Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Tourism Management Perspectives journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tmp The future of the past: Sustainable management of archaeological tourist sites – The case study of Israel Nirit Koren-Lawrence a , Noga Collins-Kreiner a, ⁎ , Yechezkel (Hezi) Israeli a,b a Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Haifa, Israel b Department of Tourism and Hotel Management, Kinneret Academic College on the Sea of Galilee, Israel ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Archaeological tourism Sustainable management Heritage tourism Sustainability Heritage archaeological tourism Sustainability index for archaeological sites Israel ABSTRACT The objective of this study is to examine the management strategies for archaeological heritage sites and to identify optimal managerial strategies for such sites. The study is primarily qualitative in nature and consists of two main stages: a) development of a conceptual framework based on measures for site evaluation; 2) appli- cation of the methodology to four case studies. The findings indicate that in addition to the realms of Environment and Economy, heritage sites have three other significant realms that are relevant to archaeological sites: Values and Culture, Organization and Legislation, and Society and Community. These three realms were found to hold significance for the long-term management of archaeological tourism, although they are currently under-developed in the four case studies investigated. The study also proposes a model called the Sustainability Index for Archaeological Sites (SIAS), which can serve as a basis for operative decisions in the management process. 1. Introduction Heritage tourism at archaeological sites is a significant and growing sector of the tourism industry worldwide. In some countries, it con- stitutes a major component of tourism in general and heritage tourism in particular (Adams, 2010; Madden & Shipley, 2012). Until recently, few articles and books on tourism have focused on archaeological heritage research, preservation, and site management, and, conversely, few in-depth scholarly studies have connected archeology to tourism. (Walker & Carr, 2013). This has changed over the past decade, which has witnessed several publications addressing this topic directly (Burtenshaw, 2017; Timothy, 2014; Walker & Carr, 2013). In recent years, archaeologists have become increasingly aware that they are not operating in a vacuum and that an archaeological site is not simply a pile of remnants or an assortment of ancient shards (Diaz- Andreu, 2013; Pacifico & Vogel, 2012; Pinter, 2005). Growing aware- ness regarding tourism's significant potential economic benefits, and the fact that tourism stimulates the transformation of archaeological locations into heritage sites, requires consideration of how to manage these sites in a manner that will best ensure their preservation in the long run and increase the benefits and financial gains stemming from their various components (Bawaya, 2005; Ford & Montes, 1999, Hodder, 2002). The main objective of this study is to examine the management strategies applied to archaeological heritage sites and to propose adaptations aimed at facilitating an optimal combination of archae- ological preservation and tourism promotion. The main goal of this study, therefore, is to generate optimal management strategies for ar- chaeological heritage sites. This raises the following questions: 1. What are the significant components of a heritage archaeological tourism site, and why? How are such components perceived and identified by archaeologists, tourism specialists, conservation ex- perts, and webmasters? 2. How can we characterize the reciprocal relationships among the different elements of management of a given tourist/archaeological heritage site? This question was addressed by developing a tool that enables the mapping and diagnosis of the various administrative components of archaeological tourism sites and the links among them. 3. What are the most suitable management strategies for archae- ological heritage sites? 2. Heritage tourism and the management of archaeological heritage sites This literature review deals with the main concepts and issues re- lated to this study: heritage tourism, the management of heritage sites, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2020.100700 Received 5 August 2019; Received in revised form 5 May 2020; Accepted 19 May 2020 ⁎ Corresponding author at: Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Haifa, Israel. E-mail address: nogack@geo.haifa.ac.il (N. Collins-Kreiner). Tourism Management Perspectives 35 (2020) 100700 2211-9736/ © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. T