American Express and World Monuments Fund support sustainable tourism

American Express and the World Monuments Fund have announced a new initiative to reward and encourage "responsible stewardship of historic sites by supporting projects that address the issue of sustainable tourism." This initiative is focused on sustaining historic sites in the face of increased visitor activities and environmental impacts.

Four sites - St Paul’s Cathedral, London, the Historic Centre of Mexico City, Delhi Heritage City, and Historic Route 66, USA - are to receive $4 million over four years to support a variety of projects that integrate historic preservation, sustainable tourism management and visitor education. St Paul’s Cathedral's $500,000 grant will be distributed over two years to help towards relieving crowding and lessening the impact of tourism on the church’s nave which suffers from heavy foot traffic, abrasion and fluctuations in humidity. The funds will contribute to the long-term plan to open up an additional major area inside the Cathedral and make accessible some hitherto rarely seen aspects of the building.

For further details see http://www.wmf.org.uk/press/