Partners

• ICCROM (International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property)
• The UNESCO Office in Venice - UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe (BRESCE)

Participants
Guidebook authors, editors and ICCROM staff.

Aim

• Examine the space dedicated to heritage conservation issues in tourist guidebooks;
• analyze the nature, quality and content of the message delivered to the reader;
• encourage guidebook editors to allocate sufficient space to the heritage conservation message. This could take the form of a page dedicated to raising awareness for the respect of cultural property in guidebooks.

Project activities
Phase one: research

• Geographical areas
  • the Middle East (Jordan, Egypt) and in particular, Petra (Jordan) and the Valley of the Kings and Queens (Egypt);
  • South East Asia, in particular Cambodia, taking in account especially the ancient vestiges of Angkor. The cultural sites of these nations are famous all over the world and inspire millions of tourists everyday.
• Guidebooks selected: Gudebooks were chosen on the basis of their popularity and widespread usage among readers/travellers.
  • Lonely Planet: Travel Guidebooks;
  • Footprint: Handbooks;
  • Michelin: Guide Vert and Guide Néos;
  • Hachette: Guide Bleu and Le Guide du routard;
  • Gallimard: La Bibliothèque du voyageur;
  • Touring Club Italy: Guide del mondo and le Guide blu;
  • Fodor's Publications.
• Research methodology: The analysis of each guidebook included an examination of:
  • editorial policy;
  • cultural information;
  • inclusion of deterioration/conservation issues;
  • three archaeological sites were chosen as representative of each country and examined in detail.

Second phase: interpretation of research
The following observations were noted:

cultural heritage is perceived to be stable and durable, and not as fragile material that is modified everyday by various agents and causes;

almost half of the guidebooks under study do not consider conservation/restoration issues at all;

as a general rule, the theme of preservation of natural heritage is more developed that that of preservation of ancient sites and monuments.

Third phase: meeting with guidebooks editors
Editors of travel guidebooks were invited to Rome to study communication strategies to stress the message of preservation of cultural heritage. The meeting was organized under the aegis of UNESCO.

Main achievements

• Lonely Planet (the French edition) and Michelin both requested presentations regarding the fragility of heritage sites for their editorial staff in Paris;
• following these presentations, both organizations have developed texts based on ICCROM guidelines to include in their next publications;
• Lonely Planet (French Editions) has already included the raising awareness message in the following guidebooks: India, Thailand, Tunisia, Cuba, Greece, Peru, Umbria and Tuscany, Rome;
• the Michelin’s text is included in the following publications: Normandie Cotentin, Côte d’Azur, Midi Pyrénée, Bourgogne and Italy (in Italian).

updated on: 8 August, 2006