At the international scientific conference “Transforming Tourism and Hospitality through Education” – TEDU 2025, held on May 14 to May 16, 2025, in Brežice, and organized by the Faculty of Tourism, University of Maribor, a scientific paper titled “The Role of Family and the Media in Preserving Cultural Heritage Through Traditional Sports and Games” was presented. The research findings were shared by Dr. Luka Valožić, one of the authors, together with Dr. Jasenka Kranjčević and Dr. Izidora Marković Vukadin.
The focus of the paper is on traditional sports and games as an integral part of intangible cultural heritage, which are increasingly at risk of being forgotten. The research explores the roles of family traditions and media in encouraging children to engage in these traditional activities. In addition to highlighting their potential in promoting cultural heritage through tourism, one of the key objectives is to support cultural sustainability and heritage preservation.
The study is based on several working hypotheses that examine the impact of intergenerational knowledge transfer within families, the influence of media on the appreciation of heritage, and the challenges posed by digital entertainment to traditional practices.
This research was conducted as part of the internal scientific project “Activating Cultural Heritage in Croatian Tourism – AKULTUR.”
The book of abstracts is available HERE, and the full papers and extended abstracts will be published soon.
More about the conference: https://www.ft.um.si/en/research/research/tedu25-conference/ .