A new council designed to cooperatively expand opportunities for cultural and heritage tourism in California is established

A Memorandum of Understanding between several state, federal, tribal, local, non-profit, corporate and private agencies has established a new council designed to cooperatively expand opportunities for cultural and heritage tourism in California.

The creation of the California Cultural and Heritage Tourism Council (Council) resulted from a year-long study undertaken by an ad hoc working group of leading public and private agencies to determine how California could gain greater benefits from cultural and heritage tourism. The workgroup found that California's vast size, enormous population, structure and multiple jurisdictions and agencies complicates and often limits the state's ability to benefit from grant opportunities and attract historic and cultural travelers. Evidencing this, the preface of the MOU reports that "Four times more of the federal highway funds given to other states is spent on roadside heritage projects as occurs in California."

"When heritage and cultural tourists choose to bypass California for other states, we lose big, and that's directly tied to how well California takes advantage of grants and funding opportunities that help us preserve and promote our historic and cultural attributes," says Caroline Beteta, executive director of the California Travel and Tourism Commission. "Studies by the Travel Industry of America and Smithsonian Magazine tell us that historic/cultural travelers spend 38% more and stay 38% longer than other tourists. Often, their spending occurs in small towns and historic communities that have been struggling to sustain their economies. Considering that 81 percent of U.S adults who traveled last year consider themselves historic/cultural travelers, that's huge," adds Executive Director Beteta.

That's particularly pronounced in agricultural communities where the spending by historic/cultural travelers is keeping many small farms going. According to Secretary A.G. Kawamura of the California Food and Agriculture Agency, "the spending of people in search of California agricultural heritage, experiences and culture has become an essential revenue source for many farms and wineries. Likewise, California travelers enjoy visiting California's wineries, farms and certified farmer's markets, because of the entertainment they provide and the unusual and fresh farm products found at them," says Secretary Kawamura.

Ruth Coleman, director of the California State Parks concurs, adding that visitation to State cultural and heritage sites provides a windfall for many communities. "As our society ages, park use is changing. We see increasing interest from travelers in learning about our past and visiting the places where it occurred. Similarly, state parks attract thousands each year to music, arts and theatrical events, helping to sustain local artists and performers and their craft and attract spending to gateway communities. The difficulty is that it often takes the coordinated efforts of several agencies and groups to effectively stage, preserve and promote heritage and cultural tourism," says Coleman.

To facilitate this, the new Council will encourage cross-agency, cross-county and cross-regional communication and partnerships among those with an interest in arts, culture, heritage and tourism. Among its functions are to identify, communicate and be a resource of funding opportunities and grants and to encourage collaboration on cultural and heritage preservation and tourism.

Where possible, the Council will facilitate cooperative promotional projects and events, attract public and private contributions and promote a greater understanding of the economic and social benefits associated with the arts, culture and heritage.

Creators of the Council include the California Department of Food and Agriculture, California State Parks, California Travel and Tourism Commission, California Employment Development Department, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, National Park Service, USDA Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, California Office of Historic Preservation, California Preservation Foundation, California Department of Transportation, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Rivers of Gold National Heritage Corridor Exploratory Committee, Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau, California Arts Council, California Cultural Tourism Coalition, and California Assembly of Local Arts Agencies. Funding is provided by contributions from members of the Council's executive committee. Organizations similar to the Council have been established in 11 states and the District of Columbia.

The Council meets  twice annually. Membership is open to organizations with an interest in statewide heritage and cultural tourism development. Interested parties may contact Jonelle Norton, at 916/319-5438 or by email at  jnorton@visitcalifornia.com