Challenges facing heritage tourism sites

3 October 2005

Why we need to save the Antarctic Huts and manage them and other heritage sites for future generations are some of the issues English Heritage Chairman Sir Neil Cossons will address during the Carter Group Heritage Week, 7-14 October.

Sir Neil, one of England’s foremost authorities on heritage, has been invited to give the keynote address at the official opening of the annual Carter Group Heritage Week at the Regent on Worcester, 94 Worcester Boulevard, Friday, 7 October, from 5.30pm.

As a past director of London’s Science Museum, the Ironbridge Gorge Museum, Shropshire, and National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, Sir Neil is an authority on the history of technology and industrial archaeology. He helped spearhead the conservation of many industrial and technological sites in England.

He recently visited the Ross Sea area in Antarctica to help secure British Government funding to save the great British explorers’ huts. Sir Neil will discuss the importance of these huts and how they might be managed for future generations at a public talk on Sunday 9 October, 3.30 to 5.30pm, at the Old Boys Theatre, Christ’s College.  Bookings (ph 365 2486) are essential for this talk, and donations of $5 per entry will go to the Antarctic Heritage Trust work.

“Some of the most important places in human history have been accorded World Heritage Site status by UNESCO. The Pyramids of Egypt, the Taj Mahal, Stonehenge, and the Great Wall of China are some of the better known from the ancient world.
“This is a means of signifying their importance to all of us. So, what sort of sites should we be identifying to reflect our own world?” Sir Neil says.

Sir Neil will also speak about the challenges ahead for heritage tourism around the world. For a full programme of events for the Carter Group Heritage Week, visit:
 www.heritageweek.co.nz

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