ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES AND TOURISM: PROTECTION AND VALORIZATION, CASE OF TIMGAD (BATNA) ALGERIA

Abstract

The archaeological site of Timgad, located in the high plateaus East of Algeria, more precisely in the of Batna province, represents an outstanding universal value, it was classified in the world heritage of UNESCO in 1982, it attracts a significant number of tourists each year and represents an important economic resource. Timgad has benefited from legal and technical instruments of protection and valorization, but these instruments and means have not had the expected success. The objective of this study is to identify this heritage and the tourism reality in this site on the basis of the field study, which has determined the socio-economic characteristics of the visitors and their impressions on the archaeological site and assess the available opportunities. Because the preservation of Timgad which of Roman origin means the protection of heritage, history, art, archeology and science, these potentialities will make tourism an important resource for local and national development. In fact the diagnosis of the current situation confirms the absence of an adequate and coherent tourism planning which allowed us to propose a strategy that combines protection and valorization, while preserving the cultural heritage which is an asset for sustainable development. To accomplish this study, we begun with an analysis of documents and reports concerning the instruments of protection and valorization of archeological heritage. Followed by a field study in form of questionnaires, as well as statistical and geographical data analysis. We finished with a presentation of the results and their interpretation. We finally concluded with some recommendations.

Keywords

• archaeological site
• heritage
• tourism
• protection and valorization
• timgad
• algeria