The 44th annual Professional Arts Management Institute, America’s longest running interdisciplinary seminar series in the arts, will, for the first time, devote its entire program to a single topic, Cultural Tourism. Presented at Columbia College Chicago by the  AEMMDept June 2006, the weekend program will feature twenty hours of lectures, panel discussion, and interactive sessions.

     Directed and moderated by Alvin H. Reiss, editor of both Travel Arts Partnership and Arts Management and “Arts Agenda” columnist for Travel Weekly, the program will include sessions led by top travel and arts professionals. Topics include: marketing cultural tourism programs; working with hotels; partnerships with CVB’s and tourism agencies; utilizing resources; developing cultural tourism plans; and cultural tourism in city neighborhoods. Discussions of case histories and a “hands-on” interactive group session also are on the agenda.

     A distinguished roster of speakers includes such Chicago area arts and tourism leaders as: Dorothy Coyle, director of the Chicago Office of Tourism; Bastiann Bouma, vice president for marketing and tourism of the Chicago Architecture Institute; and Joan Arenberg, president of Art on the Move Tours. Speakers from outside the Chicago area include: Meg Annacone, marketing director for the National Trust for Historic Preservation; Lori Simms, special markets manager of the Missouri Division of Tourism; and Carole Ketterhagen, executive director of the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

     Cost for complete program including all materials, two luncheon, and a reception is $300; Columbia College rate: $149. For information and registration consult their website at <www.aebmedua,cin/pami>.