Conference at IUPUI to Examine Economy's Toll on Tourism; How to Market Cultural Tourism When Times are Tough

The 2009 Indiana Cultural Tourism Conference will focus on the economy’s impact on travel and how to creatively attract travelers who want to experience the arts, heritage and the special character of unique places.

Hosted by the Indiana University Department of Tourism, Conventions and Event Management (TCEM) at IUPUI, the conference, entitled “Making an IMPACT through Collaboration and Influence,” will be held May 14 at the IUPUI Campus Center, 420 University Blvd, Indianapolis.

During the conference, the Efroymson Award for Excellence in Cultural Tourism Development $25,000 prize also will be presented to one of 17 entries for being the best cultural tourism campaign in Indiana in 2008. The prize is made possible through a grant from the Efroymson Fund of the Central Indiana Community Foundation.
To register for the conference or to find out more about the conference, visit http://www.culturaltourismconference.com. Registration is $55 before April 24 and $65 after April 24. Registration fees include breakfast, lunch, reception, and all educational programs.

The morning session will look at the impact of the economy on travel, who is traveling and why.

In the first keynote address, Peter Yesawich, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ypartnership, will discuss emerging travel habits and preferences of Americans, including highlights from the widely-acclaimed Ypartnership/Yankelovich, Inc. National Travel Monitor, a nationally-representative survey now in its 18th year. The influence of emerging technology on the manner in which consumers, plan, purchase, and take vacations will be examined, along with current social values, travel habits, destination preferences, brand preferences and media habits.

In the afternoon, the conference will examine cultural tourism as a niche and explore how to develop cultural tourism attractions as destinations of interest.
The closing keynote speaker – Michael McDowell, Senior Director for Cultural Tourism, LA INC., the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau, will discuss “Understanding Cultural Tourists: Demographics, Desires and Decisions.”

In 2005, LA INC. commissioned the nation’s first comparative analysis of the characteristics, demographics, motivators, and behaviors of cultural tourists in seven US urban destinations: Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Diego, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. The goal was to identify and quantify similarities and differences among cultural visitors to cities with very different “brands” to provide insights for future marketing strategies. LA INC. commissioned the second such analysis in 2008 to test the validity of the baseline study and to look for any incremental changes based on market forces.

McDowell will present key data from the 2008 study. Many of the findings are surprising; some are confounding. But all of them have hands-on marketing and potential sponsorship implications for cultural tourism professionals representing destinations of all sizes and locations.

Created in 1969 as a partnership between two world-renowned universities and destined to be the state’s premier urban public research institution, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis is a place where IMPACT is made. The partnership between the state’s two major public universities - Indiana University and Purdue University - enables IUPUI to offer a tremendous range of degree programs for more than 30,000 students who earn Indiana University or Purdue University diplomas