Marketing the consumption of the past Should the management of archaeological sites be based on a business approach built on sustainable principles?

Resumen

It is widely considered that many archaeological sites are not just cultural resources but the key differentiating factor for destination marketing strategies. Therefore it is no wonder that the management of the public access to these cultural non renewable resources has become a challenge. Some of the world known archaeological sites are now characterized by a massive arrival of seasonal tourists that are generating pressure on the carrying capacity of the site, the absence of a strategic plan in an attempt to, over and above other actions, manage tourism flows and identify target audiences and their needs, besides other many negative consequences. Our proposal is to show that the success of management of archaeological sites relies on a commodification process based on the sustainable tourism principles (Briassoulis, 2002; Chhabra, 2010; Eber, 1992; López et al., 2010; Tosun, 2001; UNESCO, 1987; World Conference on Sustainable Tourism, 1995). To back up this argument, we employ a theoretical proposition that begins by outlining the concept heritage product in order to explain the competitive marketplace where archaeological sites are placed. Then we move to examine if archaeological sites management is a tourism business with the aim of analyzing the main affairs that managers of archaeological sites and all the other stakeholders will have to handle so as to assure the endurance, subsistence and success of these heritage products. In particular, we put special emphasis on the importance of marketing strategies for achieving sustainable principles as well as for building a value creation chain model.