4 Valuable Tips For Museums and Attractions From Travel Expert Kellee Edwards

Tiqets for Venues Blog Team

November 15, 2022

At heart, people travel for one reason: to have an adventure. As Kellee Edwards puts it, they want to “get lost through travel" - and that’s precisely what Edwards does for a living.

She’s a multi-rated licensed pilot, advanced open-water scuba diver, and dedicated explorer who has been to over 65 countries on 6 continents (and counting; she plans to go to Antarctica in the next year). Edwards has swum with sharks, summited mountains, and participated in archaeological digs. She’s also a journalist — and the first Black woman to have her own adventure series on the Travel Channel.

The point is, Edwards knows a little something about being intrepid, which is why Tiqets asked her to be the keynote speaker at the sixth annual Remarkable Venues Awards. Naturally, the theme of her keynote was getting lost in travel.

As a museum, attraction, or other type of tourism venue, you might assume that your visitors have a natural sense of adventure. The question is, how can you give them what they came for? Here are a few takeaways from Edwards’ keynote.

Named “one of the most powerful women in travel” by Condé Nast, Kellee Edwards hosts her own TV show on Travel Channel as well as Travel & Leisure podcast “Let’s go together”. Her keynote speech, “Get lost through travel”, shared stories of her farthest-flung journeys – from flying airplanes to swimming with whales and unearthing spearhead artifacts – and how museums and attractions can evoke the same sense of adventure in their experiences. The power to help heal divides and increase tolerance — and how museums and attractions can play a role in making the world a more peaceful place.   

Tip 1: Do something no one else is doing

As a venue, you are not just “another museum.” You have something special to offer, something visitors can’t get anywhere else.

One of the ways in which Edwards has differentiated herself as a television travel journalist is by piloting her own plane. Flying herself to sites worldwide is part of the allure of Edwards’ show. She’s flown a Cessna 172 to summit Mt. Hood in Oregon, trek the active volcano Mt. Pacaya in Guatemala, and navigate the temperamental Aleutian Chain, among many other places. This is one of the reasons Newsweek has called her “One of the most interesting women in the world.”

Edwards is a travel personality, not a museum. But museums, too, should look for the thing that sets them apart.

Mass MoCa in North Adams, Massachusetts, recently launched an art exhibit called “Brake Run Helix” by EJ Hill. Not just another sculpture or mixed-media installation, Brake Run Helix features an actual roller coaster –or “rideable sculpture installation” – inside the museum. The ride, “Brava!,” only holds one rider at a time, while onlookers patiently wait their turn. So whether you get adrenaline from speed, heights, or being the center of attention, it’s a thrill.

Edwards’ advice:

“Add a sense of adventure to your offering. There is always a way to enrich the visitor’s experience.”

Photography credit: Kaelan Burkett/Mass MoCa

Tip 2: Open your visitor’s eyes

Installing a real roller coaster inside your venue might be out of budget (and against your insurance policy), but there are other ways to highlight a sense of adventure at your attraction.

“I have to admit,” Edwards said in her keynote, “one of the places I love to spend a lot of time in is aviation museums around the world. They tell the history of those who’ve come before me.”

For instance, did you know that Bessie Coleman, the first Black woman to get her pilot’s license in the world, got it a year before Amelia Earhart did? Edwards learned this in an aviation museum.

Every single museum or attraction has a story to tell. That’s certainly true for all of the Remarkable Venue Awards winners. For instance, Studio of Wonders, which won 2022's Most Innovative Venue title, contains 30 immersive experiences in the Mall of Berlin, including optical illusions, augmented reality features, and TikTok opportunities galore.

What do your visitors learn or experience at your museum or attraction that they can’t get anywhere else?

Tip 3: Extend the adventure virtually

Maybe the adventure you offer visitors comes through intrepid online storytelling. A lot of museums display their sense of adventure via social media.

Take SUMMIT One Vanderbilt, winner of the Remarkable Venue Awards “Best Landmark” title. This New York City attraction boasts the “best views of New York” with the “world’s most immersive observatory,” which encompasses 3 levels of multi-sensory experiences from 1,210 feet in the air.

You can get a pretty good flavor of the experience simply by visiting the attraction’s TikTok feed. Digital “visitors” can see the city from the point of view of a window washer or hear the impressions of an actual onsite visitor: “It felt like I was floating on a sea of clouds.”

@summitov

It felt like... I was floating on a sea of clouds ☁️ Inspired by unscripted guest testimonials, "It felt like..." encourages guests to share not only what they saw, but what they felt while experiencing SUMMIT. #summitov #itfeltlike

♬ original sound - SUMMIT One Vanderbilt

Tip 4: Adventure is everywhere, if you look for it

Tiqets honors the spirit of travel and adventure annually with the Remarkable Venue Awards, but if your museum or attraction is not one of the few lucky winners, you can still gain inspiration from these venues and others around the world that find unique ways to tap into their audience’s sense of adventure.

After all, as Kellee Edwards quotes one of her favorite adventurers of all time, Helen Keller: 

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.”


You can check out the winners of 2022's Remarkable Venue Awards here or take a read of 8 of the best museum marketing campaigns if you're seeking more inspiration.

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