Marina Vladimirova

The maritime cultural landscape is a result of interaction between human processes on the coastal surface over time and the environment, which includes sea, coastal line and land. Parts of the maritime cultural landscape are the coastal historical remains and these underwater along with their surroundings. All they are the visible results of the human processes in the maritime environment. All they are influenced by the proximity of the sea. The main goal is to increase consideration of cultural heritage in maritime landscapes and to evolve cultural tourism in sustainable development context. The humans' impact on the maritime environment is unique and it makes the places attractive for tourists' attention. If we preserve the maritime cultural landscape, provide it with needed protection, and manage it effectively, it could successfully be implemented in the cultural tourism. And this type of tourism is a proven way for ensuring the sustainable development, in our case, of the seaside region. For example, the old traditional fishing and canning the fish should be revived, the local open fish markets might be reconstructed, the almost forgotten rituals and rites for good catch could be brought back to live, the local events and festivals should be developed again. The coastal line should be full of live as years ago. This is a way to show the motley, divers, and unique ethnological characteristics of the maritime cultural landscape, which will provoke the potential tourists' attention. Furthermore, well-developed cultural tourism program can guarantee the sustainable development of the region. Cultural tourism is the intersection between cultural landscape and sustainable development. Effectively conserved, actively managed and attentively socialized the maritime cultural landscapes will bring benefits to the local population and to the sustainability of the seaside region.

Cultural heritage tourism is a branch of tourism which is often a blend of education, entertainment and preservation. It is experiential, it involves and engages the visitor. Cultural tourism and sustainable development are the best way through which cultural heritage can be best preserved. Conservation, protection and exploitation of the cultural and natural resources are a factor for sustainability, which can be gained by cultural tourism.
Cultural tourism is a broad term, which includes a wide range of cultural, historical and natural sites, artefacts, institutions, organizations etc. Underwater cultural heritage is part of the content of this concept. Coincidentally, UNESCO has said “The seabed is often called "the biggest museum of the world” . The sea has many stories to tell, and there are a lot of stories that audience desires to discover. And the intersection of both is the cultural tourism. 
There are a lot of submerged artefacts in the Bulgarian Black sea aquatory that are waiting to be displayed in situ  or by new multimedia technologies for the nondiving public. They are separated in three groups: submerged settlements, submerged shipwrecks, and harbor water areas. All these objects are sources of valuable information about the people inhabited Black sea coast millennia ago; about their life and culture, customs and traditions; about the relationships between West Black sea coast and the Mediterranean; about the international trade on sea. Effectively conserved, actively managed and attentively socialized the underwater cultural heritage will bring benefits to the local population as well as to the sustainability of the seaside region. An important part of the process of protection and management is the cooperation of the local people. These are the factors through which cultural tourism will build up the economic capacity of the local area.
When Bulgarian underwater cultural and historical heritage is preserved, managed, socialized and its value is appreciated by the local people, it will play an important role in the cultural tourism, which will ensure the sustainable development of the region.

The underwater cultural and historical heritage is threatened not only by the destructive impact of the environmental, in which it is located, but also by unauthorized fishing and other activities providing benefits for a limited group of people only.
Certain approaches, which are already part of foreign good practices and can provide effective protection and conservation for the underwater archaeological heritage in the Bulgarian Black Sea territorial waters, can be applied. The protection of the underwater archaeological sites can be achieved through establishment of underwater archaeological reserves, underwater museums and parks, replicas and digital reconstructions of sunken ships, etc. Various approaches can be used for encouraging public education and promoting public access to the underwater cultural heritage.
The development of the protection and conservation of the underwater cultural and historical heritage in Bulgaria requires a development of a management strategy. It has to provide information for a broader audience, define a number of criteria, develop methods for public involvement in the process of heritage protection, take measures for the actual protection through underwater conservation activities, monitor and prohibit certain fishing activities with a destructive impact on the underwater archaeological heritage.