Tools of Sustainable Cultural Heritage Management in Aksum, Ethiopia

The major purpose of this study is to assess how the cultural heritages of Aksum are managed for their future sustainability from visitor management and stakeholder involvement stances. Descriptive type of research design inculcating both quantitative and qualitative research methods is employed. Primary quantitative data was collected from 189 respondents (19 professionals, 88 tourism service providers and 82 tourists) and interview was conducted with 33 targeted informants from heritage and related professions, security employees, local community, service providers and church representatives by applying probability and non probability sampling methods. Findings of the study reveal that the overall sustainable management status of the cultural heritage of Aksum is below average from the selected parameters. It is found that the sustainability of cultural heritage management in Aksum is facing a lot of unfavorable factors.So, reorganization of the management system, creating platform for coordination among stakeholders and introducing common practices of visitor management can be good remedies.Introducing community based tourism development concept is also recommendable.