Elephantine Island: The Neglected Site A Case Study from Visitor Management Approach

Document Type : Academic peer-reviewed articles

Abstract

Elephantine Island at Aswan Governorate is one of the unique archaeological sites in Egypt representing a historical timeline of Egypt starting from 3000 BC. Moreover, its location adjacent to two Nubian villages - Kotti and Sew - with their inhabitants makes the island a distinctive cultural site where tangible and intangible heritage are mixed together. Nevertheless, the site suffers from negligence and poor interpretation, which on the one hand made the domestic and international tourists unaware of the major significance of the site. On the other hand, the local community is deprived of any kind of development. In this paper, the authors aim to spot the main issues and opportunities of the heritage site on Elephantine Island. As a result of the research, the authors recommend four different approaches in order to develop the site from a visitor management approach: accessing the site, interpretation, community involvement and marketing. The methods used in the analysis are mainly reviewing literature, making interviews and using the latest technology (GIS web mapping and 3D reconstruction)

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