**2.6. When is the industry of cultural heritage formed?**

The investigators of heritage maintain that the main circulation and consumption of historical objects and knowledge occur and undergo growing when traditions and collective memory are dying out and globalisation as well as mass or pop culture expand with the development of information technologies. However, in various countries, these processes take different directions. For instance, in the United Kingdom, the appearance of the heritage industry is paradoxically related with the economic decline when the past is viewed as a better entity than the chaotic present and obscure tomorrow. The products of heritage industry that appeared under the described conditions turn to be more advanced than the authentic ones since they were revived or created for people and adapted to their demands. Heritage industry has its own labour market. It requires designers, managers and constructors. Unfortunately, it does not show any demand for archaeologists or historians.

The emergence of **heritage industry is closely related with the so-called heritage boom** (i.e., a rapidly growing interest in heritage) that is a necessary condition for the formation of the industry of heritage, since any industry must meet the demands of consumers. With the growth of heritage demand, a favourable opportunity to develop the industry of heritage emerges. **Western Europe has developed two theories of the heritage boom.**

The **first theory** relates the heritage boom with the growth of the purchasing power of the potential consumers (i.e., with the growth of the country's economic power; more enriched consumers of cultural production appear from a wider spectrum of social layers) and the fact of the heritage protection growing into entertainment of the elite (concerts, exhibitions, etc.). For instance, from 1998 onwards in Lithuania, similar to other countries of the European Union, heritage faces mass consumption, but not exclusively for the educational purposes since the very economic situation turns to be favourable for heritage industry. The traditional Lithuania heritage has been rediscovered, and the search for the novel means of heritage protection has been activated: the ideas of living history, 'live' archaeology and practical learning of the ancient crafts get more and more popular. In Lithuania, the intensiveness of the desire for the reconstruction of an entirely destroyed heritage may be illustrated by the reconstruction of the Royal Palace in Vilnius (Lithuania). In addition, it is marked by the establishment of the Park of Soviet Monuments (1998) (Druskininkai, Lithuania), the organisation of the so-called days of living history, 'live' archaeology and 'live' craft learning, the erection of the restaurant nets offering traditional dish heritage from 1999 onwards. It shows that the Lithuanians have rediscovered the importance of the history of Lithuania and its heritage and have started showing a considerable interest in it.

The **second theory** discusses the heritage boom in relation to the nostalgia for the past evoked by the economic recession, social decline and spiritual decadence. The analysis of the economic indices reveals that in Lithuania the highest inflation took place in 1991–1993; the lowest expenses were observed in 1993; the smallest alterations of the gross domestic product, if compared to the earlier years, in 1992–1994 and the smallest number of students in 1994–1995. A more distinct leap in the number of museums and their visitors was observed only in 1997.

With the growth of economy, the consumer purchase power is growing, and consumers spend more time and money for their leisure activities and cultural explorations. These are favourable conditions for the formation of heritage industry. Moreover, it initiates the improvement of culture financing by the government which in turn helps to increase the number of museums and their visitors.

Hence it might be argued that in Lithuania consumption has been growing rapidly. It has been determined by the postindustrial, postmodern consuming alterations of life conditions and perspectives. Heritage consumption (by developing tourism or in other ways) is a part of this insatiable growth. Researchers claim that since the number of cultural heritage tourists will be growing nearly in every country, they will consume more and more various heritage products, and the variety of heritage areas will also expand [17].

The market of cultural heritage reinforces the awareness of society. There is no doubt that it is a fruitful vehicle for the expansion of the social and economic wealth of a country or region. Cultural tourism also encourages preserving the universal authenticity and uniqueness of history, customs and traditional values, i.e., it shows the direct relationship with cultural heritage.

To sum up, it might be claimed that in the age of globalisation cultural tourism based on the consumption of cultural heritage is one of the commercial activities demonstrating the highest growth all over the world. At present, cultural tourism is one of the most attractive forms of tourism that may offer many interesting discoveries and novelties. However, popular culture and mass consumption has a growing impact on further development of cultural tourism.
