Arts & Cultural Alliance Gets Arts in Tourism Award

In celebration of National Travel and Tourism Week in Rhode Island, The Rhode Island State Council on the Arts awarded its second annual Arts in Tourism Award to the Arts & Cultural Alliance of Newport County at the recent Tourism Unity Luncheon in Warwick.

In announcing the award before a room full of tourism professionals, State Arts Council Director Randall Rosenbaum applauded the Arts & Cultural Alliance of Newport County for being a great partner with the tourism industry in Newport. He cited its sponsorship of BridgeFest, a popular four day festival of eclectic music featuring local artists that was designed to "bridge the gap" between the Newport Jazz and Folk Festivals, along with their spring arts festival, "Spring Into Art". In all of this the Alliance works closely with the tourism professionals at Discover Newport and with the hospitality industry on Aquidneck Island and throughout the East Bay.

"We are delighted to honor the Arts & Cultural Alliance of Newport County with our second annual Arts in Tourism Award," said Rosenbaum. "The Alliance is a great example of how the arts work in cooperation with the tourism industry, and contribute to our local economy."

"We are truly grateful to be selected as the second recipient of RISCA's Arts in Tourism Award," said Cris Offenberg, president of the "Our success is directly attributable to our members, the artists and arts organizations, as well as our volunteer board of directors, and other institutional partners. We are an example of how collaboration benefits the community as a whole, including our members, residents, sponsors, and businesses. We are thrilled to accept this award from RISCA on behalf of everyone involved."

In remarks at the tourism luncheon, Rosenbaum quoted statistics from the Travel Industry Association of America that 81 percent of tourists who took a trip of 50 miles or more away from home could be considered "cultural tourists." Studies show that cultural tourists are more frequent travelers, spend more money and are more likely to stay longer in one area than any other type of traveler, all important factors for our state's travel and tourism industry.

In order to attract cultural tourists, more cooperation needs to be developed between the arts and tourism sectors. The RISCA Arts in Tourism award is designed to encourage and inspire greater levels of cooperation.