Open Museums as a Tool for Culture Sustainability

Museums are the cultural interface of every nation. Creating and maintaining museums has been a national obligation to preserve and protect their inherited culture. An open museum is a special type of museums, which is usually initiatedin locations with huge architectural and urban heritage that cannot be otherwise accommodated in a building. They introduce a mixed image of the past and present, and help develop cultural and heritage tourism in an area. Thisresearch argues that museums, especially the open ones are good and effective tools to preserve urban heritage, maintain the history and culture, and encourage sustainable tourism.Makkah city is one of the oldest cities in the world. It has hundreds of memorable historic locations. As a city, Makkah has its unique diversity of culture and heritage. Being the birthplace of Islam, Makkah has a special image in the minds of billions of Muslims around the world. In view of the big development plans that cover the entire city, and which are expected to affect every aspect of its rich cultural heritage,preserving the historic locations has become even more significant. Since the development projects are likely to endanger the existence of historic locations in Makkah city, the paper proposes to create areas within the city as preserved historic locations and to develop them as open museums. The paper argues that this proposal will help create a sustainable tourism industry in the city in addition to the existing Hajj and Umrah business activities.Finally the paper concludes with recommendations to preserve and protect the Makkah heritage in a sustainable manner.