it is possible to find interpretation centres, markets, music festivals, food and wine routes or expressions of folklore as part of any tourist offer. These proposals usually incorporate experiences that promote immersion in everyday life, that is, that propose living as a local. In turn, it is quite common for more people to travel in pursuit of non- -standardized products while putting price and quantity-based offers on the back burner. Faced with these consumer habits, local, ecological, genuine and environmentally friendly products have seen their market share grow. In many of these cases, the link between the products and their territories of origin, through an appellation of origin, is a driver for tourism development. Taking into account the above-mentioned background, this research has a twofold objective: firstly, to analyse the role of appellations of origin for sustainable tourism development. Second, to continue a line of research that connects collective intellectual property rights with cultural districts and sustainable development. To achieve this goal, an interdisciplinary approach was chosen, since several areas of study have contributed to the study of appellations of origin as connecting elements of certain territories (cf. Lorente, 2001; FAO, 2010 and Frutos and Ruiz, 2012). Considering these investigations is essential for designing more effective legal formulas. This chapter first outlines the concept of sustainable development and its inclusion in the tourism sector. Secondly, it addresses contextual issues that affect its regulation. Next, theoretical and legal issues of appellations of origin are analysed, and then, the opportunities offered by this legal figure for sustainable tourism development are highlighted, especially within the framework of a cultural district. Finally, general conclusions are presented and future lines of research are proposed. II. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM: HISTORICAL ISSUES During the 1970s, there was global awareness that economic progress and growth alone were not enough to resolve inequalities among countries. This fact, according to Du Pisani (2006:91) led to a paradigm shift in the notion of development. It is in this context that the term sustainable development emerged as a solution to the problems of growth. At the same time, its conceptual