Mr. Poimiroo

Cultural Tourism

The Cultural Heritage Tourist

By John Poimiroo, Principal, Poimiroo & Partners

High-value guests - the ones that are willing to pay more, stay longer and buy added services - are as easy to find as the nearest theater, museum or historic site. That's because the cultural heritage tourist stays longer and spends more than any other type of hotel guest.

According to The Historic/Cultural Traveler, a weathered, but oft-quoted 2003 study by the Travel Industry Association of America and Smithsonian Magazine, more than half of U.S. adults (over 118 million people) include at least one art, history, humanities or heritage activity or event when they travel.

You find them swaying to exotic music at cultural events, festivals and fairs. They're drawn to ethnic neighborhoods for authentic foods and imports. Clusters of them are seen looking skyward as they walk through historic districts on guided architectural tours. Others are involved in volunteer projects to both immerse themselves in a destination while helping to preserve it. They walk battlefields, often as knowledgeable about what took place as are local guides. The travel stories they retell are of the cultural treasures they saw and the remarkable local people they met.

A hotel need not be near a World Heritage Site, a nationally recognized museum, a national park or renowned theater district to attract the cultural/heritage tourist. Cultural/heritage travelers are as fascinated by local history and distinctive arts, as they are by famous places. The cultural/heritage traveler is essentially an explorer of the human impact on places and societies, seeking to understand and experience beyond observation.

For the post-war generation of the sixties and seventies, the travel experience was embodied by the 1969 motion picture, If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium. In that film, a group of American tourists race through Europe experiencing it superficially in just 18 days. The film reflected the see it all, do it all attitude of post-war Americans on European holiday. Today's cultural/heritage tourist is the antithesis of David Wolper's cinematic characters. Cultural/heritage travelers linger to explore a destination more fully, staying 53% longer than the average guest.

The TIA/Smithsonian study revealed that cultural/heritage tourists are 13% more inclined to stay in a hotel motel or B&B than with family or friends, or to camp or stay in an RV. They are 19% more likely to fly, and, when they land, they stay 5.2 nights compared to the 3.4 night national average. One quarter of them take three or more trips a year (growing at a pace of 2% per year). These travelers spend 36% more than other travelers and they spend broadly across communities, often benefiting the arts, museums, historic sites and lesser-visited destinations. They're older (49 vs. 47 years old), more have graduate degrees (19% vs. 12%) and more are retired (20% vs. 16%) than the average traveler. Nearly forty percent say trips that include cultural, arts, historic or heritage activities "are more enjoyable."

Hmmm... affluent, available, appreciative... what hotelier wouldn't want more of this type of traveler? Clearly, they do. Major hotel companies, travel service companies, airlines and destinations all recognize that the cultural/heritage tourism age is about to come into its own, as baby boomers retire. Cultural/heritage tourists will and do travel anywhere the human imprint can be experienced, both abroad and domestically.

Surprisingly, though New York is synonymous with Broadway, museums and the arts, it is only the third most visited state among cultural/heritage tourists. Texas, home of the Chisholm Trail, the Alamo and Texas barbecue, is number two, and California is their first choice. Certainly, the cultural icon of Hollywood explains part of why California is so desired, though what's really at the heart of California's success is the depth to which it emphasizes its cultural differences from other states.

Unlike other states that promote their physical differences, California's advertising message, "California, Find Yourself Here," isn't about the physical things a traveler finds when visiting it, but the psychic ones resulting from its distinct culture and place. For example, California recently announced an initiative to capitalize on studies that revealed visitor identification of the state with culinary excellence. In response, California has begun cataloguing food festivals, four-star restaurants, local specialties, food movements, celebrity-owned restaurants, cultural influences in food and drink, ethnic dining enclaves, wineries, distilleries, roadside stops and hangouts, cooking schools and workshops, culinary resorts, food history, gee whiz facts and figures on California food and drink and other resources to guide the cultural/heritage traveler to where they might whet their appetite for out-of-the-ordinary food experiences.

"We're the only state with a cuisine named after it," the state tourism office declared, then went about emphasizing that distinction. That's cultural/heritage tourism at one both fundamental and transcendental, satisfying both the base need to feed oneself while concurrently reaching the peak where food and drink become a transcendent travel experience. Cultural/heritage tourism? Absolutely, and at its most intellectual core.

As cultural/heritage tourism matures in America, hoteliers will look, similarly, beyond the physical attributes of their properties to understand the psychic properties of the places that surround them. They will become more a part of those cultural and heritage destinations, than separate from them, as leisure travelers first choose the destination and experience, then they choose where to stay within that destination.

It is the authentic, quality attributes of a destination that make it appealing to the cultural heritage tourist... Cajun cooking in New Orleans, bluegrass played on West Virginia porches, cultural connections to the environment in Seattle as embodied by the excitement of a fish monger flinging a salmon over a display case at Pike Place Fish Market. Authenticity is essential. Facsimiles don't work. To attract and hold the true cultural heritage tourist, local specialties served at your hotel won't hold the heritage tourist if they're poor examples of the real thing... better that you guide the cultural/heritage guest to genuine experiences nearby.

Recognizing the value of cultural/heritage tourists, hotels are working with local parks and historical societies to customize walks and programs that provide new revenue to heritage groups while creating additional reason to choose one property over another or stay longer. One phenomenon that is serving to extend stay has been CityPass, a moderately priced pass to a city's six best museums and historic attractions. Today, ten North American cities and destinations offer a City Pass to such diverse attractions as New York's Museum of Modern Art, Atlanta's Coca-Cola Museum, Boston's John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Starline Tours of Hollywood, Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry, the Philadelphia Zoo, San Francisco's Cable Cars, Seattle's Museum of Flight, Southern California's Disneyland, and Toronto's Hockey Hall of Fame.

It's often said that the easiest dollar to earn is the one that's here, today. That is, by increasing stay or guest profitability by adding package elements, a hotel has an easier time boosting profitability than by attempting to attract new visitors. The cultural heritage traveler is already inclined to experience what's fascinating and true about your destination, all an able hotelier needs do to capture them is to present appealing cultural and heritage aspects that are nearby. Many destination marketing organizations (city CVBs, state tourism offices) now have cultural heritage tourism specialists on hand to coordinate city or statewide cooperative efforts. Museums have learned that hotel guests benefit them by providing midweek gate receipts, so they're open to reserving blocks of hotel or visitor bureau-managed admissions for major exhibits. Similarly, major credit card companies, such as American Express, have seen revenues jump by identifying, sponsoring or becoming involved in citywide cultural or heritage events and happenings.

Fundamentally, it's all about the high-value guest... the cultural/heritage traveler... who is motivated by experience to spend more and stay longer. They're as easy to find as any hotel's nearest theater, gallery, museum, performance or historic site.

John Poimiroo has had a 30-years in travel and tourism marketing and public policy. He directed marketing and public relations programs at ski areas, attractions, national and state parks, hotel companies and destinations. He was California's tourism director in the 1990s. He is credited for conceiving the California Tourism Marketing Act and helping shape the law authorizing California Welcome Centers. He assisted the chair of the President's Advisory Council on Historic Preservation in establishing the California Cultural Heritage Tourism Council and continues as an advisor. Mr. Poimiroo can be contacted at 916-933-8860 or john@poimiroo.com Extended Bio...

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