Sustainable Tourism Law

520 SUSTAINABLE TOURISM LAW and Curtis, 1999; Priestley and Mundet, 1998). However, cultural districts or clusters will be analysed, as they are a form of business-spatial organization that brings together the cultural experience, creativity and traditions of a given territory and have special relevance to the subject being studied. While the concept of cultural district has evolved in line with social transformations and economic structures, its distinctive elements include the production of idiosyncratic goods based on creativity and intellectual property (Santagata, 2002). Cultural districts are a special industrial formula, focused on the production of traditional goods (Santagata, 2006). In other words, they are spaces where goods with a strong link with local culture are produced. This is why the two main characteristics are: 1) the idiosyncratic nature of the cultural goods produced, typical of a given place and historical moment; and 2) the positive externalities generated by the spatial agglomeration of microenterprises (Friel & Santagata, 2007). However, not every business agglomeration is a cultural district per se. In fact, one of its distinctive elements is the interdependence of its members. This encourages frequent contact, the exchange of specialized inputs and the circulation of information (Santagata, 2002). In turn, this facilitates the work of contracting suppliers, verifying the quality of goods and services and drafting contracts (Santagata, 2010). In these environments, one of the main competitive advantages is the historical-social link of the goods produced. Its idiosyncratic nature is given by the tacit transmission of knowledge, in which lifestyle, tastes, social institutions and individual capacity are essential and cannot be learned mechanically. The presence of a majority of local economic and human resources contributes to a process of endogenous development, which in turn feeds the different dimensions of sustainability. From the point of view of the tourism sector, cultural districts are of particular relevance, as many tourism systems tend to become cultural districts (Ghafele & Santagata, 2006). Taking advantage of good governance, agglomeration economies, the positive effects generated by the allocation of collective property rights, entrepreneurial spirit, creativity, trust and cooperation rooted in this territorial social structure can be considered an appropriate proposal to affect the social, economic and cultural spheres of a territory. Despite the benefits attributed to cultural districts, it is important to note that not all of them are effective and do not usually arise spontaneously. They are usually the result of a particular socio-economic context and incubation period,