“Cultural tourism is a fast-growing and lucrative segment of the North American travel industry. However, for a city or region to realize its potential for cultural tourism, its destination marketing organization (DMO) must: possess a holistic understanding of culture, understand the city or region’s cultural character, and understand the travel motivations and behaviours of cultural tourists. These “three understandings” then become the basis for cultural tourism that is place-based rather than attractions-based. Capitalizing on a destination’s unique identity, cultural character, and “sense of place”, placed-based cultural tourism maximizes a destination’s appeal to cultural tourists, and maximizes a destination’s profit from cultural tourism. ”
This article originally appeared in the September 2008 issue of Municipal World. Revised in 2013.
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