Heritage tourism has become one of the largest segments of the travel industry, and more than ever before, people are seeking unique travel experiences that are authentic and memorable. The National Trust defines heritage tourism as “traveling to experience the places, artifacts, and activities that authentically represent the stories and people of the past and present. Many people are drawn to historic buildings, scenic roads and waterways, classic forms of transportation, and even local businesses with a compelling past. It’s a need to recapture the past that’s important to these travellers.
Historic sites and communities across the country are discovering how preservation and promotion of their historic, architectural, and cultural resources directly leads to increased tourism and economic benefit. A town or site that chooses to promote its heritage is making a solid investment. Heritage travelers stay longer, spend more, and travel more frequently than their leisure traveling counterparts. Plus,, they tend to be older, better educated, and typically more affluent than other tourists. Add in international tourists who tend to stay even longer and visit more destinations than domestic travelers, and it becomes unmistakable that opportunities in the heritage travel industry are enormous.
Yet many heritage destinations fail to achieve success. Why are so many locations struggling in a climate that is ripe for tourism? Success in heritage tourism depends on effectively promoting your heritage location to the outside world. If you aren’t spreading the word outside of your backyard, chances are you won’t attract new visitors.
How We Help
We begin by helping you identify the stories that your site has to tell – the ones that will appeal to visitors. Your site has a great wealth of interesting places, people and events. Our job is to help you attract visitors’ eye to those cultural and heritage assets – whether they take the form of a historic village, impressive architecture, a scenic road or picturesque waterway, a noteworthy individual or population, or a significant industry.
This is the starting point from which cultural and heritage tourism destinations are built…..assessing what a destination has to sell and determining how to sell it. Call it a kick-start; a little bit of research can go a long way in identifying a location’s tourism assets and what will be popular themes.
We then take that tapestry and help you with:
- Destination branding
- Site narrative development
- Preparing publications (brochures, books, maps, posters, etc)
- Advertising
- Media relations (TV, radio, magazine)
- Online communication (website content, e-mail marketing, social media, etc)
- Digital content (interactive maps, iPad kiosks, etc.)
- Photography, videography, and help with building an image/multimedia library
…all with the express goal of helping to attract visitors and increase tourism. Effective promotion leads naturally to increased requests for information, more visitors to your website, and more feet-on-the-ground at your location.
Contact us and let us be of service!
