An exceptional crossroads of authorities, researchers and testimonials of an international level, an extraordinary opportunity for cultural diplomacy in which dialogue between countries increasingly finds, year after year, a privileged venue, a unique place of study and dissemination for professionals, tourist and cultural operators, travelers and enthusiasts: a event's audience the Mediterranean Archaeological Tourism Exchange which concluded today in Paestum is original of its kind.
The XXI edition of the Mediterranean Archaeological Tourism Exchange, promoted and supported by the Campania Region, the City of Capaccio Paestum, the Archaeological Park of Paestum, conceived and organized by Leader srl with the direction of Ugo Picarelli, attracted in four days - from the 15th to the 18th November – over 12.000 visitors between the Exhibition Center of the Savoy Hotel, the Archaeological Park, the National Archaeological Museum and the Early Christian Basilica, location of the XXI edition, as well as 100 exhibitors including 20 foreign countries, around 60 conferences and meetings, 300 speakers , 120 supply operators, 100 accredited journalists.
The Founder and Director of the Exchange Ugo Picarelli declared: “The high quality of the meetings, the proposals for future collaborations, the renewed image of the exhibition hall, the conspicuous participation in the B2B meetings of the tourist operators of the offer with the selected foreign buyers from ENIT and with the national buyers of Federturismo's AIDIT, the appreciation of the illustrious speakers, the high number of visitors, are just some of the elements that make us satisfied for having made the event grow again this year. The Mediterranean Archaeological Tourism Exchange, in its XNUMXst edition, confirms itself as the only, authoritative and recognized event in the world for all those who work in the field of cultural tourism and archaeology. At the same time it remains a driving force for development for the territory of Paestum, a UNESCO site, and for the entire Campania region. One of the most important objectives of the Stock Exchange, the discussion on intercultural dialogue between peoples, has materialized this year in the twinning between the sites of Paestum and Palmyra, the Syrian city symbol of the cultural heritage threatened by terrorism and in the agreements between the Colosseum and the Cambodian site of Angkor, which will lead to a subsequent twinning. Furthermore, the presence of ministers, ambassadors and UNESCO leaders marked the celebrations of the two twentieth anniversaries: those of the inscription of Paestum and Troia in the World Heritage List. And again the latest discoveries on the Jerusalem esplanade. The Councilors of Culture and Tourism of the Sicilian Region, Sebastiano Tusa and Sandro Pappalardo, have repeatedly underlined the importance of participating in the Stock Exchange, for the opportunities it gives to their Region thanks to the comparison on the promotion of destinations and the valorisation of cultural heritage. I conclude by thanking the Campania Region and the Municipality of Capaccio Paestum for the support they have decided to reserve for the XXI edition".
12 unique events in the world all in one Exchange, a successful format demonstrated by the prestigious collaborations of international bodies such as UNESCO and UNWTO.
60 conferences and meetings, with 300 speakers, offered a very rich and broad overview on multiple fronts, from ArcheoIncontri (the section dedicated to press conferences and the presentation of projects, cultural, editorial and multimedia initiatives), to ArcheoLavoro (the post-diploma and post-graduation orientation with presentation of the training offer by the Universities present in the Exhibition, the presentation of the professional figures and the meetings with the protagonists dedicated to Schools and Universities, in addition to the Masterclasses reserved for graduates by Universitas Mercatorum), passing through ArcheoStartUp (in collaboration with Re-Generation (Y)outh, with the presentation of new cultural enterprises and innovative projects in archaeological activities).
The Meetings with the Protagonists, dedicated to the Archaeological Sites of the World, in which the general public was able to listen to the extraordinary reports of important archaeologists and directors of prestigious sites and museums: Rüstem Aslan Head of the archaeological area of Troy (in collaboration with the Culture and Information Office of the Embassy of Turkey), Dan Bahat for decades the official archaeologist of Jerusalem (in collaboration with the Israeli National Tourism Office), Marie Bardisa Conservator of the Chauvet Cave, Azedine Beschaouch Scientific Secretary of the International Coordination Committee for the Protection and Development of Angkor – Cambodia, Alfonsina Russo Director of the Colosseum Archaeological Park.
Thanks to the very high and authoritative attention of the Stock Exchange towards intercultural dialogue as a universal value of identities and cultural heritage, condensed in the hashtags #pernondimenticare il Museo del Bardo, 18 March 2015 and #unite4heritage for Palmyra, Paestum was able to collect again this year touching testimonies: Moncef Ben Moussa Director of the Bardo Museum in Tunis at the time of the attack in March 2015 (current Director for Museum Development), Mouhamed Al Khaddour President of the Federation of Syrian Chambers of Tourism, the archaeologist Paolo Matthiae , Mohamad Saleh last Director for Tourism of Palmyra, Omar Asaad the son of Khaled al-Asaad - the archaeologist of Palmyra who paid with his life for the defense of the cultural heritage - to whom the Award for the most significant archaeological discoveries is entitled, gone this year to the archaeologist Benjamin Clèment for the "little French Pompeii" of Vienne.
The twinning ceremony between the cities of Paestum and Palmyra and the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the inscription of the archaeological area of Paestum in the UNESCO World Heritage List was exciting and with a strong international character, in the presence of Mounir Bouchenaki Special Advisor to the Director General of UNESCO and Irina Bokova, former Director General of UNESCO, who was awarded the Paestum Archeology “Mario Napoli” Award for her commitment to the valorisation of cultural heritage, the promotion of archaeological tourism and intercultural dialogue. From this edition, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the Diver's Tomb, the Award is named after the archaeologist Mario Napoli who, on 3 June 1968, the date of the discovery of the only evidence of non-vascular painting in the Greek context, directed the Archaeological Superintendence of Salerno, Avellino and Benevento; Sackona Phoeurng, Minister of Culture of the Kingdom of Cambodia and Paolo Verri General Director of the Matera-Basilicata Foundation 2018 also received the prestigious award for 2019.
100 exhibitors including 20 foreign countries in the only exhibition hall in the world dedicated to archaeological heritage, with the presence of institutions, bodies, foreign countries, regions, trade organisations, professional and cultural associations, companies and tourist consortia.
The close collaboration with the Regions has led to notable participation: Abruzzo, Basilicata (APT Territorial Promotion Agency), Calabria, Campania, Lazio (Regional Tourism Agency), Sicily (Department of Cultural Heritage and Sicilian Identity and Department of Tourism , Sport and Entertainment). Other Italian regions are also represented: Emilia Romagna, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Lombardy, Piedmont, Puglia, Sardinia.
To underline the authoritative presence of the MiBAC, with a stand of over 300 mXNUMX in which a rich program of meetings took place, and the participation of Roma Capitale for the first time.
Among the exhibitors, expected as every year are numerous foreign countries: Albania, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Croatia, Ecuador, Estonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Jordan, Greece, Israel, Mongolia, Montenegro, Peru, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tunisia, Turkey, Uzbekistan. Furthermore, as in the past, the Stock Exchange decided to give significant attention to Palmira by dedicating a space to it in the Exhibition Hall.
The technological solutions that have made places of culture more attractive to the general public and more readable in terms of cultural understanding and sensitivity were the protagonists of ArcheoVirtual, the international exhibition (staged at the Archaeological Museum) and workshop on multimedia technologies, interactive and virtual in collaboration with the ITABC Institute for Technologies Applied to Cultural Heritage CNR and the General Directorate of Museums of the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities, thanks to which visitors were able to walk in the temples of Paestum at the time of their construction, fly over the Tiber Valley on a journey through time, or defend the Sforza Castle as a virtual archer, just to give a few examples.
Dedicated to business opportunities in cultural tourism, in compliance with the name Borsa, the Workshop with European buyers selected by ENIT and coming from 7 countries (Austria, Belgium, Germany, Holland, United Kingdom, Spain, Switzerland), enriched by this the year of the national buyers of AIDIT, the Italian Association of Tourist Distribution of Federturismo Confindustria.
With ArcheoExperience, through the experimental archeology laboratories near the Archaeological Museum, visitors were able to relive the ancient techniques used to create the objects used by our distant ancestors and now preserved in the showcases of archaeological museums, witnesses of the material culture that accompanied the evolution of man: the processing of amber in Prehistory, the life of the Roman Legions, the art of the potter from Magna Graecia to today, the production of leather shoes, terracotta oil lamps and jewels in antiquity.
Integrating the Arabic language on the official website www.bmta.it proved to be a very positive choice for the second year: in a month, up to 18 November, almost 40.000 thousand accesses were recorded and around 100.000 thousand pages were most visited .
Among the most viewed, in addition to the program, are those relating to the exhibitors present and the one providing information on the new locations planned for all the events of the XXI edition.
12 live streams available both on Facebook and on the website for a total of 20 hours of live broadcast: more than 6.500 total views on Facebook. Greater interest was shown towards the Paestum-Palmyra twinning, the intervention of Dan Bahat Archaeologist of the Jerusalem excavations and towards the International Archaeological Discovery Award “Khaled al-Asaad”.
During the days of the event, more than 20.000 likes were exceeded on the stock exchange's Facebook page, which recorded a consistent organic increase with important numbers both in terms of coverage and interactions. Significant feedback was also received from the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities: the two logos of the BMTA and of the Ministry itself have appeared since 31 October as the cover image of the MiBAC profile. Interest was also shown by the official page of the Syrian Ministry of Tourism which published a dedicated gallery.
Furthermore, the Stock Exchange intended to strengthen its presence on Instagram and was the protagonist of a significant number of Instagram Stories: exhibitors, speakers, visitors contributed to promoting their presence in Paestum, underlining the beauty of a cultural heritage that the whole world envies us.
Some live broadcasts were also broadcast on Twitter and there was a constant contribution not only from the bloggers and historic influencers who have accompanied the Stock Exchange for years, but also from the official profiles of the Institutions, Museums and Archaeological Parks.
The XXII edition of the Mediterranean Archaeological Tourism Exchange will take place from Thursday 14th to Sunday 17th November 2019.
