Downtown Zionsville: Where tourism and the arts meet

Downtown Zionsville on a Friday afternoon is a busy place. People are meandering up the streets and going in and out of the shops. Clusters of visitors stop occasionally to peer into a store window or look at the menu outside of Eagle Creek Coffee Company.

These visitors come from surrounding communities and out of town, citing the art galleries, antiques and other amenities as the main reason for their visits. This is cultural tourism in a small town.

Cultural tourism is the new buzz word for economic development. At a March 26, meeting with the Committee on House Education and Labor, John Thomasian, director of the Center for Best Practices of the National Governors Association, testified on their most recent NGA Center report, "Arts & the Economy: Using Arts and Culture to Stimulate State Economic Development." Sharing the report with governors throughout the United States, Thomasian addressed what states can do to maximize the economic benefits of their creative industries. The report itself contained valuable information about cultural tourism efforts throughout the United States which even local communities and governments who are looking to strengthen their tourism efforts can use to expand their local cultural tourism plans.

With more than 612,000 arts businesses employing nearly 3 million workers throughout the United States., 30 percent of all Americans are now employed in the creative sector. Overall, the nonprofit arts industry is a $37 billion industry, and a force in terms of economic development. With dollars like these, local governments can no longer afford to ignore the benefits that nonprofit arts bring to a community. And the beneficiaries of these successful ventures are these so-called cultural tourists.

The Travel Industry Association of America defines a cultural tourist as a traveler who enriches their travel experiences by visiting art galleries, theaters, museums, historic sites, cultural events, festivals and fairs as well as ethnic communities and neighborhoods. Eighty percent of these travelers - 118 million people - include a historic or cultural event in their travel agenda. The cultural tourist is generally middle- aged, wealthier, more educated and technologically savvy. They want their travel experiences to be memorable, a learning experience. And they spend money, $623 compared to $457 that the average traveler spends.

In addition, from the Americans for the Arts, "Arts & Economic Prosperity III" study, we also know that the nonlocal attendee spends twice as much as local attendees at events ($40.19 versus $19.53). So cultivating these cultural tourists is not only good business, but the kind of business that a community can no longer afford to ignore. For Zionsville and Boone County, the question becomes what types of efforts must a community make to grab its piece of the cultural tourism pie?
One necessary element for a successful cultural tourism destination is the recognition in the value of pairing arts and culture organizations when developing community initiatives. For smaller communities, these partnerships can be critical, Janet Baker, executive director of the SullivanMunce Cultural Center said, because the combining of resources in a small pool adds to the value they can bring overall.

"Partnerships between arts organizations are vital. They allow these small, independently funded entities to work together to advance similar missions, share limited resources such as volunteer talents and marketing dollars, and create added value for visitors, patrons and donors," Baker said. "Further, arts organizations can collaborate with civic organizations such as convention and visitor bureaus, local governments, chambers of commerce and economic development corporations, as these partnerships help marry visions of moving cities forward while enhancing quality of life issues that are so important to growing and vital communities."

Who works to develop these private-public partnerships is another critical question in the debate. While newly appointed director of the Boone County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Steve Russo sees his first obligation as "putting heads in the beds", that is getting more people coming into the county and staying at local hotels, he also believes that building a consortium of leaders is important for the county's tourism efforts to succeed.

"Our job is twofold - to create tourism outside of Boone County, but also to make people aware of the tourism that is within our county," Russo said. "Right now we are attending events and identifying leaders of those events. We are meeting the players so we can help them in the future. Our plan is to hold a couple of seminars in a couple of years where we can invite various leaders together, exchange ideas and talk about maximizing events."

Where helping a community maximize current events is feasible, Russo doesn't believe that it is BCCVB's obligation alone to link organizations and businesses to create the private and public partnerships. Since these partnerships are so essential, what exactly does it take?

Kristina Davis, community development manager and accessibility coordinator with the Indiana Arts Commission and their liaison for Cultural Tourism, said it takes a village of people working together. The IAC extends their reach throughout the state through a Regional Arts Partners system comprised of partner organizations in 12 distinct regions in the state. Boone County is part of Region seven, which is represented by the Arts Council of Indianapolis.

"One thing that we continue to see in community development is that one person or organization cannot do it alone, although one person or organizer can certainly spearhead the efforts and work to bring people together," Davis said. "Specifically in regards to cultural tourism and cultural districts, many organizations and individuals need to come together to visualize, plan and implement change. We have seen collaborations involving artists, arts organizations, municipal governments, economic development organizations, libraries, businesses, universities, local CVBs and more. I think the more organizations and people a community can get on board and involved in the process, the better the result will be."

While the notion of collaboration between community groups is a critical aspect for successful cultural tourism, in Boone County, collaboration countywide is still in its infant stages, especially given that newly-formed organizations such as the Lebanon Community Arts Council and the Zionsville Arts Initiative are still in their beginning development stages as, too, is the Zionsville Economic Development Commission. While Russo intends to bring these organizations and their communities together in the long term, right now, he says, they are still developing their identities and it is hard to see just where the leadership lies in different communities.

Still, partnerships are happening. The Lebanon Arts Council has and is collaborating with the Lebanon Vitalization Committee, the Boone County Historical Society and the Boone County Community Band. The ZAI, SullivanMunce Cultural Center and other organizations have all worked intimately with the Lions Club, Chamber of Commerce and the Zionsville Merchants Association. Further, the Greater Zionsville Chamber of Commerce has cultivated various partnerships with the Zionsville Town Council, the Economic Development Commission, the Greater Zionsville Progress Committee and Zionsville Merchants Association in interest of cultural tourism. For Ray Cortopassi, executive director of the chamber, the chamber's goal is to strengthen Zionsville's visibility while maintaining its authenticity and still looking to the future, he said.

Nancy Larsh, marketing director at Nancy Nöel's The Sanctuary, hears about this authenticity from Sanctuary visitors all the time. For the most part, Larsh said, at the Sanctuary, out of town visitors filter in on a regular basis then spend the rest of their day in downtown Zionsville.

"I once talked to one of our visitors from Ireland," Larsh said, "and he said to me that these types of places with beautiful galleries and museums were commonplace in Europe, but in the United States, a sweet little village like Zionsville was like a needle in a haystack. There's energy, a peacefulness here that draws you."

This unique charm has helped to make Zionsville what Russo called a historic gem, but in reality, it is a product brand that Zionsville must ultimately capitalize on. It is these unique features, Cortopassi believes, that will ultimately bring strength to the tourism table for the entire county.

"I believe each community within Boone County brings strength to the tourism table, each is a unique draw in its own way. Zionsville has a historic charm that beckons to visitors around the Midwest," Cortopassi said. "Mostly success breeds success in our world of tourism. Whether it's the Back to the Fifties Festival in Lebanon, or the Taste of Boone County, if a member of our community finds a way to bring people to the area, it helps spread the good news that there's a lot to do in our part of the world."

While the arts, historical or community events or even the unique charms of our local communities will attract visitors, it will be the recognition that we all have a unique product for sale and the building of that brand through long range planning will, eventually, keep the cultural tourist coming to our area time and time again. But first and foremost, those in county leadership positions must put themselves in the mindset of the visitor making their first trip to our area as Davis said, and then determine what exactly entices the cultural tourist to Boone County.