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Archaeological sites and historic places are major tourist attractions worldwide. In the past few years, visits to historical sites have ranked third — after dining in restaurants and shopping — among the activities of people travelling abroad. The number of people who visit archaeological sites increases every year, and this increase can have both a positive and significant negative impacts. In many instances, increased visits have led to damage at sites and portions of sites have often been closed to the public to prevent further deterioration. In extreme cases, entire sites have been closed.
Archaeological tourism (sometimes labeled “archaeotourism”) is travel that focuses on visiting and experiencing ancient sites and historical places. The motivating forces behind archaeological tourism are a passion for the past and an interest in learning about the ancient or historical cultures that inhabited the area being visited. “Archaeotourists” are also attracted by the exotic (and often hard to access) nature of the locations in which many archaeological sites are found and often desire unique experiences. Archaeological tourism may include visits to museums, places of historical significance, historically and archaeologically focused parks, and even attendance of traditional dances, festivals, and other events. While archaeological tourism is not new, its scale and scope have grown dramatically in recent years. Hundreds of thousands of tourists now visit archaeological sites annually and archaeological tourism has become a lucrative business. Archaeological tourism is often incorporated into the larger fields of ecological tourism, geotourism, and heritage tourism. Many countries offer combinations that allow the visitor enjoying the region's natural and cultural wonders.
The popularity of archaeological sites as tourist attractions makes them valuable sources of revenue, but economic exploitation of sites is often not matched by reinvestment in proper site management to ensure protection of sites and their continued enjoyment by visitors. Archaeological sites are fragile resources, and inadequate site management may result in deterioration or destruction of the site and its social/historical/educational/economic potential.
Archaeological tourism raises awareness of our shared cultural heritage and encourages people to visit archaeological sites and historical places, but also subjects these precious resources to increased stress. Currently, the growth in tourism to archaeological sites has not been counter-balanced by appropriate revisions to guidelines and laws that mandate “good practices” for visiting sites. This largely unregulated tourism has led to the deterioration and destruction of sites. In some cases local authorities have been forced to close the sites to visitors and promote them in other ways including, as at Altamira in Spain, the creation of exact replicas of the site (Based on information material and manual created by AIA, the Archaeological Institute of America, the Archaeology magazine, and ATTA, the Adventure Travel Trade Association).
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1. Architecture and Archaeology | 1.1.1. A Summary of ‘Best Practices’ for Planning/Implementing Archeological Tourism |
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