Download Declaration on "Hypertrophic Tourism” Venice

Declaration on "Hypertrophic Tourism”
Venice - November 11, 2016
10 years of International Colloquia on Cultural Heritage Management conducted by DRI and 10
years of HERITY Conferences on Value, Conservation, Communication and Services related to
cultural heritage, for a total of 20 years, led to launch in 2016 the new HERITY Wizard’s days
initiative, that is aimed to share methodologies and results obtained by a number of stakeholders
and actors of the managing processes in these fields, to help managers to better face challenges
and visitors to be aware and participate in the processes of conservation and use.
The term Wizard in the English language of the XVth century had the meaning of 'philosopher',
'wise man'. Going further back in time, the Indo-European root 'Wid' means 'to know'. Several
derived terms can be referred to this, such as the Sanskrit 'Veda' or the English 'Vision', 'Witness',
'Wisdom'. These three words resume the approach at the basis of these HERITY Wizard's days.
The Centro Internazionale di Studi sull'Economia Turistica (CISET) of the Ca' Foscari University in
Venice and HERITY International jointly launched the international meeting on "Hypertrophic
Tourism", a HERITY Wizard’s day organized in the framework of the five-years agreement signed by
the two entities, which welcomed the inputs proposed by the President of the
OECD Tourism Committee. As a result, the following declaration was approved by participating
delegates for proposing to the related Committee at OECD, representative of Tourism and Culture
at UNWTO and to the UNESCO Assistant Director for Culture:
Venice Declaration on "HYPERTROPHIC TOURISM" at Cultural Sites and Destinations
November 11, 2016
Managing tourism at cultural sites and destinations is a challenge which should consider that we
are dealing with non-renewable resources; that we should pursue a balance between use and
conservation; that this point of equilibrium is different from place to place, and along the time.
This is why the success of a destination and/or a Cultural site such as monuments, museums,
archaeological sites, libraries and archives should be measured in terms of both Quality and
Quantity.
Assumed that a visitor (resident or tourist) can directly contribute to better manage and preserve a
cultural place through a pleasant and respectful visit and by spending a higher amount of money at
that site because of her/his appreciation of the related value(s):
The present declaration and the following priorities are proposed for diffusing and implementation:
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Measure the qualitative outcomes in addition to the quantitative ones, when changes,
initiatives, activities and campaigns to promote and publicize the visit of places with cultural
significance are carried out;
Pursue economic processes aimed to improve quality of life and related benefits on the basis of
informed decisions taking in account their consequences on compatibility and sustainability;
Draft guidelines on Management of Cultural Heritage and destinations focused on helping
managers to increase the quantity and the quality of the visitors according to the different and
continuously evolving point of balance between use and preservation at cultural sites and
destinations, as soon as possible.