A growing number of visitors are becoming special interest travelers who rank the arts, heritage and other cultural activities as one of their top five reasons for traveling. The following facts profile these cultural travelers, who are making tourism one of the world¹s major industries.

Sixty-five million people or one-third of all U.S. adults visited an historic place or cultural event in 1996, according to a survey conducted by the Travel Industry Association of America. Thirty-one percent of those visitors included historic and cultural activities on their trips. For those who visited a cultural event or festival on their itinerary, 37 percent, or 12.3 million, said the cultural event or festival was their primary reason for traveling.

Cultural and heritage travelers are slightly more educated and affluent. They tend to:

• Spend more money ($615 per trip) than the average U.S. traveler ($425 per trip).
• Stay longer (4.7 nights) than the average U.S. traveler (3.3 nights).
• Stay at a hotel, motel or bed and breakfast (56 percent) more often than the average U.S. traveler (42 percent).
• Compared to U.S. travelers as a whole, cultural and heritage travelers also are more likely to fly than drive their own cars.
• Shop while traveling.
• Travel in April and July.
• Travel outside their region of residence.
• Participate in activities, particularly visits to national and state parks.

The top ten states by total number of historic or cultural travelers are: California, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, Illinois, Georgia and Ohio (tie).

Thirty one million adults attended a festival while on a trip of 100 miles or more. One-third of festival travelers attended an arts or music festival in the past year, making it the most popular type of festival for travelers. Thirty-one percent of overseas visitors go to an historic site; 23 percent go to a museum or gallery and 16 percent go to a concert, play or musical. This information comes from the 2000 Travel Industry Association of America Travel Poll Survey and the Profile of Travelers Who Participate in Historic and Cultural Activities, prepared by the Travel Industry Association of America in 1999.