How were these principles and steps developed?

The National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Heritage Tourism Program coordinated a three year “Heritage Tourism Initiative” with funding from the National Endowment for Arts between 1990 and 1993. During that time, the Heritage Tourism Program worked with 16 pilot areas in four states (Indiana, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin) to see what it took to create heritage tourism programs that were both successful and sustainable.

This initiative resulted in the development of the National Trust for Historic Preservation's five guiding principles and four basic steps for getting started in cultural heritage tourism. Over the years, these principles and steps have been successfully used in cultural heritage tourism programs in rural and urban areas across America as well as abroad.

Developing cultural heritage tourism is an incremental process, and communities will repeat the four steps at each stage of development. Keep in mind that developing a strong cultural heritage program will require an investment and a commitment—an investment of financial resources and a commitment of human resources including strong leadership.

Not every community can have a successful cultural heritage tourism program. Communities that have lost too much of their heritage, or not nurtured their cultural potential may not have the historic, cultural and natural resources it takes to develop a program that will attract cultural heritage visitors.