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W. Kent Ruffin
Executive Director

 

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Arts & Cultural

Heritage

  • Professional Development
    Provide professional, quality educational programs and seminars to membership. The intent is to foster and promote professionalism within the Cultural Heritage travel industry.


Cultural Research

AAHA! VA will stimulate Virginians to think as seriously about their state’s cultural life as it does about tax relief. Bringing together fresh research, thought-provoking insight, and compelling evidence can give us a different view of our past and the emerging future.

Virginia continues to remain shaped by its multiple cultural experiences. The impact of this heritage on the commonwealth requires a clear grasp of its many contributors. The story of Virginia is vast; to assist with the challenge AAHA! VA has formed the following two networks:

  • Cultural Research Network, a collaboration of colleges and universities, arts and cultural firms. Scholars affiliated with the Network meet to discuss topics, methodologies, produce new research and techniques to bridge the gap between cultures. Virginia cultural institutions, colleges and universities with African American Studies programs and department are the primary reservoir of this information and scholarship.
  • Providers Network, a collaboration of cultural tourism professionals and locations statewide (i.e. non-profit firms, governmental entities, accommodations properties, and other travel and tourism industry businesses) are brought together to develop mutually beneficial working relationships plus reinforce and promote multicultural tourism in Virginia.

Geography

Venues/Sites

The African American Heritage Association of Virginia (AAHA! VA) and Traveling America, Inc. will utilize in part the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities database plus newly researched sites and information gathered from numerous other partners to create a website that deliver a fuller depiction of the African American experience in the Virginia. These individual locations will be fashioned into an understandable, enjoyable and salable travel experience. Experiences that blend descriptive accounts and scenic visuals into stories or a marketing piece (on-line, broadcast and in print) that captures the essence of the experience and continue the dialogue with potential travelers who become interested in the exploring Virginia's diverse heritage.

  • Providers Network, a collaboration of cultural tourism professionals and locations statewide (i.e. non-profit firms, governmental entities, accommodations properties, and other travel and tourism industry businesses) are brought together to develop mutually beneficial working relationships plus reinforce and promote multicultural tourism in Virginia.

Roads - Maps - Directions

  • Route 58

    The Route 58 corridor runs from Virginia Beach to Middlesboro/Cumberland Gap it will indentify, connect and weave a tapestry of African American Heritage Tourism sites accross the southern border of Virginia. Route 58 Corridor visitors who travel to their particular destination are inticed to explore these African American Heritage sites as they cross or drive along the corridor (ie Martinsville, Danville, Suffolk and Virginia Beach) and can stategical arrange to stop on Route 58.

    The Route 58 Corridor research produces stories generated to connect designated African American locations from Virginia Beach through Middlesboro/Cumberland Gap and place the narratives on the website (the already developed Northern Virginia Trail will also be included). .Ultimately, Route 58, links with the Civil Rights in Education Trail across Southern Virginia. Traveling America's American Pathways journey and Exploring African American Heritage - will each connect together in the Richmond/Petersburg area to broaden southward the network of African American HeritageTrails in Virginia. The Route 58 Corridor which traverses the area between these regions will work to pull more visitors through the less visited areas between and along the corridor that create more cross-traffic between the many major destinations.

    Even though the Southern Virginia African American Heritage - Route 58 Corridor represents development of a tourism offering "from the ground up," it will begin to generate incremental visitation in areas where even a small increase in the number of visitors will have an impact.

    More African American travel experience offerings in Virginia can address the needs of this robust market. These travel products (such as the Route 58 Corridor, which are multi-day, will increase the length of stay of those visitors) and stories will work to increase the number of visitors who are attracted to Virginia

  • Links
    AAHA! VA has joined with Traveling America, Inc. to build awareness for African American Heritage in Virginia. Along with the Civil Rights in Education Heritage Trail, traversing Southside Virginia and Traveling America's American Pathways journey and the new "Exploring African American Heritage Trail in Virginia" will connect together in the Richmond/Petersburg area to form the initial network of African American Heritage Trails in Virginia. Each Trail branch is unique and tells a compelling story which weaves together the important history at each of the location and motivates travelers to explore a region and visit a particular place. Accompanying travel guides punctuated with stories and visuals that captures the essence of the experience are essential to engage potential travelers who have an interest in exploring the trail.

Please email editor@aahva.com for more information.