The main goal of the Mediterranean Exchange of Archaeological Tourism is to promote sites and destinations of great archaeological value, to facilitate marketing, to help deseasonalization, to increase economic opportunities and employment effects. The Exchange is the only event in the world where this extraordinary section of cultural heritage can meet professional business, travellers, enthusiasts and schools.
In twenty-one years, the Exchange has been host to relevant initiatives:
in 2002 the issuing of the Paestum Chart for the managing of tangible and intangible heritage;
in 2005 the Conference on preventive archaeology held by UNESCO; the public audition on tourism and culture by the European Social Economic Committee;
in 2005 the initiatives promoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Italian archaeological missions abroad and in 2006 during the "Forum for Italian Cooperation" ;
the celebrations, in 2006, of the 50th anniversary of the resolution 4.15 of the General Conference of UNESCO who marked the starting point for the foundation of ICCROM in Italy; in 2006 the Paestum declaration by ICCROM during the "Forum for professionality of enhancement of cultural heritage in the Mediterranean";
in 2008 Forum for UNESCO Heritage Sites in Southern Italy; in 2009 the creation of the UNESCO Association for Southern Italy Provinces that introduced in 2010 a protocol for the realization of a tourism product in collaboration with the national organizations of the category;
in 2011 General States of Archaeology called by the General Direction for Antiquities of the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities;
in 2011 and 2012 presentation of the activities by the Iraq Task Force of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs; in 2012 the Convention of the Directors of archaeological missions in the Mediterranean (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Libya, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey) by the General Direction for the Promotion of the System-Country of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs;
in 2013 the Conference "Not only great attractors for tourism in the Bel Paese. How to create a system to make spread heritage an added value for territorial development" by the General Direction for Valorisation of Cultural Heritage and the General Direction for Antiquities of the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism; the General States of Archaeology called by the General Direction for Antiquities of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism; the Conference "The commitment of the Ministry for Foreign Affaire for intercultural dialogue and cooperation" by the General Direction for the Promotion of the System-Country and the General Direction for Cooperation to Development of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs; the celebration of Manama as Arab Capital of Culture for 2013 with the presence of Mai bint Mohammed Al-Khalifa Minister of Culture of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Taleb Rifai Secretary-General of UNWTO and Mounir Bouchenaki Special Adviser to the Director-General of UNESCO and Director of the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage;
in 2014 the 17th edition has been opened by Taleb Rifai Secretary-General of UNWTO with a rich programme of initiatives such as "The monumental areas of Southern Italy for an integrated system of touristic offer and the opportunities of Expo Milan 2015" in cooperation with the General Direction for Antiquities and the General Direction for the Valorisation of Cultural Heritage of the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism; "Italian archaeology abroad: formation and exchange of experiences" by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; the Forum of the Foreign Institutes of Archaeology in Italy by the International Union of the Institutes of Archaeology, History and Art History in Rome;
in 2015 the Conference "Destruction of cultural heritage and disintegration of identities", during which a live phone call with Damascus with Maamoun Abdulkarim Director of Antiquities of Syria took place, with the presence of Mohamad Saleh Last Director for Tourism of Palmyra; the naming of the International Archaeological Discovery Award, the Award in cooperation with Archeo and the international magazines media partners of the Exchange dedicated to the most important archaeological discoveries, to Khaled al-Asaad the Director of the archaeological site of Palmyra who paid with his life the defence of cultural heritage; the conference "Not to forget the Museum of the Bardo, March 18th 2015", in cooperation with ICCROM, with the interventions of Moncef Ben Moussa Director of the Museum of the Bardo, Mounir Bouchenaki Special Adviser to the Director-General of UNESCO and Director of the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage, Silvia Costa President of the Culture and Instruction Committee of the European Parliament; the Special Session of the Superior Council for Cultural and Landscape Heritage of MiBACT coordinated by the President Giuliano Volpe; the meeting "Towards a unified representation of Italian archaeologists" by the Coordination of Italian Archaeologists with the participation of the Superior Council and the Professional Associations; the Conference "Museum Centres and Category Organisations for the development of Southern Italy destinations" by the General Direction for Museums and Tourism of MiBACT, with the participation of the Directors of the Museum Centres of Southern Italy and the Category Organisations Assoturismo Confesercenti, Confturismo Confcommercio and Federturismo Confindustria; the Conference "Ethno-archaeological research in Latin America" by the Direction General for the Promotion of the System-Country of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, with the interventions of the Directors of the Archaeological Missions in Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico and Peru;
the 2016 edition has seen the visit of Dario Franceschini Minister of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism with the three Undersecretaries of MiBACT Dorina Bianchi, Ilaria Borletti Buitoni, Antimo Cesaro and a programme with important events like the Conference "Archaeological Museums of the Mediterranean for intercultural dialogue", with Anne-Marie Afeiche Director of the National Museum of Beirut, Moncef Ben Moussa Director of the Bardo Museum in Tunis, Stefano De Caro General Director of ICCROM, Muriel Garsson Director of the Museum of Mediterranean Archaeology of Marseille, Dimitrios Pandermalis Director of the Acropolis Museum of Athens, Gabriel Zuchtriegel Director of the Archaeological Park of Paestum; the Conference "#Unite4Heritage for Palmyra", with Fayrouz Asaad Archaeologist and daughter of Khaled al-Asaad, Paolo Matthiae Archaeologist, Mohamad Saleh Last Director for Tourism of Palmyra; the second edition of the International Archaeological Discovery Award "Khaled al-Asaad", the award for the most valuable discovery of 2015, given to INRAP Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives with its President Dominique Garcia; the Official Introduction of the "Blue Helmets of the Sea" with the presence of Anna Arzhanova President of CMAS World Confederation of Underwater Activities and of Silvia Costa President of the Culture and Education Commission of the European Parliament;
in 2017, the welcome address to the students by Moncef Ben Moussa Director of the Bardo Museum of Tunis, at the Temple of Neptune on the opening day; the "Special Dialogue: sustainable tourism for development in world archaeological sites" by UNWTO (World Tourism Organisation) with Taleb Rifai Secretary-General of UNWTO and speakers from Cambodia, Ethiopia, Jordan, Italy and Peru; the Conference "The intercultural dialogue as universal value of identities and cultural heritage: #dontforget Bardo Museum 18.03.2015 – #unite4heritage for Palmyra" with Mai bint Mohammed Al-Khalifa President of the Authority for per Culture and Antiquities of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Moncef Ben Moussa Director of the Bardo Museum of Tunis, Mounir Bouchenaki Special Adviser to the Director-General of UNESCO, Silvia Costa Member of the Committee on Culture and Education of the European Parliament, Taleb Rifai Secretary-General of UNWTO, Fryad Rwandzi Minister of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities of the Republic of Iraq, Mohamad Saleh Last Director for the Tourism of Palmyra, Vladan Vukosavljevic Minister of Culture and Media of Republic of Serbia; the third edition of the International Archaeological Discovery Award "Khaled al-Asaad", for the most valuable discovery of 2016, given to Peter Pfälzner, Archaeologist and Coordinator of the archaeological mission of IANES Institute Ancient Near Eastern Studies (University of Tubingen, Germany) in Northern Iraq; the Conference "Cross-border cooperation in cultural heritage: Campania Region for a bridge in the Mediterranean Area" with Francesco Caruso Counsellor for International Relations and Unesco to the President of Campania Region, Paolo Giulierini Director of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Massimo Osanna General Director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, Moez Eddine Sinaoui Ambassador of the Republic of Tunisia in Italy, Francesco Sirano Director of the Archaeological Park of Ercolano, Vladan Vukosavljevic Minister of Culture and Media of Republic of Serbia, Gabriel Zuchtriegel Director of the Archaeological Park of Paestum; the Conference "Research, preservation of the cultural underwater cultural heritage", in collaboration with the Sea Superintendence of Sicily Region directed by Sebastiano Tusa, with speakers from UNESCO, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Turkey; the Conference "The preservation of cultural heritage, the defence of art and the role of intelligence" with Stefano De Caro General Director of ICCROM, Paolo Matthiae Archaeologist and Director of the archaeological mission in Syria of "Sapienza" Università di Roma, Rossella Muroni National President of Legambiente, Fabrizio Parrulli Commander of Carabinieri Tutela Patrimonio Culturale;
in 2018, the Celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the inclusion in UNESCO's World Heritage List of the archaeological areas of Paestum and Troy, the Conference "The Cultural Heritage in Eastern Africa. Farnesina and the Italian researches in Ethiopia and Eritrea" by the Directorate General for Cultural and Economic Promotion and Innovation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; the Twinning between Paestum and Palmyra at the presence of Paolo Matthiae, who discovered the ancient city of Ebla, Mouhamed Al Khaddour Chairman of the Board of the Federation of the Syrian Chambers of Tourism and Mohamad Saleh Last Director for Tourism of Palmyra, sealing the connection between Paestum and the "Bride of the Desert"; the Conference "Intercultural dialogue as an universal value of the identities and cultural heritage: #dontforget Bardo Museum 18.03.2015 – #unite4heritage for Palmyra", with Moncef Ben Moussa Director of the Bardo Museum of Tunis at the time of the terrorist attack (actual Director for the Development of Museums), Irina Bokova Former Director-General UNESCO, Mounir Bouchenaki Honorary Special Adviser to Director-General of UNESCO, Fabrizio Parrulli Commander of Carabinieri Tutela Patrimonio Culturale, Mariarita Sgarlata Advisor to the Minister for Cultural Heritage and Activities for the protection and valorisation of cultural heritage; the fourth edition of the "International Archaeological Discovery Award "Khaled al-Asaad", to the most significant discovery of 2017, assigned to Benjamin Clément, Responsible of the excavations of "little French Pompeii" of Vienne (on the banks of Rhone, about 30 km south of Lyon), a Roman city of approximately 7.000 sq.m. inhabited since the I century a.C., with sumptuous villas with mosaics, monumental statues and public offices, which existed for three centuries and was destroyed by a series of sudden fires; the Meeting with foreign buyers selected by ENIT and Italian buyers of AIDIT and the Presentation of the travel book "Unesco – 33 Italian sites to comfortably reach by train" by Long Haul and Regional Passengers Divisions of Trenitalia in collaboration with ENIT, AIDIT of Federturismo Confindustria and Trenitalia; the Dialogues on Archaeology of Magna Graecia and Mediterranean Area by Fondazione Paestum, with President Emanuele Greco; the Conference "Stone Archives. Exemples of valorisationa and communication of prehistorical art's manifestations" by IIPP Istituto Italiano di Preistoria e Protostoria (Italian Institute of Prehistory and Protohistory) with President Monica Miari and Vice President Carlo Lugliè; the Conference "Archaeology as eccellence of Southern Italy: the proposal of Touring Club Italiano" by Touring Club Italiano, with President Franco Iseppi and Vice President Giuseppe Roma; the Conference "The potentialities of Pro Loco network in the management of cultural heritages" by UNPLI Unione Nazionale Pro Loco d'Italia, with President Antonino La Spina; among the speakers of the XXI edition: Corrado Matera Assessor to Development and Promotion of Tourism of Regione Campania, Andrea Prete Vice President Vicarious of Unioncamere, Sandro Pappalardo Regional Assessor to Tourism, Sport and Performing Arts, Sebastiano Tusa Archaeologist and Sea Superintendent of Regione Siciliana, Maria Francesca Corigliano Assessor to Cultural Activities of Regione Calabria, Francesco Caruso former Permanent Representative of Italy to UNESCO, Luigi Raia Director of Regional Agency for the promotion of tourism of Campania, Kristian Göransson President of AIAC Associazione Internazionale di Archeologia Classica (International Association of Classical Archaeology) and Director of Swedish Institute in Rome, Salvo Barrano President of Associazione Nazionale Archeologi (National Association of Archaeologists), Adina Persano President of ANGT Associazione Nazionale Guide Turistiche (National Association of Tourism Guides), Gabriel Zuchtriegel Director of the Archaeological Park of Paestum, Tommaso Pellegrino President of the National Park of Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni, Alfonso Andria President of Centro Universitario Europeo per i Beni Culturali – Ravello.
THE INSTITUTIONAL PARTICIPATIONS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN EXCHANGE OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL TOURISM
Exhibition of the findings of the Italian Archaeological Missions in Syria at the National Museum of Damascus in November 2005 organized and dedicated to the Exchange by the First Lady Asma al-Assad, on the occasion of the "Paestum Archaeology" Award given to her and Meeting of the Director of the Exchange with the Ministries for Tourism and Culture and with the Governor of Damascus;
Meeting with Prince Albert of Monaco at Palazzo Grimaldi in Montecarlo in February 2009 on the occasion of the "Paestum Archaeology" Award given to him;
participation of the Director of the Exchange as speaker at the 37th Meeting of the Middle East Commission of UNWTO (World Tourism Organization, specialized agency of United Nations) in Bahrain in April 2013 with the presence of the Ministries of Tourism of the Middle East during the celebrations of Manama as Arab Capital of Tourism 2013;
inclusion of the Exchange among the realities of the Report "Banca delle qualità campane. 50 eccellenze made in Italy tra i Monti Picentini e il Cilento" by Fondazione Symbola and participation of the Director to the Presentation in July 2016;
participation of the Director of the Exchange as speaker to the European Tourism Day organized by the European Commission in Brussels in November 2016 with the European Commissioners Elżbieta Bieńkowska (Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs), Tibor Navracsics (Education, Culture, Youth and Sport) and Karmenu Vella (Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries);
participation of the Director of the Exchange in January 2017 in Madrid to the Opening of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism during FITUR, the International Fair of Tourism, invited by the Secretary-General of UNWTO World Tourism Organization Taleb Rifai;
participation of the Director of the Exchange in February 2017 in Milan to the Convention "Synergies between Cultural and Creative Industries and Tourism to favour growth and occupation in Europe: a new partnership between public and private" organized by European Commission, Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism and Lombardia Region, with the participation of over 40 speakers;
identification and coordination of a group of Italian experts of cultural heritage and participation of the Director of the Exchange as speaker to the Meeting Serbia-Italy "A bridge for cultural heritage" in April 2017 in Belgrade, invited by the Minister for Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia Vladan Vukosavljevic through the Italian Embassy in Serbia and the Italian Culture Institute of Belgrade;
participation of the Director of the Exchange to the 4th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue "Baku Process", organized in cooperation with UNESCO, UNWTO and Council of Europe in May 2017 in Baku, invited by the Minister for Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Azerbaijan Abulfas Garayev;
awarding of the "Silvana Luppino" Prize to the Director of the Exchange in the third edition held at the Temple of Hera in Metaponto in July 2017;
meeting of the Director of the Exchange in Tunis with Selma Elloumi Rekik Minister of Tourism and Handicrafts of Tunisia and Mohamed Zine El Abidine Minister of Cultural Affairs of Tunisia, during the visit of the Undersecretary for Tourism Dorina Bianchi with a delegation of tour operators and journalists, and coordination of a group of experts to develop agreements on cultural cooperation issues invited by Tunisian Ambassador in Rome Moez Sinaoui in July 2017.