Heritage Tourism

UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE CENTRE AND ECO TOURISM AUSTRALIA’S MEMORANDUM OF CO-OPERATION on the DEVELOPMENT OF A WORLD HERITAGE TOURISM PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMME AND FUND At the Ecotourism Australia National Conference held in November, 2003, a Memorandum of Coperation for the Development of a World Heritage Tourism Program and Fund was signed by UNESCO World Heritage Centre and Ecotourism Australia. The partnership outlines a vision to create an environment of shared learning and assistance for World Heritage areas between developed and developing countries. Australian ECO Certified operators are donating their tourism services for incorporation into a series of Australian travel itineraries known as World Heritage Eco-Escapes. These travel programs will be marketed and sold internationally at full market value by a private travel agency. We are currently negotiating the support of National Geographic to become sole distributor of these travel itineraries. The funds generated from the Eco-Escape programme will be donated to the World Heritage fund for supporting projects and activities aiding Australian World Heritage site conservation and protection, the development of sustainable tourism, and the presentation of heritage to the public and visitors.

WHO Tourism industry leaders dedicated to marketing U.S. Cultural & Heritage Tourism to and within the USA have joined together to form the U.S. CHT Marketing Council. Shop America Alliance will serve as facilitator and program manager of this initiative. MISSION Develop a national Cultural & Heritage Tourism marketing strategy with an effective system for MARKETING and PROMOTING Cultural & Heritage Tourism to and within the USA through a dedicated program that is trackable and sustainable. The U.S. CHT Marketing Council will play a vital, marketing oriented and entrepreneurial role that will support and complement other tourism industrygroups engaged in cultural and heritage tourism initiatives at national, state and local levels. WHY The CHT Marketing Council is a direct outcome of the U.S. Cultural & Heritage Tourism Summit held October 6-8, 2005 in Washington, DC. In partnership with the U.S. Department of Commerce, Partners in Tourism and American Express, the Summit was developed and produced by Shop America Alliance. The Summit was successful in bringing together over 400 delegates and distinguished leaders in cultural and heritage tourism from all 50 U.S. States, the District of Columbia and U.S. Virgin Islands. This event served to catalyze enhanced interest in U.S. Cultural & Heritage Tourism, one of our nation’s most valuable assets.

This site is dedicated to helping preserve cultural heritage assets and expand knowledge of history and heritage by providing resources. Our goals is to provide information resources and tools to PROTECT, CONNECT, MANAGE and PROMOTE natural, cultural, and historical resources, including: Cultural Sites, Museums, Art Galleries, Cultural Centers, Arts & Crafts Shops, and Antique Shops Musicians, Performers, Poets, Artists, Folklorists and Storytellers Historic Places, Historic Buildings, Historic Monuments, Archaeological Sites, Graveyards, and Historic Markers Natural Sites, Scenes, Routes, Greenways, Treks and Trails Parks & Outdoor Recreational Facilities Cultural Heritage Activities and Events (festivals, fairs, etc.) Agricultural Sites and Activities HERITAGE TOURISM INVENTORY & WEB TOOLS GRANTS & FUNDING Opportunities Cultural Heritage RESOURCE DIRECTORY NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA Directory HeritageEXPLORER ~ Cultural Heritage TOURISM ASSET INVENTORY DATABASE, Management and Web Tools HeritagePEOPLE ~ Online DIRECTORY of local Craftspeople, Folklorist, Poets, Artists, Musicians, and Performers HeritageSTORIES ~ CAPTURE & SHARE Folk Stories, Tall Tales, Jack Tales, Mountain Legend, and other Heritage Stories online!

Cultural Heritage Tourism - In partnership with the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing (VDTM) the Council has taken a leadership role in developing strategies to generate tourism dollars for the state by integrating the promotion of arts events, festivals, historic sites, museums, and heritage trails into mainstream tourism marketing initiatives. From the Council's perspective, the purpose is twofold: to help local arts and heritage organizations generate additional earned revenue through tourism, and to integrate our cultural heritage resources into Vermont's marketing strategy. If you're interested in starting a cultural heritage tourism initiative in your community, check out The Cultural Heritage Tourism Tool Kit. This document provides the broad range of information you can use to promote cultural heritage resources in a sustainable fashion. CULTURAL HERITAGE TOURISM DEFINED Much has been written about heritage tourism, and cultural tourism over the last decade. Some maintain that the focus has to be on “cultural”, others insist on “heritage.” In Vermont, however,we decided long ago that our efforts were best described by the broader, more encompassing term of “Cultural Heritage Tourism.” We see the landscape as having shaped our settlement patterns, not only in terms of how we used it, but also in where we placed our houses, public buildings, and commerce centers. The land has fashioned our culture, providing the raw materials for our crafts, the inspiration for our art, and the grist for our stories. It has directed our activities, fueled our industry, and captured our hearts. It is central to our nature. In this context, Cultural Heritage Tourism is, simply: visiting a place to experience those singular qualities that define its character, name its essence, and provide for its collective memory. In Vermont, cultural heritage is found in its people and is reflected in its objects, structures, museums, sites and landscapes. It is expressed in its crafts, visual and performing arts, history, literature and oral traditions. It is the embodiment of our behavior, and as such is organic and evolving. BENEFITS The benefits of cultural heritage tourism can be far-reaching. For communities, it can strengthen the local economy; promote resource protection; increase visitor expenditures; generate employment; preserve the unique character of a community; increase community pride, and awareness of community resources; increase tax receipts; and stimulate economic growth. It can assist the cultural heritage resources themselves by augmenting revenues in appropriate and sustainable ways; fortifying cultural heritage resources through a stronger base of cooperation; fostering recognition of the economic contribution of the cultural heritage resources on a regional and community level; and strengthening the preservation, protection, and presentation of the resources. Finally, on the state level, cultural heritage tourism encourages the protection and continued use of cultural heritage resources, which is important to the quality of life and economic well-being of the state. It strengthens cultural heritage resources, and the tourism industry; it is an integral, complementary element of the recreation and leisure environment of the state; and it stimulates revenues in appropriate and sustainable ways.

Montgomery County, Maryland is minutes from our nation’s capital but in a matter of minutes you can travel back in time. Come visit our Montgomery County Heritage Areas. See rolling farmland steeped in history. Drive down our rustic rural roads. See landscapes that look much as they did in colonial times. Eighteenth-century plantation homes, horse farms, weathered barns and much more are waiting to be discovered by you.

The great 1849 Suspension Bridge of Wheeling extended the National Road west, bringing people and goods rnto the city. At the northernmost navigable port on the Ohio River, overland routes, river traffic, and railroads rnconverged, attracting entrepreneurs who manufactured iron, steel, nails, textiles, glass, tobacco, and other rngoods. The Wheeling National Heritage Area preserves and celebrates the city's dramatic setting, resources, rnand history, including it's role as the birthplace of the state of West Virginia during the Civil War.