I watched the rather wonderful Mortimer Wheeler series Hellenic Cruise, and it got me wondering what most tourism was like then. Today there are wide networks of hostels and hotels, often concentrated in particular areas of the city, and it is very easy to travel independently with a flexible schedule. Was such flexibility just as possible in the 1950s? Or would people be more reliant on travel agents and tour groups?
Also, what would the actual experience at the site be like? Today when somebody travels to Mycenae, for example, it is structured as an educational venture, with plenty of signs explaining particular features in multiple languages. Would this have been the same in the 1950s?
Peter Throckmorton has a good deal to say about tourists in Shipwrecks and archaeology; the unharvested sea. He was a Mediterranean specialist. One of the problems he noted was that in the 1950's SCUBA technology was making its first big appearances in the civilian market. This meant that in the Mediterranean region and along the shores of Spain it was becoming a very popular pass time.
His concern was that many of these amateur divers were also amateur collectors. They would dive on shallow wrecks and collect artifacts as trinkets and mementos. While the vast majority certainly did not mean any harm the vast number of them was causing heavy damage to shallow water wrecks. It was his opinion at the time that nearly all wrecks under 100ft had been plundered to some degree or another by tourists. At the time there were no laws, no UNESCO agreements. He was hoping with his book to help curtail some of these tourists be getting governments and museums to take notice of what the tourists were inadvertently destroying in their enthusiasm.