World Monuments Fund, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the Preservation Society of Charleston are hosting an international symposium on cruise tourism in historic port communities, in cooperation with the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), the Center for Responsible Travel (CREST), and the Coastal Conservation League.

Charleston has been at the center of an ongoing debate about the impacts of the cruise industry on historic ports. The Charleston Historic District was included on 2012 World Monuments Watch to highlight these concerns and prompt discourse about how best to balance heritage management and cruise ship tourism. The symposium will examine various approaches to cruise tourism in historic port communities around the world, exploring best practices as well as challenging issues. The aim of the symposium is to advocate for policies and practices that benefit local communities by ensuring an effective balance of economic, environmental, and social concerns, while also stewarding the important heritage resources that make these places appealing to visitors. By creating sustainable strategies for cruise industry development and management, historic port communities can encourage tourism while also preserving quality of life and quality of place. Participants from around the world are invited to attend the symposium and contribute ideas. To encourage further dialogue, research and exploration of new strategies, the conference proceedings will be published and made available electronically.

Conference Details

The conference will be headquartered at the historic Francis Marion Hotel. The registration fee for the conference is $350. Current members of the Preservation Society of Charleston, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and students will be eligible for a discounted registration fee of $300. Registration includes: Wednesday evening reception; breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Thursday; and breakfast on Friday.

Speakers

Carrie Agnew, Charleston Communities for Cruise Control, Charleston, South Carolina

Gustavo Araoz, International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS)

Michelle Baldwin, Mayport Community Development Corp., Mayport, Florida

Dana Beach, Coastal Conservation League, Charleston, South Carolina

Amos Bien, Global Sustainable Tourism Council, Costa Rica

William Cook, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Washington, DC

Joseph Geldhof, Attorney, Law Office of Joseph W. Geldhof, Juneau, Alaska

Tony Hiss, Author, New York, New York

Blan Holman, Southern Environmental Law Center, Charleston, South Carolina

Martha Honey, Center for Responsible Tourism, Washington, DC

Mayor Sam Jones, Mobile, Alabama

Kristian Jørgensen, Fjord Norway, Bergen, Norway

Paulina Kaplan, Municipality of Valparaiso, Valparaiso, Chile

Marcie Keever, Friends of the Earth, Berkeley, California

Ross Klein, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Canada

Harry Miley, Jr., Miley and Associates, Columbia, South Carolina

Paolo Motta, Architect, Italy

Randy Pelzer, Charlestowne Neighborhood Association, Charleston, South Carolina

Maria Sastre, Signature Flight Support, Orlando, Florida

Brian Scarfe, University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada

Evan Thompson, Preservation Society of Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina

Jonathan Tourtellot, National Geographic

Dora Uribe, Attorney, Cozumel, Mexico

Anthony Wood, Ittleson Foundation and National Trust for Historic Preservation, New York, New York