XXIV Mediterranean Exchange of Archaeological Tourism, in Paestum from 27 to 30 October

XXIV Mediterranean Exchange of Archaeological Tourism, in Paestum from Thursday 27th to Sunday 30th October at the Cafasso tobacco factory, the archaeological area and the National Museum, the Basilica

The XXIV Mediterranean Archaeological Tourism Exchange will take place in Paestum at the Cafasso tobacco factory (site of industrial archeology "symbol of the Sele Plain", as defined by Gillo Dorfles), the archaeological area and the National Museum, the Basilica from Thursday 27th to Sunday 30 October 2022.

EXHIBITION HALL
150 exhibitors (17 regional territories represented, 12 Regions, Rome Capital with Municipality at the National Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria and also Creative Europe, Ales, Parco di Gaiola), of which 500 foreign countries (for the first time Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Palestine, Greek Macedonia and the return of China, Cyprus, Spain).
The Ministry of Culture in its space will present the candidacy of the Via Appia Antica, in the entire route from Rome to Brindisi and including the Trajan variant, for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List (4 Regions, 74 Municipalities, 14 Parks, 13 Metropolitan Cities and Provinces, 14 Parks, 25 Universities, 28 offices of the same Ministry, as well as numerous territorial communities have joined together to protect, enhance and promote the candidacy of this route, which develops almost entirely in Southern Italy). The ancient communication axis, the first conceived as a “via publica”, was the prototype of the entire Roman road system with its 120.000 km of total length.

“This is a major operation to protect and enhance at a global level an extraordinary cultural heritage of Southern Italy. – declares the Minister of Culture, Dario Franceschini – a road that for millennia has united East and West and along which Greek and Hellenistic culture penetrated Roman times. The ministry is investing over 22 million euros in the protection of monuments and the enhancement of the Appian Way”.

THE PROGRAM OF CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS
In this edition, 100 conferences (of which 50 are meetings and workshops organized by the Ministry of Culture) will take place in 5 rooms simultaneously with 500 speakers all in attendance.

Among the main initiatives planned:

Conference with the Directors of Autonomous State Parks and Museums
Following the Reform of Minister Franceschini in 2014, which has since given autonomy to around 40 parks and museums, it is customary for the Stock Exchange to inaugurate the first day with the Directors of the Autonomous State Parks and Museums for a discussion on the most current issues in terms of management, valorisation and innovation. The first session The support of the PNRR to archaeological destinations, parks and museums for the valorisation of territories, sites and for the promotion of cultural tourism takes place in collaboration with the Italy Office of the European Parliament with the participation of the leaders of the European Parliament and of the Ministries of Tourism and Culture, of the Presidents of the Employers' Organizations (Marina Lalli for Federturismo Confindustria and Vittorio Messina for Assoturismo Confesercenti). In the second session Comparing Archaeological Parks and Museums two prestigious foreign museums participate with Ahmed Farouk Ghoneim Director of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization and Fatma Naït Yghil Director of the Bardo Museum of Tunis and the founders of organized archaeological tourism Willy Fassio for Il Tucano Viaggi Ricerca and Piergianni Addis for I Viaggi di Maurizio Levi and Kel12.

Presentation of the volumes:
– “Campania – Kingdom of archaeology” by Le Guide di Repubblica;
– “Etruscan Tuscany. A contemporary journey in a thousand-year-old land” – Cairo Ed. created on behalf of Toscana Promozione Turistica.

Conference on Underground Archeology in Italy
intends to highlight the many places under our cities made by man, such as caves, crypts, catacombs, galleries, labyrinths, in order to identify contents and tools to promote an offer marked by beauty, uniqueness, emotional journeys, sustainability, where cities and territories are protagonists. The participation of the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archeology with the Secretary General Monsignor Iacobone, of ENIT with Councilor Pappalardo, of the Italian Touring Club with President Iseppi with Municipalities and Regions has the aim of launching an interregional project of the protagonist territories.

Presentation of the project co-financed by the European Union COSME program “EU DigiTOUR”, dedicated to SMEs and startups in the tourism sector to access a technical and financial support program
An opportunity for a business audience (in particular tourism SMEs, policy makers, incubators, accelerators with programs dedicated to tourism startups) to learn about data, trends and projects on the topic of Digital Transformation and its relevance for the tourism sector; the event presents the EU DigiTOUR project, co-financed by the COSME program of the European Union and the technical and financial support opportunities dedicated to tourism SMEs. The second session focuses on the topic of training in the digital field with a high rate of interaction for a business audience and for students who want to increase their skills and experiment with them in the field.
The most relevant digital technologies for tourism will be explored in depth: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR; VR) and big data; Furthermore, Mentoring, workshops and a mini-hackathon will guide participants in the adoption and use of these technologies. The mini-hackathon open to students (high school and undergraduates) and professionals, tourism businesses and startups will use the CO*STAR (customer opportunity solution team advantages result) methodology, specifically designed for the creative development of innovative projects.

International Archaeological Discovery Award "Khaled al-Asaad"
The BMTA in collaboration with Archeo, the first archaeological monthly in Italy, since 2015 has rewarded the archaeological discoveries voted by the main international archaeological newspapers, media partners of the Exchange: Antike Welt (Germany), AiD Archäologie in Deutschland (Germany), Archéologia (France), as. Archäologie der Schweiz (Switzerland), Current Archeology (United Kingdom), Dossiers d’Archéologie (France).
The Award, in its 8th edition and named after the archaeologist of Palmyra who paid with his life for the defense of the cultural heritage, is the only worldwide recognition dedicated to archaeological discoveries and its archaeologists, who with sacrifice, dedication, competence and scientific research face their task every day in the dual role of scholars of the past and professionals serving the territory. Fayrouz Asaad, Khaled's archaeologist daughter, Stefano Ravagnan, Special Envoy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation for the crisis in Syria and Mohamad Saleh, Last Director of Tourism of Palmyra, participate in the delivery ceremony.
The 2021 Prize will be awarded for the discovery of the "golden city" founded by Amenhotep III, which resurfaced from the desert near Luxor in Egypt, to Zahi Hawass, former Minister of Antiquities and director of the archaeological mission.

Presentation of "e-Archeo", a large national project for the multimedia and technological valorisation of 8 archaeological sites
Commissioned to ALES spa by the Ministry of Culture, the e-Archeo project was created in collaboration with several Italian universities and with the CNR ISPC, with the aim of offering a way of reading and enjoying some archaeological sites with considerable narrative potential not yet fully expressed. 8 Cultural Heritage sites of Etruscan, Greek, Phoenician-Punic, indigenous and Roman foundation were chosen: Egnazia (Puglia), Sibari (Calabria), Velia (Campania), Nora (Sardinia), Alba Fucens (Abruzzo), Cerveteri ( Lazio), Marzabotto (Emilia Romagna) and the Villas of Sirmione and Desenzano (Lombardy). For these eight sites e-Archeo constitutes an integrated and multi-channel multimedia valorisation project with transversal solutions, from which individual applications are activated for various uses and types of public, promoting this heritage in both scientific, narrative and emotional ways.

2nd Mediterranean Conference on Underwater Archaeological Tourism and “Sebastiano Tusa” International Underwater Archeology Award
On the occasion of the 2019 edition, the BMTA posthumously awarded the “Paestum Mario Napoli” Prize to Sebastiano Tusa, to honor the memory of the great archaeologist, the scholar, the friend of the Stock Exchange, but above all the man of the South, who lived his life serving the institutions to contribute to local development and the protection of the Mare Nostrum. Precisely in memory of the Sicilian archaeologist, since 2021 the Stock Exchange has organized the Mediterranean Conference on Underwater Archaeological Tourism to promote its Mediterranean destinations and the “Sebastiano Tusa” International Underwater Archaeology Prize. Thanks to the scientific coordination of Luigi Fozzati, the following speakers at the Conference were Barbara Davidde, National Superintendent for Underwater Cultural Heritage, Ulrike Guérin, Programme Specialist 2001 Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage UNESCO Culture Sector, Valeria Patrizia Li Vigni, President of the Sebastiano Tusa Foundation, Ferdinando Maurici, Superintendent of the Sea of ​​the Sicilian Region, Fabio Pagano, Director of the Archaeological Park of the Phlegraean Fields, Cristiano Tiussi, Director of the Aquileia Foundation, while receiving the “Sebastiano Tusa” International Award for Underwater Archaeology:
for the lifetime achievement award Eric Rieth Director emeritus of the CNRS Center National de la Recherche Scientifique of France on behalf of the University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne-CNRS and Head of the Department of Naval Archeology at the National Marine Museum of Paris
for the most innovative project curated by Institutions, Museums and Archaeological Parks Andrea Camilli Director of the Museum of Ancient Ships of Pisa for the “Grande Tirreno” project
for the best journalistic contribution in terms of dissemination Pippo Cappellano Journalist, director, underwater photo cameraman and author of documentaries

Meetings with the Protagonists
The general public with the most famous cultural disseminators, archaeologists, museum directors, academics, journalists: Syusy Blady who speaks on "Engineers of the Cosmos", a surprising cosmic journey; Zahi Hawass archaeologist, former Egyptian Minister of Antiquities and Director of the excavations at Giza, Saqqara and Valley of the Kings; Barbara Jatta Director of the Vatican Museums; Fatma Naït Yghil Director of the Bardo Museum in Tunis; Alfonsina Russo General Director of the Colosseum Archaeological Park.

AIGU Italian Youth Association for UNESCO: the ECO project reunites man with his biosphere
In continuity with the theme addressed at BMTA 2021, the actions suggested by the AIGU Next Generation You Manifesto find the right place within a strategic vision conducted on the national territory, which led to the treatment of the contents on UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage at the last Italian Youth Forum in Cagliari 2022 and which will continue to concern the theme of Living Heritage at the next Italian Youth Forum in Turin 2023, dedicated to UNESCO Creative Cities. AIGU turns its attention to man and his ecosystem with the aim of intimately reconnecting him to the nature of the places he inhabits and promoting a deeper awareness of his origins and his history, which still influence his traditions today.

WORKSHOP WITH EUROPEAN BUYERS SELECTED BY ENIT
30 buyers among European tour operators selected by ENIT (coming from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, Spain) and national ones from ArcheoIncoming present at the Workshop on Saturday 29 October from 10am to 18pm, which intends to develop European proximity tourism demand and national by specialist tour operators, who have always been dedicated to outgoing, but since the pandemic onwards have also been projected onto our beautiful country.
In recent years, the BMTA has oriented itself in choosing buyers to the European market alone to give tourism operators an opportunity to recover shares of local foreign demand, which in recent decades has preferred neighboring competing countries to the detriment of Southern Italy. The best tour operators interested in the archaeological segment of cultural tourism, who have never participated in the Paestum Workshop over the years, will be present.

ARCHEOINCOMING
Since 2019, the BMTA has been committed to the demand for European and national proximity, presenting the new ArcheoIncoming section, where specialist tour operators, who have always been dedicated to outgoing, are the protagonists. As in 2021, numerous tour operators present this year in the Exhibition Hall (Carrani Tours, Cosertour, Il Tucano Viaggio Ricerca, Jockey Viaggi, Key to Italy, Mondo Emozioni, Viaggi dell'Elefante, Yanez Viaggi), which as buyers strengthen also the Workshop representing the national demand in the meeting with the tourist operators of the offer.
Thanks to the BMTA, in the discussion carried out with archaeological tourism entrepreneurs, precursors of experiential travel, they requested technical coordination from ENIT, necessary following the reprogramming of the catalogs imposed by the pandemic, aware of increasingly promoting national archaeological destinations , particularly in the Center and South.

“PAESTUM MARIO NAPLES” AWARD
Established in 2005 in the name of "Paestum" and entitled since 2018, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the Tomb of the Diver, to Mario Napoli, archaeologist and scholar of Magna Graecia, Archaeological Superintendent of Sa, Av, Bn in 1964, when the Porta Rosa (a singular construction complex from the 1968nd-1,5rd century BC) came to light in Velia and in 480, XNUMX km south of Paestum in the necropolis of Tempa del Prete, the Tomb of the Diver (the only evidence in the Greek context of non-vascular painting, dated to around XNUMX BC) is assigned to personalities and organisms who contribute to intercultural dialogue, to the valorisation of cultural heritage, to the promotion of archaeological tourism.
The recipients of the Award for 2022 are: Association of the Foreign Press in Italy, Vatican Museums, Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria, Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology, Italian Touring Club.

ARCHEOVIRTUAL
In collaboration with the Institute of Cultural Heritage Sciences of the CNR, ArcheoVirtual has been the flagship of the BMTA for 15 editions, showcasing the most significant productions in the international panorama of digital technologies at the service of heritage. The 2022 edition with the theme “Towards the Metaverse” aims to introduce the public to the prospects that are emerging in the field of new virtual worlds. Cultural heritage is moving towards the challenge of new immersive environments and artificial worlds. The announced advent of the Metaverse, while not representing an absolute novelty (the first metaverse environments dedicated to cultural heritage date back to about fifteen years ago), allows us to glimpse significant transformations in the methods of communication, entertainment, and commerce, which will affect all areas of social life. What role will culture and archaeological heritage have in this context? To date, the characteristics of the phenomenon are not yet well defined, but ideally every survey or reconstructive modeling can become, in the near future, an immersive environment in which to move, meet other users, learn information and weave relationships.
The productions present: Arzachena Civiltà Millenaria CNR ISPC – Municipality of Arzachena, e-Archeo HI Cerveteri BlueCinemaTV, Two steps at the Louvre with your avatar! No Real Interactive, MAPOD4D ArcheOs Tec, Progettosl Business Network – Leicon, Realverso Lucanum iInformatica, MetaHeritage. Metaverse for archeology 7eMezzo.biz – MetaHeritage, ATON for the CNR ISPC Metaverse. Furthermore, the public will have Lucrezia as an exceptional guide, the virtual archaeologist who will communicate with the visitors of ArcheoVirtual via their mobile phones.
The exhibition is accompanied by a thematic workshop on the evolution of digital applications in cultural heritage, on the related professionalism and on the forms and techniques of narration of the past, this year on the transformations underway, linked to the advent of this virtual world and the blockchain , which will drastically change the emotional and economic perspectives of the enjoyment of cultural heritage. Speakers include Augusto Palombini CNR ISPC, Scientific Coordinator of ArcheoVirtual, Costanza Miliani Director CNR ISPC, Daniele Bursich Digital Entrepreneur 7eMezzo.biz, Ciro Cacciola Director MAV Virtual Archaeological Museum of Ercolano, Antonella Negri Official of the Central Institute for the digitalisation of cultural heritage Ministry of Culture, George Partskhaladze Research Council Member Georgian National Museum, Antonella Pellettieri Research Director CNR ISPC, Luciano Ragazzi Implementation Director MTC SIC Digital ecosystem for culture – Campania Region.

Furthermore, ArcheoExperience with the Experimental Archeology Laboratories for the dissemination of the techniques used by man to create everyday artefacts, ArcheoLavoro post-diploma and post-graduate orientation organized by the Universities (over 2.000 students from 35 schools from Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Lazio, Puglia) and ArcheoStartup for the presentation of youth cultural tourism businesses, in collaboration with the Startup Tourism Association, while the IgersItalia community will meet in Paestum with a stand and the meeting of the board of directors.

FREE ENTRANCE, GUIDED TOURS AND DISCOUNTS ON ARROWS
Entry to the BMTA is free, with online registration recommended to avoid queues. Furthermore, accredited visitors, thanks to the precious collaboration of the Archaeological Park of Paestum and Velia and the Regional Museums Directorate of Campania, benefit from free entry to the archaeological areas of Paestum and Velia and to the national museums of Paestum, Capua, Eboli, Padula and Pontecagnano. Also available, upon reservation, are free guided tours of Paestum and Velia on Friday 28th and Saturday 29th October.

Frecciarossa Official Train of the BMTA: for those who participate in the event and reach Naples or Salerno with Le Frecce, a 30% discount on the Base price of the train ticket.

PROMOTING BODIES
The BMTA is promoted by the Campania Region, the City of Capaccio Paestum and the Archaeological Park of Paestum and Velia and is conceived and organized by Leader srl, Founder and Director Ugo Picarelli.

It is held with the support of MiC Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Tourism, UNESCO, UNWTO World Tourism Organization and in collaboration with the Office of the European Parliament in Italy, ENIT National Tourism Agency, ISPC Institute of Cultural Heritage Sciences of the CNR, Province of Salerno, Chamber of Commerce of Salerno, Cilento Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park, University of Salerno.