8,500 visitors and 150 exhibitors at the largest archaeological exhibition – Libero Quotidiano

2023-11-05 18:37:00

Rome, 5 Nov. (time.news/Labitalia) – Over 8,500 visitors, 150 exhibitors in the largest exhibition hall in the world dedicated to archaeological heritage with institutions, bodies, foreign countries, regions, trade organisations, professional and cultural associations, companies and tourist consortia, 15 regional territories represented (Regions of Abruzzo, Calabria, Campania, Friuli-Venezia Giulia with the Aquileia Foundation, Lazio, Marche, Puglia, Sardinia, Sicily, Tuscany, Umbria with Secret Perugia, Valle d’Aosta, Roma Capitale with Municipality Visit Brescia), 18 foreign countries (for the first time the Vatican with the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology, Cyprus, Colombia, South Korea, Cuba, Estonia, Greece, Guatemala, Iran, Malta, Peru, Slovak Republic, Serbia, Syria , Slovenia, Spain, South Africa, Tunisia), the Ministry of Culture with 500 m2 and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation. As many as 151 thousand views on the Facebook page in the days of the Bmta 2023 alone, more than 20 thousand visits to profiles and over 3 thousand interactions on official social networks. These are just some numbers of the XXV Mediterranean Archaeological Tourism Exchange, which took place in Paestum from Thursday 2nd to Sunday 5th November.

The Bmta, the only event of its kind in the world, has found its best realization since 2021 in the location of the Cafasso tobacco factory, the current Next, an industrial archeology site. Also in 2023 it was an opportunity to meet, study and disseminate topics relating to the use, management and valorisation of the archaeological heritage and the promotion of the archaeological segment of cultural tourism for professional business, public and private tourist and cultural operators, travelers , the school and university world, the media.

With a very strong attention to the current situation, to the international scenario, to the comparison on the most pressing topics of discussion such as the opportunities of European funds to enhance cultural heritage, improve the attractiveness of tourist destinations and strengthen the competitiveness of businesses, the role of Museums for intercultural dialogue, archeology and heritage as a tool for international cultural cooperation.

“It is an international container – declared the founder and director of the Bmta Ugo Picarelli – of 16 sections with a territorial impact of great importance. European buyers were able to get to know the widespread regional heritage first-hand with visits and tastings (in Nocera Superiore, Eboli, Velia, Roccagloriosa). At the same time the Bmta has received great attention from the territory this year, with participation in the Exhibition Hall of the Municipalities of Naples, Salerno, Isola di Procida, Ischia, Casamicciola Terme, Lacco Ameno, Serrara Fontana, Eboli, Nocera Superiore, Nocera Inferiore, Roccagloriosa, Positano”.

“It also offered moments of experiential tourism, such as the 28-minute train journey between Paestum and Velia on historic railway carriages from the 1960s, and prestigious events such as the presentation of the ‘Paestum Mario Napoli’ Award to Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, who wanted to hold a Lectio Magistralis on the intercultural exchange necessary to avoid wars; The 25 years in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites for the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park were, also thanks to the Bmta, 25 years of valorisation of heritage and promotion of cultural tourism. After 25 years of Bmta, the cultural heritage of the area represents an opportunity for our young people”, he added.

Numerous prestigious initiatives took place in the program: 150 conferences and meetings (of which approximately 50 organized by Mic) and 600 speakers; 30 buyers among European tour operators selected by Enit (coming from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, Spain, Switzerland) and national ones from ArcheoIncoming present at the workshop on Saturday 4 November which aimed to develop European and national proximity tourism demand by specialist tour operators, who have always been dedicated to outgoing, but since the pandemic onwards have also been projected onto our beautiful country. Since 2019, the Bmta has in fact been committed to increasing the demand for European and national proximity with the ArcheoIncoming section, in which specialist tour operators, who have always been dedicated to outgoing, participate in large numbers both in the exhibition hall and as buyers at the workshop, where they met the tourist operators of the offer. For the 25th anniversary, the Bmta has enriched the section, allowing exhibitors to present tourist-archaeological destinations and itineraries with their incoming operators (Dmc, tourist consortia, tour operators) within a dedicated room.

Thanks to the Bmta, archaeological tourism operators, increasingly protagonists of experiential travel, have found the attention of Enit, given their interest in national archaeological destinations, particularly in the Centre-South, following the pandemic. ArcheoVirtual in collaboration with the Institute of Cultural Heritage Sciences of the Cnr (Digital Heritage Innovation Laboratory), the flagship of the Bmta for 16 editions which, with the exhibition and the workshop, has illustrated the most significant productions in the international panorama of technologies digital at the service of heritage, applications and virtual archeology projects.

Furthermore, ArcheoExperience for the dissemination of the techniques used by man to create artefacts for everyday use, with the Experimental Archeology Laboratories located in wooden pagodas in the area in front of the Archaeological Museum, and ArcheoLavoro post-diploma and post-graduate orientation by the University (reserved for high schools) at the Early Christian Basilica and the Archaeological Museum.

The 2023 edition took on particular importance with the celebrations of the twenty-fifth anniversary shared with the Archaeological Park of Paestum and Velia and the Certosa di Padula, which in 1998 were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the recognition given to the Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park, today also Alburni. The Bmta is promoted by the Campania Region, the City of Capaccio Paestum, the Archaeological Park of Paestum and Velia in collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce of Salerno, the Province of Salerno, the Cilento National Park, Vallo di Diano and Alburni.