Valorizing historical archives for the tourist promotion of a territory: a field research between Albania and Italy

This article presents the initial findings of an ongoing field research project on the potential for tourist promotion of historical archives and their documentation in Italy and Albania. The starting hypotheses concern both the possibility of benefitting from accessing historical archives as an inseparable and unique entity (that is to say, a complex of documents and the place intended for their deposit) and the possibility of using archival documentation for the tourist enhancement of a specific territory. Through the study of some best practices to enhance and promote historical archives hosted in state, municipal, public and private institutions in the two countries, we have identified several types of effective and engaging proposals in different contexts, (but not only) thanks to the use of digital technologies. Furthermore, the historical documentation concerning a specific community and territory could be used to enhance their productive excellences, create thematic itineraries, and enrich the cultural offer for visitors, although preserved in archives that are physically distant from the territory itself. The conclusion of the study, our proposal for promoting a territory through archival records is aimed at the city and region of Korça, with the design of a multimedia path on some present and past productive excellences, a path in which the results of our investigation will be intersected with the historical research carried out by one of the project's managers.