The future of the past: Sustainable management of archaeological tourist sites – The case study of Israel

Abstract

The objective of this study is to examine the management strategies for archaeological heritage sites and to identify optimal managerial strategies for such sites. The study is primarily qualitative in nature and consists of two main stages: a) development of a conceptual framework based on measures for site evaluation; 2) application of the methodology to four case studies. The findings indicate that in addition to the realms of Environment and Economy, heritage sites have three other significant realms that are relevant to archaeological sites: Values and Culture, Organization and Legislation, and Society and Community. These three realms were found to hold significance for the long-term management of archaeological tourism, although they are currently under-developed in the four case studies investigated. The study also proposes a model called the Sustainability Index for Archaeological Sites (SIAS), which can serve as a basis for operative decisions in the management process.