Cultural tourism: Assessing the benefits for arts organizations

This thesis focuses on a specified definition of cultural tourism, "the phenomenon of traveling in order to enjoy and experience an artistic attraction". The arts, in the form of sophisticated culture, have long attracted tourists to cities, however today traditional culture, in the form of folk dances, ethnic foods and festivals, is motivating interested visitors. If cities are to meet their tourism potential and arts organizations are going to meet their cultural attraction goals, a mutual understanding must be established. The thesis utilizes The Virginia Beach Center for the Arts (VBCA) as a tourism model. Many of the successes of the VBCA are illustrated as representative of the collaborative efforts between tourism and the arts. Although the VBCA is successful, it is far from reaching its full potential. Included in the thesis are suggestions as to the future efforts for the continuance of what is already a successful operation.