Combating Visitor Pressure: Impact of Tourism on the Conservation of World Heritage Sites

Abstract

This study described the phenomenon of heavy visitor traffic and its impact on the conservation of World Heritage Sites. This research focused on three World Heritage Sites in Italy: Venice and its Lagoon, the Archaeological Areas of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Torre Annunziata, and the Rock Drawings at Valcamonica. Recent research has not fully addressed the specific problems visitors bring to heritage sites and what can be done to help mollify these conservation challenges even with the rise in international travel over the past forty years. Through the analysis of the State of Conservation Reports, Periodic Reports, tour guidebooks, and interviews it was determined that heavy visitor traffic played a major role in inflicting damage on World Heritage Sites and that the opening up of other paths, reducing the numbers of tourist in heavy visitation areas, and educating visitors on what can be done to mollify these issues may diminish this damage.