Impact Of Tourism On The Conservation And Reconstruction Of Pompeii And Herculaneum

The impact of tourism on the conservation and reconstruction of Pompeii (P) and Herculaneum (H) is through the gradual deterioration of the sites and on the contrary, funds the programs that reconstruct and maintain the integrity of the archaeology, such as the Herculaneum Conservation Project (HCP) and the Pompeii Sustainable Preservation Project (PSPP). Tourism is a large part of P & H as 2.5 million people visit the cities every year. The significance of this is the circular argument that tourism is partly responsible for the degenerating nature of the integrity of the sites P & H and without tourism the HCP and PSPP would be underfunded, thus the sites would decay through natural causes, and the publicity the sites have because of tourism would be almost non-existent.

Graffiti is the most obvious impact tourists have at both sites, graffiti by visitors date back to the cities’ discovery in the 1800’s. Graffiti by tourists reduce the authenticity of the archaeology and defaces the artefacts which give P & H their fame. Souvenir-taking, tourists taking rubble or chipping off pottery, mosaic or wall stone and leaving with it is another way tourism has a negative impact on the sites. Tourists often take these as a memento of their trip. It should however, be clear to tourists that the HCP and PSPP cannot conserve P & H if visitors are deliberately destroying the sites. Without the provision of bins, tourists leave litter at the sites thus attracting animals to the site and destroying the natural beauty of P & H. Therefore, the obvious ways in which tourism has a negative impact on the conservation and reconstruction of P & H is through graffiti and souvenir taking and littering which physically destroys the archaeological