Archaeotourism or Archaeological tourism is a form of
cultural tourism, which aims to promote public interest in
archaeology and the conservation of historical sites.
Archaeological tourism promotes archaeological sites and an area's cultural heritage. Its intent is to not cause more damage to the sites, thus avoiding becoming
invasive tourism.[1] Archaeologists have expressed concerns that tourism encourages particular ways of seeing and knowing the past.[2] When archaeological sites are run by tourist boards, ticket fees and souvenir revenues can become a priority. The tradeoff between opening a site to the public or remaining closed and keeping the site out of harm's way should be assessed.[3] Damage to irreplaceable archaeological materials is not only direct, as when remains are disordered, altered, destroyed, or looted, but often an indirect result of poorly planned development of tourism amenities, such as hotels, restaurants, roads, and shops. These can alter the environment producing flooding, landslides, or undermining ancient structures.[4]
Notable sites
In Oman, the Ministry of Heritage and Culture sponsored a project at the village of
Imti with artist Maryam Al Zadjali, entitled “To Immortalise the Archaeological Moment in Art.”[5] The project encouraged tourism to the village, through the installation of artistic interventions such as wall-paintings.[5][6]
^Uzi Baram 2008 Tourism and Archaeology. In Encyclopedia of Archaeology, edited by Deborah M. Pearsall, pp. 2131-2134. Elsevier
^Mason, Peter (2008). Tourism Impacts, Planning and Management. Burlington, MA: Elsevier Ltd. p. 40.
ISBN978-0-7506-8492-7.
^Comer, Douglas C. (2012). Tourism and Archaeological Heritage Management at Petra: Driver to Development or Destruction?(SpringerBriefs in Archaeology. New York: Springer.
ISBN978-1461414803..