Archaeotourism or Archaeological tourism is a form of

cultural tourism Cultural tourism is a type of tourism in which the visitor's essential motivation is to learn, discover, experience and consume the cultural attractions and products offered by a tourist destination. These attractions and products relate to the ...

, which aims to promote public interest in

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

while conserving historical sites.

Activities

Archaeological tourism can include all products associated with public archaeological promotion such as: visits to

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

s, interpretation centers, reenactments of historical occurrences, and the rediscovery of indigenous products,

festival A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

s, or

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...

Impact

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. Archaeologists have expressed concerns that tourism encourages particular ways of seeing and knowing the past. 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. 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..

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.” The project encouraged tourism to the village, through the installation of artistic interventions such as wall-paintings.

References

External links sites

ArqueotuR
(2010) Institutional network for the promotion of archaeological tourism and local development. Co-ordinated by the University of Barcelona.
The AIA-ATTA Guide To Best Practices For Archaeological Tourism
{{Tourism Cultural tourism Public archaeology Types of tourism