Tourism is the best way through which a country can stimulate its economy and introduce its culture to the world. Some people think that cultural heritage should be preserved by keeping it hidden from the world, but in my opinion, opening tourism is better for the country. It stimulates the economy, improves relations at the international level, and educate countries on different cultures.
Most significantly, tourism brings in a lot of money for the nation. The visitors spend money on accommodation, food, transport and souvenirs whenever they visit a destination. This money enables local businesses to keep booming and to create more jobs. For example, in France or Italy, tourism accounts for a lot of their economy. Without these sites being open to the public for display, this money will be lost and many people will lose their jobs.
Secondly, tourism promotion helps in fostering international relations. When tourists visit from other countries, they learn their culture, history and lifestyle. This increases the knowledge between states and minimize misinterpretation. If a country hide their cultural heritage, people will never have the chance to learn about it and negative stereotypes may increase.
Another aspect of interest is that tourism actually preserves cultural heritage. If a destination is open to tourism, the government has more incentive to restore it. They can take the money they earn from the tourists and invest it into fixing up old buildings, cleaning out old sites, and extracting artifacts. If a destination is closed off to literally everyone, then there is less incentive to keep it up and it can be lost down the line.
Some believe that tourism ruins cultural heritage because too many tourists might cause damage. The solution is not to shut them down completely but to control tourism. For example, limiting the number of tourists per day, guided tours, and policies to protect the sites can balance tourism and preservation.
Lastly, tourism promotion is much better than hiding of cultural heritage. It has economic returns, improve foreign relations, and even help preserve ancient monuments. Governments must not hide heritage from the masses but rather promote responsible tourism management so that the masses would be able to know and enjoy these cultural treasures.