Civic Tourism: Memphis Tourism Foundation’s Founding Philosophy
The Memphis Tourism Foundation has the chance to be on the forefront of a new emerging movement called civic tourism.
Simply put, it’s about tourism that focuses on more than the needs and interests of tourists. More importantly, it focuses on the culture, the heritage and sense of place that make a city a tourist destination in the first place.
Memphis has the opportunity to be a leader in civic tourism, because unlike other cities which complain that tourism has ruined the character and personality of a city, Memphis has been able to become a tourist destination without forfeiting the authenticity that lies at the heart of its civic character and international reputation.
Too often, tourism gets put into the box of “economic development,” and its success is measured by hotel and motel taxes, number of jobs and economic impact. Tourism is of course a critical economic engine, but many other segments of the economy can make the same case. What makes tourism different is the citywide impact that it can have on the kind of city that we live in, the kind of city we are creating and the kind of city brand that we are presenting to the world.
In other words, tourism is about more than economic development. More accurately, it should be about place-making. That’s why traditional quantitative measurements of tourism fall short, because there are missing qualitative measurements that are equally important.
Emphasis on place is growing and research from fields far removed from tourism is showing that the interest is well-placed. Reports are written about the competitive advantage that place can be in attracting knowledge economy workers, particularly in bioscience and technology jobs. Research like the “Young and Restless” concludes that authentic, vibrant cities are magnets for economic growth and the kinds of workers we need to compete in the global economy. And cities are just like corporations in one central way: competitive advantage is found in difference.
Authenticity, diversity, and unique culture and heritage are the building blocks of civic tourism. That’s why the emphasis of the Memphis Tourism Foundation is aimed at portraying our ethnic and racial diversity and our cultural riches; at connecting the reality of Memphis to residents through an internal marketing program and building bridges between our people; and improving the life skills of the men and women who make up a large part of the workforce of the tourism industry.
In this way, civic tourism is about more than making sure tourists find the Memphis region enjoyable and welcoming. It’s about making sure our own citizens see tourism as a force that improves our community by addressing our ultimate product – our quality of place and quality of life.In this way, civic tourism sheds the narrow approach that traditional tourism has taken. That’s because It involves more nontraditional people and organizations in the conversation about the future and builds bridges between segments of the community that strengthen the region and improve quality of life.
Memphis is blessed with a distinctive sense of place. It’s in everyone’s best interest, but particularly the tourism industry, to enhance, nurture and strengthen the qualities that converge to create the authenticity that is uniquely Memphis and also improve the skills of tourism’s workforce.
This civic tourism emphasis is even more logical for the foundation, because it was Memphis that gave birth to “cultural tourism” in a national conference in the late 1980’s, and the “Memphis Manifesto” written by 125 young creative professionals in 2003 has become an anchor for civic tourism.
In embracing a place in the civic tourism movement, the Memphis Tourism Foundation also performs the role of research and development for the CVB. Ultimately, the CVB is in the place-enhancing business, and it is in reporting on “best practices” in other cities, in emerging trends and new research, and in setting the agenda for a conversation about tourism’s future that the Memphis Tourism Foundation best fulfills the vision behind its creation.
Posted by Tom Jones on in News
