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PCP Forum no 33/2019 – Tourism and PCP

Serie	PCP Forum
Edition	33
Year	2019
Editor	Federal Office for Civil Protection FOCP
Location	3003 Bern

Tourism and cultural property protection can be mutually enhancing, their respective interests and objectives may sometimes collide. As concepts like cultural tourism, eco-tourism and ‘experience tourism’ show, the marketing, communication and preservation cultural heritage can co-exist in a constructive and complementary way. The most effective measure to safeguard valuable cultural assets is to (re-)use them in an appropriate and meaningful manner, as the regular maintenance work it implies tends to leave them less vulnerable to damage and disrepair. Increased tourism can be both a blessing and a curse. Social media and other advertising channels often attract such a large influx of visitors to a location that it ultimately suffers from tourism overkill. This observation has prompted many World Heritage Sites to take measures to curb visitor numbers. Yet, tourism can also be a source of opportunity for cultural property protection. The present issue of PCP Forum attempts to offer a balanced analysis of both sides of this argument.