The American Association of Museums (AAM), the Museum Store Association (MSA) and the U.S. Cultural and Heritage Tourism Marketing Council (USCHT) are collaborating to promote cultural travel to and within the United States. The three organizations aim to increase visitation to cultural and historic sites through targeted travel marketing avenues.

U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Travel & Tourism and Travel Industry Association research shows that cultural and heritage tourism is the #3 tourism activity in the United States. Their studies also confirm that cultural and heritage travelers are more affluent, travel more frequently, stay longer in a destination and seek out unique cultural and heritage experiences.

“We look forward to this innovative collaboration with the Museum Store Association and U.S. Cultural & Heritage Tourism Marketing Council,” said Ford W. Bell, president of AAM. “Cultural travel is a priority for museum visitors and a key strategy for AAM members to help boost visitation."

The three organizations are coordinating plans for The Cultural Traveler Pavilion that will premiere at the American Association of Museum’s annual conference in April 2009 in Philadelphia. Building on “The Museum Experiment” theme, the pavilion will showcase the USCHT Marketing Council’s CultureToursAndMore.com partners in destinations including Philadelphia and promote cultural tourism marketing strategies in an educational and entertaining format on the AAM tradeshow floor. “The Cultural Traveler Pavilion will be an exciting interactive showcase,” said Sheila Armstrong, executive director of the U.S. Cultural & Heritage Tourism Marketing Council. “Reaching out collaboratively to the cultural travel segment, we can compound our efforts to cultivate this audience that appreciates the many cultural and heritage treasures of our country and invite them to experience them more frequently.”

MSA and USCHT Marketing Council also will launch The Cultural Traveler, an exclusive new publication and Web site, in the first quarter of 2009. This tourism-focused guidebook is devoted to cultural and heritage tourism and celebrates the leading museums, historic sites and museum stores throughout the United States. AAM and its members will be showcased in the guidebook and Web site. Participants include Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center; Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum, Auburn, IN; Barona Cultural Center & Museum, Lakeside, CA; The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis; Foundation for the National Archives, Washington, DC; Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, NM; Gray Line; The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA; Los Angeles Convention & Visitor Bureau; Minnesota Historical Society; Missouri Historical Society; New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science; New York Transit Museum; The North Carolina Arboretum; Pasadena Convention & Visitors Bureau; Saint Louis Art Museum; Springs Preserve – Las Vegas; Walter Anderson Museum of Art, Ocean Springs, MS; Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg, PA; and the de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA.

“The Cultural Traveler will be distributed to thousands of consumers, tour operators, travel agents and travel media interested in cultural travel and museum store shopping. By increasing awareness and interest in visiting museums and museum stores as unique cultural destinations, the publication also will help drive attendance at cultural institutions in general,” said Beverly Barsook, executive director of the Museum Store Association.

Exposure to the tourism market will be further enhanced by an online version of The Cultural Traveler, featuring direct links to participants’ Web sites and other tourism content at www.Museum-Store.travel . “The American Association of Museums will have a featured link on The Cultural Traveler Web site, providing access to all AAM member listings, thus facilitating ease of access to information for cultural travel planning,” Barsook noted.

The American Association of Museums has been bringing museums together since 1906, helping to develop standards and best practices, gathering and sharing knowledge, and providing advocacy on issues of concern to the entire museum community. With more than 15,000 individual, 3,000 institutional and 300 corporate members, AAM is dedicated to ensuring that museums remain a vital part of the American landscape, connecting people with the greatest achievements of the human experience, past, present and future. For more information, visit www.aam-us.org.

Museum Store Association is a nonprofit, international association organized to advance the success of museum retail professionals. By encouraging high standards of professionalism, MSA helps cultural commerce professionals better serve their organizations. MSA also is focused on helping increase awareness about museum stores as unique shopping destinations for tourists and cultural travelers. As part of a strategic alliance with the U.S. Cultural & Heritage Tourism Marketing Council (USCHT) and Shop America Alliance (SAA), MSA provides expertise in the cultural and heritage tourism arena to its members and the general public. For additional information about the Museum Store Association, visit
www.MuseumStoreAssociation.org or call (303) 504-9223.

U.S. Cultural and Heritage Tourism Marketing Council is a travel trade association with a mission to package, market and sell U.S. cultural and heritage tourism experiences both nationally and internationally. The Marketing Council represents leading U.S. tourism destinations, attractions and travel partners engaged in marketing U.S. cultural and heritage to travelers throughout the United States and around the world. Partners include the U.S. Department of Commerce / Office of Travel & Tourism Industries, California Travel & Tourism Commission, VISIT FLORIDA, the Museum Store Association, The Henry Ford, Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Council, Atlanta CVB, New Orleans CVB, Hilton Head CVB and Shop America Alliance. For additional information visit www.uscht.com or contact Sheila Armstrong at (843) 341-6392 or USCHTMarketing@aol.com. To view the Culture Tours and More Packages, visit www.culturetoursandmore.com.