I briefly mentioned in a previous article (at http://goo.gl/adgiM) that a newly-created Genealogical Tourism Award was awarded at last week's FGS conference. The award recognizes those who help fill the largely unrealized (and certainly unadvertised) potential for the resources we use to serve as a magnet for tourism dollars.
The Records Preservation and Access Committee, a joint committee of the Federation of Genealogical Societies, the National Genealogical Society, and the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies, has now published a paper by Professor Carla Santos, entitled Genealogical Tourism: A Phenomenological Examination.
This paper represents a beginning of a more systematic analysis of a phenomenon that may represent a partial answer to the fiscal challenges facing almost every library, archive and museum in the country. Consideration of the tourism potential in some of these resources may also shape where cuts are taken in an austere funding climate.
I would suggest this paper should be required reading by everyone involved in the tourist industry.
You can find Genealogical Tourism: A Phenomenological Examination by starting at the Records Preservation and Access Committee at http://www.fgs.org/rpac/.
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