ABSTRACT
In many 'old' countries, England among them, are numerous historic monuments - buildings, as well as items in museums - 'saved' at different times, with less stringent criteria of selection than nowadays. In our time they may pose problems of preservation in the face of low visitor numbers and interest, and of burgeoning maintenance costs. For every Stonehenge and Tower of London, there are a whole range of worthy but dull (and off-the-beaten track) megaliths and other prehistoric stones, together with sundry isolated minor castles, houses and homes, and out-of-the-way, small museum collections. They may have little obvious spirit or allure, or are simply in the wrong place to gain attention. In the case of the UK, if Orkney's monuments were scattered along the M4 motorway corridor, they would probably be too attractive for their own good. Conversely, if Stratford upon Avon were to be relocated in Caithness, it would probably slumber almost totally undisturbed. It could be imagined that the worst problems experienced by the Peak National Park, in relation to numbers of visitors, would scarcely exist were it situated in a far-flung area
of Lincolnshire rather than in central England, surrounded by conurbations. If the architecturally very appealing small towns of Whitehaven on the Cumbrian coast and Blandford Forum in Dorset changed places, their relative abilities to attract visitors would change also. Weobley or Ledbury in the County of Hereford and Worcester would probably be visited more if they changed places with Lavenham in Suffolk and Rye in East Sussex. (The latter are both also part of 'packs', the one Constable Country, the other England's Cinque Ports.)
The instrinsic merits of a cultural item do not alone determine its attractiveness. The item may have, or be imbued from outside with, a factor of 'value addedness'. That value may be spliced on to the item: it may be its manner of presentation, for example, or, if it is a moveable object such as a museum or gallery group, it could be the immediate context or setting in which an item is put. A historic canal which allows actual use as a recreational and leisure resource, rather than serving merely as a sight, has extra value, an attractiveness to a wider audience. It serves more visitor needs. Some way back from such immediate circumstances can be a situation of associated or add-on attractiveness, for example to be in close proximity to a good cafe or restaurant, to have nearby play facilities for young children, ramps for access for the disabled along with other facilities for people with special needs, plenty of seats, good car parking, etc., educational facilities, associated shopping opportunities and so on. Even less immediately, being on a good transport communication network, public and private, would bear greatly on an item's ability to attract visitors. In relation to associated resources, many Greek islands, for example, know what a difference an airport makes - whichever the need is, whether to attract tourists or not to attract them.
