NS34 Session 16

This session will consider the global tourism growth which began in the wake of the Icelandic economic crash in 2008 and its effects cultural sustainability and heritage management in Iceland. In the context of museum work that means reducing risk of potential damage to protected museum buildings (turf houses for example), landscapes and objects, increased operating costs which come with increased tourism which require more staff, improved infrastructure (such as parking lots and toilet facilities), engagement with marketing, interpretations in different languages in exhibitions and more.  

As heritage became commodified to serve the needs of the tourism industry, local public museums became fearful that their active participation was in direct contrast to the local Museum Act 141/2011, which states that the purpose of museums is to preserve Icelandic cultural and natural heritage and pass it on “unscathed to future generations”. They are not for profit, but in service of society and are to increase “people’s quality of life”. How can that be achieved within the realm of a for-profit, mostly privates local tourism industry? Is there a potential for public museums to lose their professional and cultural integrity? In what way can cultural sustainability be considered when developing tourism policy and developments?  

This proposed session is partly based on the organiser’s ongoing research and engages with broader academic and professional discussions on collaborations between Icelandic museums and other cultural institutions and the local tourism industry. It will be a paper session, bringing together experts working within the tourism industry and museums, as well as academics focusing on the role of museums (private and public) within tourism. The hope is to create an academic and practical discussions of cultural sustainability and heritage commodification, and to consider the benefits of increased collaborations between the two sectors, public museums and tourism and to focus on the mounting tension between not-for-profit and for-profit stakeholders within cultural tourism. Finally, to consider how these collaborations might provide all participating agencies with the opportunity to become an active agent for good, in a changing world.