Sardinian Nuragic civilization great heritage (unexpressed)

Crenos focus: "The right dignity and cultural, identity and economic relevance are still far away"

CAGLIARI – A great heritage, it could also be UNESCO, but largely still unexpressed. Also from an economic point of view. This is the focus in the 31st report by Crenos, the economic research center of the island’s universities, on the Nuragic era, one of the most relevant and characterizing periods in the history and culture of Sardinia. , whose numerous monuments that have survived to this day represent a widespread, recognizable and distinctive feature of the landscapes of the entire island.
“Despite its pervasiveness, the Nuragic civilization does not yet seem to have obtained the right dignity and cultural, identity and economic relevance”,is specified. In school programs and texts, for example, the space dedicated to it is marginal, if not absent, especially when compared to that reserved for other great ancient civilisations. Just like the history of the Nuragic civilisation, its legacy is also little known: a recent survey by Oc&c-Eumetra found that 47% of Italians do not know the monuments of the Nuragic civilisation”. A percentage which, in the case of those under 24, reaches 74%. The same survey also reveals the low economic impact of archaeological resources. These attract a percentage of tourists to Sardinia in high season of 5.2%, while the natural resources, coasts and sea above all, attract 63.5% of tourists.
In the product portfolio of the island’s tourist offer, the share of cultural and archaeological tourism is therefore still very small, in particular when compared with that of marine-seaside tourism.
One fact above all: overall the 22 monuments accessible and entrusted to management record 6.1 million euros of revenuesand employ around 150 people. Among the 22 sites, 17 can count on a regional contribution (around 4 million euros in total) to cover personnel expenses. “The analysis of economic results and performances highlights the coexistence of very different management models in relation to the ability to build and propose cultural offers capable of attracting demand and creating value”. Traditional business models are often observed “focused on a basic offer (entrance and guided tour, offered in all cases) with low added value, poorly oriented to the tourist market and not inclined to exploit possible further investment opportunities”
Then what emerges is “a poor and insufficient collaboration with operators in the cultural and tourism supply chain (only 23% have formalized commercial agreements) necessary for the construction and marketing of composite offers that include services and complementary products such as laboratories, experiential activities in general, catering and hospitality, innovation and the use of new technologies such as, for example, augmented reality or applications for mobile devices (absent in 73% of cases) are insufficient. br> Furthermore, “it is possible that the low entry fees (on average 5.3 euros), as well as the duration of the visit – rarely exceeding an hour – reveal a low value of the experience. Certainly not with respect to the quality of what is visited, but rather to the methods of use and to a poor offer of experiential contents”.
In short, the Nuragic heritage and, more generally, the archaeological one, “represents for Sardinia a a resource with unexpressed potential to date – underline the Crenos speakers – but which could bring indisputable economic and social benefits in the future, also due to its uniqueness, quantity and widespread distribution in the regional territory”. p>