Responding to the museum community’s growing interest in cultural tourism, AAM worked in collaboration with non-profit cultural organizations and federal agencies to prepare for participation at the October 1995 White House Conference on Travel and Tourism. There, the travel industry and the federal government committed to a new working relationship to reshape national tourism initiatives, tourism policies, and the management of America’s cultural and natural resources.
In 1998 AAM helped form Partners in Tourism, a coalition of national associations and federal agencies building a common agenda for cultural tourism. With Partners in Tourism, AAM developed five regional Cultural Tourism Leadership Forums to initiate local, state, regional, and national strategies to promote cultural tourism and provide an opportunity for cultural leaders around the country to work with state tourism directors, convention and visitor bureau officials, and other partners in the private travel and tourism industry.
Partners in Tourism also began the Share Your Heritage initiative which includes planning workshops, workshop curriculum training materials, and a publication of cultural heritage tourism success stories. The workshops and the training materials allow communities to use successful projects and experts in cultural heritage tourism to help address critical issues. Each workshop results in an action plan to be implemented locally.
The Share your Heritage initiative developed the following Five Principles of Successful and Sustainable Cultural Heritage Tourism:
1. Collaborate - Much more can be accomplished by working together than by working alone. Successful cultural heritage tourism programs bring together partners who may not have worked together in the past.
2. Find the Fit Between the Community and Tourism - Balancing the needs of residents and visitors is important to ensure that cultural heritage tourism benefits everyone. It is important to understand the kind and amount of tourism that your community can handle.
3. Make Sites and Programs Come Alive - Competition for time is fierce. To attract visitors, you must be sure that the destination is worth the drive.
4. Focus on Quality and Authenticity - Quality is an essential ingredient for all cultural heritage tourism, and authenticity is critical whenever heritage or history is involved.
5.Preserve and Protect Resources - A community's cultural, historic and natural resources are valuable and often irreplaceable.
More information about Partners in Tourism, including recent copies of the coalition’s newsletter Cultural Tourism News, can be found on the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies website (external link)
Resources
Books and Reports
Share Your Heritage: Cultural Heritage Tourism Success Stories(external page)
Stories Across America: opportunities for Rural Tourism(external page)
Cultural & Heritage Tourism in the United States: A Position Paper on Cultural and Heritage Tourism (external page, PDF)
The National Association of State Arts Agencies(external page) has related publications as well.
AAM Information Center
The AAM Information Center has numerous resources on tourism in its marketing and public relations section.
