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processes that continue to have a major bearing on been commonplace all around the region and
the livelihood of the whole Vesuvian region. meant that huge amounts of funding for well
However, local institutions including the Vesuvius considered developments have never been properly
National Park currently do not have immediate implemented or reached their intended recipient
plans to directly consider the development or (personal communication with Vesuvius National
marketing of geo (geological) or volcano tourism. Park). The aim is for the building in Ottaviano to
Although they have expressed that they would be become the principal visitor centre for the park
open to learn more about the emerging recognition and focus for the dissemination of information,
of the potential for this niche of tourism (personal including that regarding the NEPVA. In addition
communication with Vesuvius National Park). two other entrances to the park in the west and
the south will have what are described as
Linking tourism to emergency ‘information points’.
The Vesuvius Observatory conversely has an
plans historic building located 600m up on the western
As well as having roles in the development of flank of the volcano. Originally completed in
tourism around the volcano, the national park and 1845, it has witnessed eight notable eruptions of
the Vesuvius Observatory are integral organizations the volcano, the last of which took place in 1944.
in education and awareness raising of the With the need to house more extensive modern
emergency plan for Vesuvius and ideally placed to monitoring equipment, the site of the observatory
form significant bridges between tourism and institution was moved down to the city of Naples
local geological and environmental information. itself. The original building was then converted
However, in terms of the actual physical evacuation into a volcanological museum, which can be
process in the case of an eruption, the national accessed during weekdays by schools and groups
park authorities emphasized that as their staff were through advance bookings and on weekend
not trained for that task and there were also not mornings it is open to the general public (Vesuvius
sufficient numbers of them, they would defer Observatory, 2008).
those tasks to the national civil protection However, the limited access and capacity of
authorities (personal communication with Vesuvius the present museum leaves potential scope for
National Park officers, 2008). Clearly then, if expansion of their activities and the development
tourist numbers do rise in the future, awareness of of further museum spaces. For the conveyance of
the NEPVA must still be the responsibility, among essential information to as wide a set of audiences
other institutions, of the Vesuvius National Park. as possible, the messages also need to find a more
But equally those awareness materials will have to accessible form of language in order to both
indicate that in the actual eventuality of an engage and interest people and not to ‘blind them
eruption, the national civil protection department with science’. In terms of printed media, effective
is in charge of the evacuation procedures. This is examples of this approach can be gathered from
just a small example of the type of complexities the Montserrat Volcanic Observatory (MVO,
faced when attempting to balance further tourism 2008). In collaboration with the British Geological
development with effective risk management Society, a series of educational pamphlets has been
around Vesuvius. produced to explain the various volcanological
Currently the national park headquarters are phenomena. These can be downloaded from the
located in the municipality of San Sebastiano al observatory website and provide useful graphic
Vesuvio. However, there are advanced plans to illustrations rather than just dense scientific data
relocate to a historic building at the entrance to (Figure 16.5).
the national park near to Ottaviano (see Such printed media would only form one
Figure 16.4). In an expression of the problems element of a wider, more sustained effort at
facing the authorities, this building has only educating and informing tourists and residents
recently become available after being illegally alike. In recognition that museums do not appeal
occupied by the Camorra. Such complexities have or cannot be easily accessed by everyone, to reach

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