Vacations and Travel - Cultural And Heritage Tourism

Heritage tourism seeks to draw visitors to historic and cultural sites. Although historic and cultural destinations were not as popular with leisure travelers as cities, visits to friends and family, beaches, and lakes, a significant number of travelers choose educational experiences.

According to the TIA/Smithsonian magazine report The Historic/Cultural Traveler (2003 edition), nearly 118 million American adults attended at least one cultural, arts, heritage, or historic activity or event while traveling in 2002. Many travelers prolonged their trips solely to participate in cultural or historic events and activities. Four in ten historic/cultural travelers said they added extra time to their trips to enable them to attend a historic activity or cultural event.

The TIA/Smithsonian report found that these travelers spent more—an average of $623 per trip, compared to $457 for all U.S. travelers, excluding transportation to their destinations. The report also distinguished historic/cultural travelers from other travelers, describing them as more inclined to take longer trips (seven nights or more), and more likely to utilize air travel, a rental car, and a hotel.

The TIA/Smithsonian survey found that 39% of historic/cultural travelers said that trips that included cultural, arts, historic, or heritage activities or events were more enjoyable to them. Visits to destinations with historical significance were preferred by 38% of travelers, while 29% felt that it was important that the trips they took for vacation or leisure provide cultural experiences. Slightly more than a quarter felt that a vacation or leisure trip away from home was not complete without visiting a museum, historic site, or landmark, while 17% felt a trip was not complete without attending a cultural event or arts performance.

The list of most-visited destinations for historic/cultural travelers was topped by Washington, D.C., New York City, Chicago, and Boston. Other cities in the top ten included Las Vegas; Norfolk, Virginia; Atlanta; Orlando, Florida; San Francisco; and Los Angeles.

Consumer interest has led many corporate sponsors to invest in programs promoting heritage tourism. Travel services companies have invested in projects by the National Trust for Historic Preservation to help communities develop and maintain their historic and cultural sites. Some hotels and car rental agencies have contributed to school programs to educate children about historic sites across the United States.

Mock Combat—Civil War Reenactments

A growing number of people enjoy participating in reenactments of historical events, often involving military battles. A group of Massachusetts residents have reenacted the events of April 19, 1775 (which marked the beginning of the Revolutionary War) for more than seventy years, and other groups dress as English knights, Spanish conquistadors, Roman gladiators, or Vikings.

One of the most popular eras to reenact is the U.S. Civil War (1861–65). Estimates of the number of these hobbyists have varied. In 1996 a reenactment of the Battle of Antietam drew thirteen thousand costumed people to Maryland. In 1997 almost twenty thousand costumed soldiers and civilians went to Gettysburg for the 134th anniversary of that battle. In 2003 an article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune estimated that there were as many as

TABLE 7.8

Cruise destinations, 1987–2003
Destination	1987 Total bed days	1989 Total bed days	1995 Total bed days	1999 Total bed days	2000 Total bed days	2001 Total bed days	2002 Total bed days	2003 Total bed days	2003 Percent	2004 Total bed days	2004 Percent	2004 vs. 2003 change
Note: Current destination classifications were established in 1994. Prior to 1985, Bermuda was included in Bahamas/Caribbean; Mississippi and Coastal East were not reported. Prior to 1992, Indian Ocean and Africa were part of unclassified. In 1993 Mexico East was changed to Western Caribbean.
SOURCE: "Geographical Destination/Application," in The Cruise Industry—An Overview, Cruise Lines International Association, Spring 2004, http://www.cruising.org/press/overview/SPRING040V1.pdf (accessed July 7, 2004)
Caribbean	8,828,791	10,982,227	15,254,551	16,666,238	21,510,142	21,833,347	26,741,052	28,999,049	41.03%	31,210,605	40.38%	7.63%
Mediterranean	841,051	1,879,561	3,477,729	5,898,948	6,277,064	7,546,816	6,497,444	8,153,251	11.53%	9,704,398	12.55%	19.02%
Alaska	1,715,197	1,598,268	3,008,146	4,086,620	4,197,332	4,698,538	5,052,907	5,265,159	7.45%	5,913,967	7.65%	12.32%
Bahamas	1,922,386	2,483,732	2,761,224	3,060,866	3,200,346	4,698,724	2,876,295	3,305,636	4.68%	3,656,705	4.73%	10.62%
Trans Canal	970,191	979,691	2,277,201	3,036,208	2,573,444	2,396,424	2,092,723	3.94%	3.94%	2,930,528	3.79%	5.26%
Mexico West	1,131,462	1,628,824	1,754,312	2,529,106	2,680,934	1,166,756	3,386,475	3,390,768	4.80%	4,827,262	6.24%	42.36%
Europe	357,516	774,149	1,582,589	3,475,922	3,744,693	4,837,375	6,922,608	7,721,741	10.92%	7,560,171	9.78%	‒2.09%
Bermuda	1,141,121	868,655	1,094,707	1,482,573	988,391	1,269,952	1,226,806	1,476,443	2.09%	1,324,690	1.71%	‒10.28%
Transatlantic	339,388	407,218	658,928	961,213	1,015,625	1,129,669	1,005,665	1,145,651	1.62%	1,425,596	1.84%	24.44%
Hawaii	602,728	835,638	601,542	885,268	857,390	1,557,438	1,903,302	1,953,200	2.76%	2,629,458	3.40%	34.62%
South Pacific	352,983	383,210	574,218	947,382	1,155,217	1,158,044	835,464	1,099,056	1.55%	683,506	0.88%	‒37.81%
South East Asia	272,592	207,405	430,123	150,107	244,620	429,550	346,196	123,350	0.17%	20,372	0.03%	‒83.48%
Africa	0	0	347,432	184,373	502,773	401,011	259,962	188,964	0.27%	17,640	0.02%	‒90.66%
Canada/New England	283,714	219,992	334,735	681,689	1,107,689	1,138,975	1,150,950	1,105,274	1.56%	1,488,585	1.93%	34.68%
Far East (Orient)	465,608	238,630	327,009	188,038	201,582	215,022	360,022	219,358	0.31%	403,538	0.52%	83.96%
Mississippi	231,392	181,446	286,228	353,088	347,140	403,956	0	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0.00%
World	0	175,028	272,425	565,824	414,342	613,046	582,314	375,384	0.53%	462,934	0.60%	23.32%
South America	620,396	458,246	255,834	657,992	825,670	1,422,755	1,394,808	1,653,535	2.34%	1,088,569	1.41%	‒34.17%
U.S. Coastal West	22,185	64,444	108,092	65,108	217,518	1,944,752	216,338	376,709	0.53%	643,792	0.83%	70.90%
Indian Ocean	0	0	84,009	40,572	120,698	227,483	93,708	23,148	0.03%	10,544	0.01%	‒54.45%
Unclassified	0	19,325	69,560	86,890	108,676	239,774	233,258	290,163	0.41%	989,750	1.28%	241.10%
Trans Pacific	17,904	113,684	42,610	86,150	52,400	67,120	143,020	78,930	0.11%	11,600	0.02%	‒85.30%
U.S. Coastal East	132,794	84,920	42,480	113,387	1,402,429	80,312	147,422	837,540	1.18%	60,072	0.08%	‒92.83%
Antarctica	0	17,240	12,240	53,179	48,499	48,517	73,176	108,598	0.15%	219,296	0.28%	101.93%
Party cruises	85,336	140,658	3,602	59,846	68,203	56,010	43,296	10,635	0.02%	14,888	0.02%	39.99%
	20,376,994	24,699,932	35,661,526	46,316,587	53,862,817	59,581,366	63,585,211	70,685,517	100.00%	77,298,466	100.00%	9.36%

TABLE 7.9

Category shares of cruise passengers, by length of cruise, 1980–2003
(In percent)
	1980	2003	% Point change
SOURCE: "Growth by Length of Cruise—North American Market-Share," in The Cruise Industry—An Overview, Cruise Lines International Association, Spring 2004, http://www.cruising.org/press/overview/SPRING040V1.pdf (accessed July 7, 2004)
2–5 days	24.3%	32.9	8.6
6–8 days	59.1	56.3	−2.8
9–17 days	15.4	10.4	−5.0
18+ days	1.2	0.4	−0.8
Total	100.0%	100.0%	0.0

forty-five thousand military and civilian Civil War reenactors in the United States. When they attended a reenactment, they were often accompanied by their families.

Reenactors may visit school classrooms, march in parades, teach seminars, hold public demonstrations, or participate in weekend battle games. Groups also meet in a number of overseas countries, including England, Germany, Taiwan, France, Belgium, Spain, Japan, Sweden, and Norway. Dozens of reenactment groups have Internet sites.

Civil War reenactments began during the 1960s at the time of the Civil War's centennial. A love of history and a desire to educate are the primary motivations mentioned by reenactors. Interest in reenactments has tended to increase after mass-market films about the war are shown on television or in movie theaters.

Civil War reenactments are not for everyone, however. Just getting started requires buying period clothes, boots, a tent, mess equipment, and a gun, at a cost of $1,000 to $1,500. The investment can reach $2,000 for members of groups that strive for high levels of authenticity. These groups can be so exacting that they do not allow members to use modern speech or eyeglasses. An estimated two hundred businesses have grown to satisfy the need for authenticity in costumes, including "great coats" and brogans (heavy, ankle-high shoes) and equipment. Participating in reenactments requires physical strength, vigor, and endurance. Young men typically serve as soldiers because the average age of soldiers fell from twenty-five in 1862 to eighteen in 1864. Some older adult enthusiasts may remain involved in the activity as spectators when marching long distances in inclement weather becomes too physically demanding.