press releases

For Immediate Release

Arts groups, tourism agencies and hospitality businesses throughout New York State have been struggling since 9/11 to respond to the huge drop in tourism that resulted from the tragedy.  Cultural tourism has emerged as a critical element in the effort of New York City and New York State to recover economically. While the return of the Broadway attendance has received considerable attention of late, many attractions and communities were struggling even before September 11th, and now must face the challenge of how to market themselves to even more skittish travelers.

A solution, however, is to continue to grow the marketing and sophistication of the extraordinary cultural tourism assets that exist in every corner of New York State, and in all five boroughs of New York City. Marketed effectively, these organizations can attract visitors in an environment when travelers are staying closer to home, or seeking a place or experience that is entirely fresh and new to them. Trends in tourism have changed a great deal and this year’s grant proposals reflect a strategic planning response to these new travel attitudes. The statewide initiative under the facilitation of Museums Association of New York reaches out to the increased interest of travelers to experience attractions that are in driving distance and many New York metro- based organizations are capitalizing on their local audiences.

The Cultural Tourism Initiative, now in its third year, is administered by the Arts & Business Council Inc. and funded by the New York State Council on the Arts. It seeks to accomplish this goal of building a more effective cultural tourism promotion effort by providing seed funding to a select number of New York’s arts groups. In addition, training workshops are held throughout the state, with additional funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. The selected groups must match the funding from other sources, and must form a partnership with a local tourism agency.

Many of the projects funded over the past two years have already demonstrated significant success, leveraging increases in local tourism spending and revenues. For example, the Council on the Arts and Humanities for Staten Island (COAHSI) responded to the fact that 99% of the non-commuter riders on the ferry do not disembark on the Staten Island side and worked work with NYC & Co. to develop a bus-and-ferry tour of the island during the summer of 2001. During the initial phase, they generated over 150 paid visitors, garnered national and international press, certified new tour guides and built a VISIT center. The real measure of impact came following September 11th as NYC & Co. asked COAHSI to re-open the tours for the month of October in order to accommodate the stranded visitors and boost the City’s community focus and economy. Currently, COAHSI has put together new family weekend packages that highlight the resources of Staten Island. Upstate, Columbia County Council on the Arts, in the Hudson Valley, was awarded a Cultural Tourism Initiative grant to fund their Weekends in the Country: Houses, History and the Arts in Columbia County tour.  This was a series of Fall 2000 get-away weekends that featured performances and special events. In terms of economic impact, this program generated 15,050 in attendance with a total direct spending for day and overnight visitors of $1.2 million dollars.

Since 1965, The Arts & Business Council’s mission is to stimulate partnerships between arts and business that strengthen both sectors in the communities they serve. For 37 years, the Council has accomplished this mission with programs that promote volunteerism and leadership, build arts management capacity, gather and disseminate relevant information, and advocate for closer ties between business and the arts. The cultural tourism awards this year are also being made to support the spirit of "Arts for Hope," a  new promotional campaign recently launched by the Arts & Business Council to celebrate the power of the arts in our lives, in the community and in the economy.  This campaign, sponsored by JP Morgan Chase, includes print and transit advertising, as well as additional promotion by individual participating arts groups and by JP Morgan Chase.  More information is available at www.artsforhope.org.

The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) is a state funding agency that provides support for activities of nonprofit arts and cultural organizations in New York State and helps to bring artistic programs of high quality to the citizens of the state. NYSCA has been directed by the state Legislature to maintain the "paramount position of this State in the nation and the world as a cultural center" through the support of nonprofit arts organizations in New York State. NYSCA achieves its goals primarily through its grant-making activity.