Summer 2006
Tourism News

Partners in Tourism: Culture and Commerce is a coalition of cultural service organizations, the travel industry, and federal agencies that provides a forum for collaborative research, education, promotion and advocacy with the common goal of advancing the role of culture and heritage in the travel and tourism industry.

8th Cultural & Heritage Tourism Alliance Conference Set
November 8-11, 2006

Culture is the Spark is the theme of the 8th Cultural & Heritage Tourism Alliance Conference set for November 8-11 in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Cultural Heritage Tourism News is published by

© 2005 Partners in Tourism: Culture and Commerce

Editor: Carolyn Brackett

Assistant Editors: Kimber Craine, Verna Romero & Amy Webb

GOT NEWS? Send program updates, new initiatives and case studies to cht@nthp.org

First-ever survey on Historic House Museums lends insight into future visitors

Couples with no children most likely to visit

Even though national interest in cultural heritage travel is increasing, visits to historic house museums across the U.S. is on the decline. A recent survey by global market research firm Synovate and travel research consulting group DataPath Systems, in collaboration with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, discovered which travelers intend to visit historic homes in the near future.

The survey found that, consistent with the cultural heritage traveler, those who will consider visiting a historic house museum in the next 12 months tend to be older and more affluent. For example, 36% of those aged 55-64 who were surveyed indicated that they planned to visit compared to 31% of the general population. Also, of those considering a visit, 29% earn over $75,000 and 17% earn over $100,000 per year.

Young adults aged 18-24 indicated increased interest in visiting historic house museums (16%) in the next 24 months compared to the general population (13%). This is good news for historic house museums as young adults have typically been perceived as a difficult group to attract to these sites.  

“This could mean good news for cultural heritage travel and for historic preservation,” said Dr. Lisa Araj, Vice President of Synovate’s Travel and Leisure group.  “Aside from the immediate benefits of attracting these younger visitors, if historic house museums deliver a satisfying experience to these travelers, it could encourage their ongoing interest and cultivate support for the preservation of these important sites as places for visitors to learn about many aspects of our nation’s history.”

Surprisingly, having children in the household has no impact on plans to visit historic house museums in the next 12 months. Twenty-nine percent of families with children indicated interest in a future visit versus 32% of respondents without children.  This goes against widely-held beliefs that children are the main influence in visiting these sites.

According to Carolyn Brackett, Senior Program Associate for the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Heritage Tourism Program, managers of historic house museums across the country are increasingly focusing on better understanding their visitors and providing programming that engages them. "The scarcity of marketing dollars requires sites to carefully target the visitors they are trying to reach,” says Brackett. Brackett emphasizes that historic site managers also recognize the need to market locally. “Travel research shows that the ‘Visiting Friends and Relatives’ market is a highly desirable audience as locals often take their guests on tours of their community’s cultural and heritage attractions,” she said.

Regionally, more people in the South Atlantic portion of the U.S. indicated that they plan to visit a historic house museum (35%).

“Their intentions for visiting these sites in the coming years are more positive than any other region in the country” said Donna Larsen, a tourism research consultant and owner of DataPath Systems. “This may have to do with the number of these museums in that region, particularly antebellum mansions, which have long been popular tourist attractions.”

The tradition of preserving and opening historic homes to the public began in the mid-19th century when George Washington’s Virginia home, Mount Vernon, became the country’s first historic house museum. Since that time, hundreds of historic homes have been preserved and attract thousands of visitors each year.  

Graceland, Elvis Presley’s home in Memphis, was recently declared a National Historic Landmark, joining 2,500 other historic properties in the U.S. with this designation.

The survey was conducted from March 22 through March 27, 2006 with over 7,000 respondents via Synovate’s national online panel and its weekly omnibus survey service eGage.

About Synovate Travel and Leisure

Synovate Travel and Leisure is comprised of airline, cruise, hotel and travel research experts with a reputation for providing approachable, personal client service.  Synovate’s Travel and Leisure team understands the unique marketing and research needs of the travel and tourism industry.

About Synovate

Synovate, the market research arm of Aegis Group plc, generates consumer insights that drive competitive marketing solutions. The network provides clients with cohesive global support and a comprehensive suite of research solutions. Synovate employs over 5,000 staff in 109 cities across 51 countries. More information on Synovate can be found at www.synovate.com.

About DataPath Systems

DataPath Systems is a full service market research company specializing in travel and tourism research.  Based on over 20 years of travel research experience with destinations and tourism industry clients, DataPath provides quality research services using state-of-art methodologies and analytical approaches.  Visit www.datapathsystems.net for more information.