City of Austin Cultural Tourism Plan
August 2014 - April 2015
Public City was selected by the City of Austin Economic Development Department Cultural Arts Division through a competitive bid process to draft the City’s first Cultural Tourism Plan. In 2012, the Austin City Council adopted Imagine Austin, Austin’s comprehensive plan, which included a recommendation for a cultural tourism and heritage plan as part of the short-term work program for priority program (item #5: Grow and Invest in Austin’s Creative Economy). Funded through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the plan was commissioned and Public City led and managed the planning effort.
Consistent with the promotion and enhancement of the City as a cultural destination, the intent of the plan is:
- Support economic growth and the creative sector by leveraging the travel industry and the City’s current investments in the arts
- Provide an opportunity to build new partnerships across sectors
- To increase tourism around place-specific arts, cultural, and heritage offerings
- Address the need to broaden marketing efforts and reach out to new audiences, both residents and tourists, to increase tourism throughout the year
- Aim to elevate the City leadership understanding of the importance of cultural and investment in its proliferation to build a sustainable, resilient 21st century city.
Client
City of Austin Economic Development Department Cultural Arts Division
What we did
+ Cultural Strategies
+ Community Engagement Strategy
+ Project Management
What we loved
We love the challenge of simultaneously working top down and bottom up. Balancing the desires of both a municipality and a local community requires a patient tenacity focused on results that when implemented benefit all. It is always an exciting opportunity to work with such diverse constituents to understand the needs and alignments, that if implemented, can build sustainable, creative, vibrant cultural and economic ecosystems and therefore cities.