Cultural Guidebook for Travelers Will Showcase U.S. Museums

The U.S. Cultural & Heritage Tourism Marketing Council and Museum Store Association (MSA), working with the U.S. Department of Commerce/Office of Travel & Tourism Industries and Shop America Alliance, are launching a unique, new publication called The Cultural Traveler, a high-end tourism guidebook and corresponding Web site that will showcase the leading museums in America. This publication is the first of its kind designed to exclusively promote cultural and heritage travel to and within the United States.

The Cultural Traveler will be distributed in 2009 to more than 40,000

consumers, tour operators, travel agents and travel media interested in museum store shopping. In addition, participating museums will be featured on www.Museum-Store.travel. Museums and other cultural institutions provide travelers with rich experiences that are reflective of the art, history and unique qualities of the city or destination where they are located and therefore provide singular shopping experiences within the museum store. The United States is home to a treasure trove of cultural travel destinations and The Cultural Traveler will be a required directory to these fine institutions.

U.S. Department of Commerce data underscores the importance of cultural and heritage travel, shopping and dining as the top tourism activities in the United States. Today’s traveling consumer is more discriminating than ever, seeking value and quality in every experience and every purchase. Museum stores offer unique shopping opportunities that can’t be experienced anywhere else. The Museum Store Association represents more than 1,600 stores in every kind of cultural institution – from art museums and science centers to zoos and historic houses, and many of these institutions will be highlighted in The Cultural Traveler.

Numerous prominent institutions have already committed to participate including: Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center; The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis; Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, NM; Gray Line, Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA; Pasadena Convention & Visitors Bureau; Saint Louis Art Museum; Winterthur Museum & Country Estate, Wilmington, DE; and de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA. The deadline to participate in this groundbreaking tourism guidebook is Sept. 22, 2008.