Sustainable Cultural Tourism
During their meetings in June 2008 in Paris the representatives of ICOM
decided upon the theme of the 2009 International Museum Day: Museums and
Tourism.
Since tourism is the third largest economic factor in the world and affects
so many groups of society, landscapes and sites, museums and museum
organisations can make significant contributions to the sustainable
development of tourism.
During the last year ICOM and the World Federation of Friends of Museums
(WFFM) worked out a declaration for worldwide sustainable cultural tourism.
Included you will find documents about Cultural Tourism and sustainable
developments of UNESCO, ICOM, ICOMOS, The World Tourism Organisation and
the UN.
Please find the ICOM/WFFM Declaration of 2007 for sustainable cultural
tourism as a working paper in order to prepare the 2009 International Museum
Day.
Dr. Hans-Martin Hinz
Co-Chair of the ICOM/WFFM-working group „Cultural Tourism“ Member of the
Executive Council of ICOM
*********
Sustainable Cultural Tourism
Declaration of the
International Council of Museums (ICOM) and the World Federation of Friends
of Museums (WFFM) for worldwide Sustainable Cultural Tourism. (December
2007)
ICOM and WFFM have made it their self-imposed ethical mission to ensure that
tourism interacts respectfully with cultures around the world, and that
attitudes and approaches take into consideration not only tangible and
intangible heritage, but the cultural present as well.
Knowledge of tourist destinations, of their surrounding cultures, their
natural -historic heritage and their areas of special scientific importance
and beauty should increase understanding amongst the local population thus
strengthening their self-confidence and cultural identity
Sustainable Cultural Tourism affects many groups, such as tourists, local
population, museums, archaeological sites, landscapes, tourism agents and
authorities.
Therefore, it is necessary to raise awareness on this matter among all
groups and advise them on good managing practics. Sustainable Cultural
Tourism does not affect only tourists visiting foreign countries as it is
hinted on the document "The responsible tourist and traveller". There is
also a great number of domestic tourists (scholars, associations....) that
affect museums and monuments in the same way.
In order to achieve these aims, museums need to address tourists more
directly than they have done to date. A museum’s educational content should
contribute to history, culture and the environment by promoting increased
knowledge, changes in attitudes and greater tolerance. Ultimately, this
leads to respect for other ways of life, religions, views and social
conditions, while also making tourism more environmentally friendly.
ICOM and WFFM believe that tourists who are more knowledgeable and skilful
in dealing with cultures and natural reserves contribute to sustainable,
positive development as well as to protecting landscapes and societies. It
is thus important to impart such knowledge and skills to tourists. This is
particularly true since, frequently, as tourists, they behave in ways that
compensate for their daily lives, thereby reflecting societal and
educational models that do not necessarily meet the expectations or views
held by those who live in the places they are visiting.
Consequently, ICOM and WFFM encourage travellers – as well as the native
populations of tourist destinations – to learn about how mass tourism can
lead to a “touristification” of land and societies that frequently reflects
the tourists’ desires (holiday culture) and affects the destination’s
service culture as well as its local culture in general. Travellers should
be aware of the impact of tourism in economic terms; however, they also need
to understand how certain tourist expectations and attitudes can threaten
land and nature management, in addition to potentially causing changes in
the behaviour of the populations visited.
“Enjoy, not destroy” should be the ultimate aim of all those involved in
tourism.
ICOM and WFFM deem that changes in attitudes and greater understanding lead
to new, holistic ways of preserving ecosystems in tourist destinations, and
contribute to protecting the cultural uniqueness of the visited communities
as a whole (and not just of that segment of the population directly involved
in tourism).
ICOM and WFFM firmly believe that museums and friends of museums can make a
significant educational, cultural and political contribution to the
sustainable development of tourism, thereby also helping to advance UNESCO’s
goals for 2005-2014, the “Decade of Education for Sustainable Development”.
ICOM and WFFM consider the “Proposal for a Charter of Principles for Museums
and Cultural Tourism”, formulated by ICOM during a conference in Bolivia and
Peru in 2000, a shared framework for future efforts on behalf of Sustainable
Cultural Tourism. Some paragraphs should be taken into special
consideration:
Introduction
" Cultural heritage cannot become a consumer product nor can its
relationship with the visitor be superficial. If the tourist is able to
identify with the heritage, he can appreciate its value and the importance
of preserving it and therefore become an ally of the museums. "
Principle nº 3
" In regards to cultural tourism, museums should encourage the active
participation of the local communities in the planning of both heritage
management and the operations of tourist venues"
"Museums should encourage the communities to manage their cultural heritage,
for which they should encourage suitable training."
Principle nº 4
" It is important to plan tours using temporary programmes which are
restricted to satisfy both the leisure periods of the local inhabitants and
offer alternatives for foreign tourist.
Museums and cultural tourism should encourage the interaction between
visitors in a framework of respect towards the values and the hospitality
that are offered."
ICOM and WFFM also recognise the documents drafted by the World Tourism
Organisation (WTO) in 1999 (“Code of Ethics for Tourism”, adopted by the UN
General Assembly in 2001) in which it is stated “that Tourism policies and
activities should be conducted with respect for the artistic, archaeological
and cultural heritage, which they should protect and pass on to future
generations; particular care should be devoted to preserving and upgrading
monuments, shrines and museums as well….” and in 2005 (“The Responsible
Tourist and Traveller”).
Both organizations firmly believe as does the “International Cultural
Tourism Charter” of the International Council on Monuments and Sites
(ICOMOS), that “conservation and Tourism Planning for Heritage Places
should ensure that the Visitor Experience will be worthwhile, satisfying and
enjoyable”
UNESCO, ICOMOS, the World Tourism Organisation have all crafted tourism
charters. These documents are important but appear more or less almost
exclusively to focus on the host country and its institutions, highlighting
what needs to be done and taking a defensive stand to protect historical and
cultural assets.
But who addresses the tourists themselves? Who tries to make them part of
the process? Too often the codes and strategies appear as a series of
top-down statements – and treat the tourist visitor as a passive agent –
indeed they make no attempt to engage the visitor. That is not to say that
there are no codes of conduct for visitors.
As the third largest economic factor in the world, tourism, both domestic
and international, has a global reach. Museums, which exist worldwide,
affect people both in the regions where tourism originates as well as in its
destinations. This gives museums a strong chance of succeeding in their
educational efforts to replace rigid ideas about culture and land use with a
dynamic notion of culture and environmentally sustainable nature management.
Museums should be integrated increasingly into concepts of tourism, to
ensure that they have a measure of influence over economic and governmental
decision-makers in planning processes, and to allow them to reach tourists
more directly.
ICOM and WFFM are committed to raising the awareness of museums and of
friends of museums around the world on the topic of Sustainable Cultural
Tourism through the associations’ global activities, including an
International Museum Day.
Also available at http://icom.museum/declaration_tourism_eng.html
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