Washington, DC: Nearly 93 million Americans say they included at least one cultural, arts, heritage or historic activity or event while…
Washington, DC: Nearly 93 million Americans say they included at least one cultural, arts, heritage or historic activity or event while traveling in the past year, and this group has tremendous economic potential for the travel and tourism industry, according to a new report by the Travel Industry Association of America (
The Historic/Cultural Traveler, 2001 Edition, found that this group of travelers spends, on average, $631 per trip compared to $457 for all U.S. travelers, excluding transportation to the destination. The report also found that compared to overall travelers, historic/cultural travelers tend to take longer trips, are more likely to fly, participate in more activities while traveling, and stay more often in hotels, motels and bed & breakfast establishments.
"This report makes it clear that the historic/cultural traveler is a market to which the travel industry needs to pay close attention in the future," said William S. Norman, president & CEO of the Travel Industry Association of America. "The sheer volume of travelers interested in arts and history as well as their spending habits, their travel patterns and demographics leaves no doubt that history and culture are now a significant part of the U.S. travel experience."
The report also noted some important differences between historic travelers and cultural travelers. Historic travelers take longer trips than cultural travelers (5.7 nights vs. 5.1 nights on average) and spend more money on average ($722 vs. $603).
The report is based on TIA's TravelScope cooperative research survey of 25,000 households contacted monthly.
Facts about historic/cultural travelers
Of those travelers who added time to their trip to specifically attend a historic/cultural event, 43 percent added part of one day, 31 percent added one extra night, 19 percent added two extra nights and another 7 percent added three or more extra nights because of this activity or event.
Historic/cultural travelers are slightly older than other U.S. travelers (48 vs. 46) and they are more likely to have a post-graduate education (23% vs. 20%). One-third (34%) are 55 or older.
June, July and August are the most popular months for historic and cultural travel.
Seventeen percent of historic/cultural travelers participate in 4+ activities while traveling, compared to just 5 percent of total travelers.
Hotels, motels and B&B establishments are used 62 percent of the time by historic/cultural travelers compared to 56 percent of all travelers.
Shopping is part of the trip for 44 percent of historic/cultural travelers, compared to 33 percent of the U.S. travel population. State/national parks, outdoor activities, beaches and theme parks are also popular with historic/cultural travelers.
Eighteen percent of historic/cultural travelers say they spend more than $1,000 when they travel compared to 12 percent of all travelers.
Historic/cultural travelers are twice as likely to take a group tour than the average traveler (6% vs. 3%).
The South Atlantic and Pacific regions of the U.S. are the most popular destination regions for historic/cultural travelers, with each region accounting for 18 percent of all trips taken by this group.
Air travel is the primary mode of transportation for 22 percent of historic/cultural travelers compared to 18 percent of the U.S. traveler population.
The average number of nights away per trip for historic/cultural travelers is 4.7 nights compared to 3.4 nights for all U.S. travelers.
Today, about one in five (21%) of total domestic person-trips (business and pleasure) includes an historic/cultural activity. In fact, historic/cultural travel volume is up 10 percent from 1996, increasing from 192.4 million person-trips to 212.0 million person-trips in 2000. A person-trip equals one person on one trip 50 miles or more, one-way, away from home or including an overnight stay.
TIA is the national, non-profit organization representing all components of the $584 billion travel industry. TIA's mission is to represent the whole of the U.S. travel industry to promote and facilitate increased travel to and within the United States.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
