{"id":89510,"date":"2022-11-15T16:05:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-15T15:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tiqets.com\/venues\/?p=89510"},"modified":"2022-12-02T14:54:32","modified_gmt":"2022-12-02T13:54:32","slug":"cultural-heritage-tourism-marketing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tiqets.com\/venues\/blog\/cultural-heritage-tourism-marketing\/","title":{"rendered":"Cultural Heritage Tourism Marketing: 10 Tips for a Higher Profile"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The most well-known cultural heritage sites are famous for their grandeur: Machu Picchu, the Taj Mahal, Angkor Wat. In fact, they\u2019re so famous they need little introduction, never mind cultural heritage tourism marketing. Many of them (1,154, in fact) are UNESCO sites, designated as legally protected landmarks by the United Nations because they are \u201cof outstanding universal value to humanity<\/a>.\u201d

But most cultural heritage sites can\u2019t rest on recognition alone. Beyond the UNESCO badge lie plenty of incredible historical sites with rich, fascinating legacies of their own. Peru boasts 100,000 sites of archaeological significance, and only 13 are officially \u201cWorld Heritage Sites.\u201d Rome has plenty of incredible ruins to see beyond the Colosseum. <\/p>\n\n\n

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So while your venue might be a cultural heritage site with a captivating history, without the right marketing, few people will get to enjoy it. With countless other archaeological and culturally significant sites vying for the public’s attention, you need to stake your claim in their itineraries. And now<\/em> is particularly good timing to reach people hungry for meaningful travel experiences. After a year or more of being grounded, people are on a quest to create poignant memories.

Most cultural heritage sites rely on marketing to reach the right audiences at the right times. Here are ten unique ways to help you illuminate the sites and experiences that are significant to our collective and individual cultural identities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Tap into rich storytelling<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As archaeologist Thomas Dowson says<\/a>, real historical tourism is \u201cgetting a more realistic picture of what history was, not trekking across the world to see just one example of it\u2026 Sites beyond the obvious can give you a more complex view of history.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany was recently honored with a Tiqets Most Remarkable Venue Award<\/a> not only for its mesmerizingly beautiful setting on top of a Bavarian Hill, but for its charming history. The castle was originally commissioned by King Ludwig II, known as the \u201cFairy Tale King\u201d because he loved to create extravagant, fantastical architectural places like this one. While Neuschwanstein was inspired by classic fairy tales, the castle itself was the inspiration for the Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

But all was not perfect in this Bavarian fairy tale. There was a darker motivation for King Ludwig II to build his castle. When Bavaria lost a war against the expanding Prussian empire, Ludwig lost his position as a sovereign ruler and was forced to create his own small kingdom atop a hill. His story eventually turned dark, as you can read about on the museum\u2019s website<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For travelers interested in exploring the nuances of history, smaller, out-of-the-way heritage sites like Neuschwanstein are incredibly appealing. If your attraction falls under this banner, your cultural heritage tourism marketing strategy should play up the eccentric, quirky, secret, or mysterious aspects of your history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Reach a wider audience with a podcast<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Intrepid museums and cultural heritage sites experiment with new forms of marketing to tell their original and unique stories. Podcasting is one of the most compelling modern ways for heritage sites to showcase their subject-matter experts and expertise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Podcasting is a long-form marketing format that allows you to delve into the details of your site\u2019s cultural heritage and history in imaginative ways \u2014 and hopefully, enthrall a rapt audience around the world, inspiring them to make the trip to your physical site one day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are a few outstanding small museum podcasts that have developed a pretty big following.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 Plain Questions<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong>\u2013 Started by Joe Williams, Director of the Plains Art Museum in Fargo, North Dakota, this podcast poses five career-oriented questions to Native American and Indigenous artists, creators, musicians, writers, movers and shakers, and culture bearers during each episode. Helping tell the stories of Native Americans is a way to get the subject matter of the small, remote museum out to a much wider audience \u2014 and to invite that audience back to the museum. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Be American<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 The Lower East Side Tenement Museum in New York tells stories of the rich immigrant, migrant, and refugee experience throughout U.S. history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If producing your own podcast feels utterly daunting, consider making a pitch to an existing podcast to be featured in an episode. There are many podcasters out there who regularly feature small, weird, cool, out-of-the-way, interesting museums and heritage sites. For instance, Museum Archipelago<\/a>, hosted by Ian Elsner,  dives into a different place in each of his nearly 100 episodes to date. Yours could be next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Create experiential marketing moments<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When visitors choose your cultural heritage site, what type of experience are they signing up for? Dioramas and guided tours are fine, but for fans to feel compelled to share their experiences with others, your heritage site needs to create lasting impressions.

Experiential marketing offers true immersion into an experience. Some heritage sites accomplish this naturally \u2013 think of the mock witchcraft trials at the Salem Witch Museum, where visitors are led through a realistic reenactment of the events of 1692. Or an archaeological site where visitors are invited to witness the action of the \u201cdig,\u201d adding a sense of excitement and suspense to their visit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u200b\u200bThere are sites that are being excavated as part of current archaeological research projects. You can only visit these when archaeologists are working there. Archaeologists will often take time out from their excavations to show you around.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\u2014 Archaeologist Thomas Dowson<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When you invite visitors in on the action (safely, of course), you create opportunities for them to create and share more compelling memories of your cultural heritage site.

The Real Mary King\u2019s Close, a centuries-old underground alleyway in the historic Old Town area of Edinburgh, Scotland, has a long-standing reputation for being haunted. This cultural heritage site now capitalizes on this reputation by telling an exciting interactive story with actors that lead visitors around the venue. 

As a tease to this evocative experience, the Real Mary King\u2019s Close Instagram page<\/a> habitually introduces the characters that \u201cinhabit\u201d the close, including Laing Meg, who was a  \u201cfoul clenger\u201d or plague cleaner during the last plague outbreak in 17th-century Edinburgh.

By combining a compelling (and pretty creepy) immersive experience with savvy social media marketing, the Real Mary King\u2019s Close draws in curious visitors. The proof is in the pudding: the venue has nearly 30K followers across social media channels, over 21K on Facebook alone.<\/p>\n\n\n

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4. Market your region, not just your attraction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Many cultural heritage sites stand as a symbol for a greater regional culture. In Salt Lake City, founded by Mormon pioneers in the mid-1800s, This Is the Place Heritage Park is the aptly named historical monument to Mormon leader Brigham Young\u2019s pronouncement that the pioneers had finally found a place to settle.

While there is plenty to do at This Is the Place, including an extensive tour of Heritage Village and horseback trail rides in the surrounding Emigration Canyon, the monument also serves as a hub of information about the entire greater Salt Lake Valley. This includes not just its Mormon history and culture but respect to the five indigenous tribes that once populated the area: the Ute, Navajo, Paiute, Goshute, and Shoshone.<\/p>\n\n\n

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When you choose to celebrate the unique legacy and culture of your greater community, you attract visitors who don\u2019t just want to spend an afternoon at a historic site, but are looking for an in-depth understanding of a region\u2019s cultural history.

Your business doesn\u2019t have to stop at your four walls. If you have creative ideas to spread the mission and story of your business as it relates to a greater regional history or culture, by all means, act on them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Become known for an annual event<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Did you know you can run a marathon along the Great Wall of China<\/a>? Depending on your personality, this might sound like a nightmare or the experience of a lifetime. Some people enjoy visiting historical sites for the everyday opportunity to learn more about history or culture. Others prefer an infusion of adrenaline.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The Great Wall of China isn’t only a spot for walking, but for running too.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n


Hosting an exciting annual event like a marathon, a masked ball, a parade, or a culture-specific holiday celebration can be an invigorating way to attract visitors who might otherwise be ambivalent about your heritage site. 

Festivals are one of the most culturally on-brand ways to make a big impact with an annual event. Just visit UNESCO\u2019s World Heritage Site Festivals page <\/a>to see the breadth and diversity of festivals held at heritage sites around the world: the Gjirokast\u00ebr National Folklore Festival at Gjirokast\u00ebr Castle in Albania, widely regarded as the most important event in Albanian culture; the Elephanta Festival at the Elephanta Caves in Mumbai, commemorating the heritage of dance, art, and sculpture in India; the Omizutori festival at the Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara in Japan. The list goes on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Make headlines<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Most people are addicted to news, and there\u2019s a lot of bad news out there. Your cultural heritage site can be an antidote to all the sorrow and strife by making headlines about new discoveries, refurbishments, and research.

King Tut is not exactly breaking news. But recently, the ancient pharaoh appeared in the press when the exhibit \u201cBeyond King Tut: The Immersive Experience\u201d launched its North American tour. This National Geographic-hosted immersive experience has received rave reviews as it has landed in major cities to sold-out audiences. With high-res digital projections along the walls and floors of the hosting venues, visitors are transported back in time to experience the culture of ancient Egypt and a deep dive into his, um, burial chamber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To get headlines published often requires good old-fashioned PR, but other marketing tactics include social media marketing, website copy, and email newsletters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Embrace sustainability<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sustainability is closely in line with the mission of most heritage sites, which is the preservation of culture and history. Becoming known as a heritage site that respects and proactively engages in environmental sustainability is quickly becoming a mandatory effort, and it\u2019s not just about marketing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The World Wildlife Fund is devoted to preserving biodiversity and protecting endangered species. The organization has found that biodiversity is closely linked to human cultural diversity, and protecting both is a way to protect each. They call it \u201ca continuous loop of hope<\/a>.\u201d Researchers at WWW looked at 48 UNESCO sites in Africa for the October 2021 issue of the science journal Conservation Biology and found that all but one of these sites overlapped with people who spoke a variety of indigenous languages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does this have to do with cultural heritage site marketing? Heritage sites that put a strong emphasis on conservation and environmental sustainability see returns in triplicate:<\/p>\n\n\n\n