Angkor meets Tomb Raider : setting the scene

The World Heritage Site of Angkor, in Cambodia, is currently one of Asia's fastest growing tourist destinations. In response to this new era, Angkor's management authorities are actively attempting to resist the 'detrimental effects of mass tourism' by promoting a desired form of cultural tourism. Yet in November 2000, filming of the ultimate post-modern concoction, 'Tomb Raider--The Movie', took place at Angkor.The temples became one of the key locations for a production firmly rooted in a genre of Hollywood Blockbusters, a film genre that eschews any aspirations to high culture or claims of representational integrity. This paper explores this contradictory clash of imaginary cultures. In so doing, it examines the contextual factors that allowed the project to take place, illuminating the ways in which Angkor is presently conceived and managed by both the Cambodian authorities and the attendant international community. In considering some of the implications for Angkor, understood as a site of touristic production, attention is also given to how 'Tomb Raider' creates new narratives for tourists; ones that undermine the efforts of conservation agencies looking to formalise serious, cultural tourism across the site. Finally, it will be seen that the issues addressed here raise important concerns regarding media representations and World Heritage Sites in an age of increasingly pervasive tourism.