Cultural and Heritage Tourism

Cultural and heritage tourism is a big market segment in tourism.  A recent study by the the U.S. Cultural & Heritage Tourism Marketing Council and the U.S. Department of Commerce reveals that 78% of U.S. leisure travelers participate in cultural and/or heritage activities while traveling, translating to 118.3 million adults each year.

Some facts from the study:

• Cultural and heritage travelers are more frequent travelers, taking five leisure trips in the past 12 months.
• They are more frequent business travelers.
• They tend to travel farther to get the experiences they seek: about half of most recent overnight leisure trips were 500 miles or more from home.
• More than a third say they traveled between 100 and 300 miles for a day trip.
• They are more likely to participate in culinary activities, such as sampling artisan food and wines, attending food and wine festivals, visiting farmers’ markets, shopping for gourmet foods, and enjoying unique dining experiences.

When  they travel, cultural/heritage travelers do many things on their trip.  Activities identified include visiting historic sites (66%); attending historical re-enactments (64%); visiting art museums/galleries (54%); attending an art/craft fair  (45%); attending a professional dance performance (44%); visiting state/national parks (41%); shopping in museum stores (32%); and exploring urban neighborhoods (30%).

The study was conducted by Mandala Research.