Bridging the Great Cultural Tourism Divide: Working with the Tourism Industry

Summary

A growing public interest in archaeotourism has resulted in greater numbers of visitors to archaeological sites as well as tourism being increasingly being seen as a use for sites for both social and economic reasons. While additional visitors can generate more revenue for local interests, they also increase human impact on the site. While tourism operators, archaeologists, and heritage managers frequently work at the same sites, they often work in isolation. While, many sites are preparing for tourists, collaboration between these groups would greatly strengthen the sustainability of the cultural assets and the amenities provided. A few years ago, the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) worked with the Adventure Trade Travel Association (ATTA) to put together a manual on responsible tourism for visitors, site managers, and tour operators. Collaborations of this nature provide ideal starting points for cooperation and for archaeologist and cultural heritage managers to express their needs and concerns. This paper discusses the advantages of working with the tourism industry and provides insights into the positive nature of the collaboration between the AIA and ATTA.

SAA 2015 abstracts made available in tDAR courtesy of the Society for American Archaeology and Center for Digital Antiquity Collaborative Program to improve digital data in archaeology. If you are the author of this presentation you may upload your paper, poster, presentation, or associated data (up to 3 files/30MB) for free. Please visit http://www.tdar.org/SAA2015 for instructions and more information.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Archaeology and Tourism

Keywords