Cultural heritage of a country represents an array of monuments, historic buildings, arts and crafts, indigenous skills and traditions. The emerging threats to the cultural resources by way of decay, loss or destruction, has become a prime concern today. Heritage has become one of the vital components of tourism industry. It is being considered as cultural capital. The process of valuation of this capital is very complex since Heritage is basically a nonmarketed good. Different techniques used for valuating environmental resources which are similar in nature to Heritage, have led to the development of economic valuation models especially for valuation of Heritage as cultural assets. This economic approach has helped to derive the real value of heritage sites by way of consumer’s surplus and consumer’s willingness to pay for the use of cultural heritage assets and sustain sites for future generations.

Patrimoniul cultural al unei ri este reprezentat de o serie de monumente, cldiri istorice, creaii artistice, meteuguri, abiliti i tradiii indigene. Ameninrile curente asupra resurselor culturale prin deteriorare, pierdere sau distrugere, au devenit astzi o preocupare principal. Patrimoniul a devenit una dintre componentele vitale ale industriei turismului. Procesul de evaluare a acestui capital cultural este foarte complex deoarece patrimoniul este în esen un bun necomercializat. Diferitele tehnici utilizate pentru evaluarea resurselor de mediu, care sunt similare cu cele de patrimoniu, au condus la dezvoltarea de modele de evaluare economic, în special pentru evaluarea bunurilor culturale. Aceast abordare economic a contribuit la obinerea valorii reale a motenirii prin surplusul consumatorului i disponibilitatea consumatorilor de a plti pentru utilizarea bunurilor de patrimoniu cultural i de a susine siturile pentru generaiile viitoare.