WebinarOnline
Heritage on the frontline: Community-based tourism, cultural preservation and the geopolitics of sacred sites
- 15:00–15:45 UK time45 minutes
- OnlineJoining link to be confirmed
- Julio SaquiChaired by Prof. Eugenia Wickens
This webinar explores how communities can guide tourism at sacred and culturally important places.
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About this event
Speaker update, 2 October 2026: Julio Saqui is confirmed as the industry speaker. The academic speaker will be announced once confirmed.
Sacred places and cultural heritage sites embody religious meaning, collective memory, political identity and continuing relationships with land. Tourism can provide income and international recognition, but it can also generate conflict over access, interpretation, commercial activity and visitor conduct. This webinar examines community authority in the governance of sacred sites. It asks how conservation and tourism can proceed without subordinating living cultural obligations to visitor demand or presenting contested histories as simple and settled narratives.
Panellists will consider how borders, displacement, armed conflict and competing territorial claims affect heritage protection and community access. The discussion will address consent, local economic retention, visitor orientation and the control of images, stories and ceremonies. It will distinguish consultation from genuine authority and examine who can restrict access when cultural or spiritual responsibilities require it. Attention will also be given to the risks faced by communities when increased visibility exposes sensitive places to damage, surveillance or political appropriation.
Participants will gain a framework for evaluating tourism at sacred sites through human dignity, cultural continuity and locally defined values. They will learn to examine governance rights, benefit distribution, safeguarding measures and routes for resolving disputes. The session will also consider how tourism organisations can communicate restrictions clearly and support conservation without claiming ownership of cultural knowledge. Delegates will leave able to assess whether a project strengthens community stewardship or uses heritage primarily as a commercial asset measured by visitor volume. This approach gives cultural responsibility priority over market access and promotional opportunity in every decision.
Featured speakers
JS
Julio Saqui
Mr
Heritage on the frontline: Community-based tourism, cultural preservation and the geopolitics of sacred sites
This webinar explores how communities can guide tourism at sacred and culturally important places.
- 15:00–15:45 UK time
- Online · 45 minutesJoining link to be confirmed
- Julio SaquiChaired by Prof. Eugenia Wickens
About this webinar
Speaker update, 2 October 2026: Julio Saqui is confirmed as the industry speaker. The academic speaker will be announced once confirmed.
Sacred places and cultural heritage sites embody religious meaning, collective memory, political identity and continuing relationships with land. Tourism can provide income and international recognition, but it can also generate conflict over access, interpretation, commercial activity and visitor conduct. This webinar examines community authority in the governance of sacred sites. It asks how conservation and tourism can proceed without subordinating living cultural obligations to visitor demand or presenting contested histories as simple and settled narratives.
Panellists will consider how borders, displacement, armed conflict and competing territorial claims affect heritage protection and community access. The discussion will address consent, local economic retention, visitor orientation and the control of images, stories and ceremonies. It will distinguish consultation from genuine authority and examine who can restrict access when cultural or spiritual responsibilities require it. Attention will also be given to the risks faced by communities when increased visibility exposes sensitive places to damage, surveillance or political appropriation.
Participants will gain a framework for evaluating tourism at sacred sites through human dignity, cultural continuity and locally defined values. They will learn to examine governance rights, benefit distribution, safeguarding measures and routes for resolving disputes. The session will also consider how tourism organisations can communicate restrictions clearly and support conservation without claiming ownership of cultural knowledge. Delegates will leave able to assess whether a project strengthens community stewardship or uses heritage primarily as a commercial asset measured by visitor volume. This approach gives cultural responsibility priority over market access and promotional opportunity in every decision.
Speaker and chair
Julio Saqui
Speaker
Mr
Belize
Julio Saqui is the founder and owner of Che’il Mayan Chocolate in Maya Center Village, Belize. He established the business in 2010, drawing on chocolate-making traditions learned from his mother. Through chocolate experiences and work with local cacao farmers and craftspeople, he connects Maya cultural heritage with community livelihoods and tourism. His work explores how visitors can learn from local traditions while respecting the people and culture behind them.
Organised by Scholardemia.
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Scholardemia
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