In 1999, anticipating the explosion of the cultural tourism phenomenon in some Mediterranean countries, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, General Direction for Cooperation and Development, financed a program of training in conservation and management of archaeological sites for ten directors of major sites in Syria and Jordan. The project was implemented by the Center for Archaeological Conservation, Rome (CCA), with the direction of the UNESCO office of Amman.
The two-year training program was divided into three parts, two regional and one in Italy.
 

The regional activities, which took place in 1999, consisted of seminars, classroom lectures by international experts in conservation, safeguard and management of cultural heritage, and field work in the major and most heavily visited archaeological sites in Jordan, Syria and Italy. In this way, course participants were given the elements to consolidate their methodological capacity to read problems and design and implement plans for conservation and development of sites.
The Italian section of the course was held for 12 weeks at CCA’s headquarters in the Convent of San Nicola. During that time, the practical topics encountered during field work were discussed with the theoretical support of academics, professionals and experts.
The subjects covered ranged from history to the methodology of conservation treatments on an archaeological site, to communication, and the techniques of compatible management and development for sites. The main elements of risk for site conservation were analysed, and solutions were provided for protecting archaeological heritage and transmitting it to posterity. Participants were able to test current techniques for sustainable development of cultural tourism as suggested by preventive conservation practice.