Mike,
Thanks for your interest in museums as destination points!  The California
Association of Museums conference recently held in San Diego dealt with
a number of issues potentially interesting to someone like yourself--the
subject was funding for museums, but the emphasis was on how to tap in to
both audiences and money by working with the tourism industry.  We had
representatives of the California Tourism Dept. (not their exact name) and
museum people who are interested in expanding contacts.  Patrick Ela, Director
of the Craft and Folk Art Museum in Los Angeles was a panelist and he has been
active in working with the Los Angeles Chamber and Convention Bureau to promote
museums as a component of cultural tourism.
 
There are lots of potential dimensions to links with tourism.  There's the
fairly common "bus tour" that comes to the museum--paying a tour fee and
spending money in the gift shop.  There may be opportunities to open doors
(or gates, as the case may be) to visitors attending conventions in a given
city.  And there are opportunities to work with travel agencies to have
people extend their trips to a destination by visiting a museum or two.
For example, someone flies into Anaheim to go to Disneyland, maybe Knott's
Berry Farm, or Universal Studios.  In fact, you can go to this kind of place
in many cities across the U.S.  So why come to LA for all this?  One way to
attract people is to offer something unique to your area--something they can't
find somewhere else--a cultural resource such as can be found in a museum.
 
There's a lot more to this than just the few points I'm offering.  Including
questions about potential pitfalls--do you begin to cater to tourists?  Do
you go so far in this direction that you move away from your mission?  These
are the same questions that arise whenever a museum begins to look for ways
to increase funding.  If you can avoid the slippery slope, then there may be
real opportunities to attract new funds and do a better job of achieving the
mission.
 
I'd be interested to read other people's comments on this subject.  Maybe
somebody out there has some experiences they'd like to share.  Maybe
Patrick Ela or someone at Craft and Folk Art would like to add to the
discussion?
 
-Richard Chute
 Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden
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