Thanks to efforts by the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau, a number of Rhode Island’s most interesting, but less trafficked, cultural attractions are likely to experience attendance increases this year.
The PWCVB has been meeting with organizations such as the Old Slater Mill, the Warwick Art Museum and the Rhode Island Museum of Science and Art, among others, to catalog their offerings and find commonalities that would lend themselves to thematically linked itineraries or tours. The idea is that taken as a whole, these many smaller experiences add up to one big experience that many visitors to the Ocean State have not taken in, thanks in large measure to the smaller venues’ lack of marketing muscle.
The PWCVB is to be congratulated for taking on this project, using a collaborative process that proves the whole can be far greater than the sum of its parts.
It seems likely that the state’s summer visitors especially, would be candidates to take advantage of the greater variety offered by these oft-overlooked attractions, ones that complement the state’s big attractions, such as the Newport mansions, the Rhode Island School of Design Museum or WaterFire Providence. And rather than take away from these higher-profile assets, it seems likely that the tourists will be interested in extending their stays here, something that would have benefit to all the other businesses driven by visitors. We can’t wait to see the tours the PWCVB puts together. •