Cultural tourism
Painting of the Old Royal Naval College Greenwich by artist-in-residence Rob Pointon 2018 (Courtesy ORNC)
Our cultural tourism and heritage round table on 6th July at the London offices of Historic England will be looking at how we protect our heritage from the negative effects of tourism while creating new and exciting visitor experiences at sites both in the UK and around the world.
Historic England's Director of Planning, Ian Morrison, will be speaking about the importance of making historic sites more sustainable financially while improving the digital experience for visitors.
Also joining our discussions will be Andrew Croft, Director from Chris Blandford Associates, which consults on heritage management as well as landscape master-planning and design. The practice has worked on the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, London and Stonehenge and is currently overseeing work to minimise destruction to the Orkney Islands from cruise shipping.
Andrew, formerly a director at Atkins, is also working on the on-going competition for a heritage-led masterplan in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and the masterplan for the Georgia National Botanic Gardens.
The first aims to create an enhanced heritage zone within the city, using traditional forms of architecture and linking this to the existing world heritage site in Riyadh. The second masterplan in Georgia, looks to open up the gardens for tourism purposes while protecting them as a place of scientific interest. Georgia is seen as an emerging nation and currently the gardens are run down in places with poor public access.