To focus on heritage tourism, place making and economic development
Frankfort, Ky. (June 30, 2014) — A two-day training and educational outreach conference focused on heritage tourism, place making and economic development through historic preservation is planned for Aug. 1-2 at the Eastern Kentucky Exposition Center in Pikeville. The free event is the third entry in the 2014 Kentucky Preservation Series.
The conference will explore the benefits of nonprofit advocacy, pumping life 
back into traditional downtowns, cemetery preservation and genealogical tourism, and identifying themes that can help the region link unique places and create heritage tourism opportunities by telling an authentic story.
The public is invited to join local Main Street managers, business and community leaders, individuals and others interested in working collaboratively with a variety of stakeholders.
The keynote session and panel discussion in Pikeville on Friday will explore regional collaboration between sites and businesses in eastern and southeastern Kentucky that focus on heritage-related tourism such as restaurants, small businesses and lodging.
The National Park Service “Discover Our Shared Heritage” Travel Itinerary Series will be discussed as a vehicle to tie these together in a way that can be packaged and nationally branded to facilitate a well-rounded experience. The travel series spotlights a wide range of communities, geographic regions and themes across the country, and each itinerary exposes travelers from around the world to diverse places that are significant in American history, architecture and culture.
Also Friday will be a discussion on preservation advocacy led by Betsy Hatfield, PKI executive director, followed by a roundtable discussion with representatives of regional and local preservation nonprofits discussing how their efforts to protect shared heritage, and educate and foster economic development through historic preservation, have lasting benefits. Discussion will include the fate of Pikeville’s York House, a Queen Anne-style home dating from 1864-70 and listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
On Saturday, Aug. 2, the focus will be on place making and interactive discussions related to community building through branding and promotion. The keynote session will be led by Griffin Van Meter of Bullhorn Creative, who will discuss his successful statewide media business and specific place making promotions in the Lexington neighborhood where he lives and works. Like-minded individuals from across the southeast region, creative entrepreneurs who have “Capitalized on Culture” in their own successful business enterprises, will follow with a panel discussion on finding success through nontraditional enterprises such as Summit City Lounge in Whitesburg.
Other Saturday presentations will examine cemetery preservation, including best practices to preserve and interpret historic burial grounds and a look at the significant role that genealogy-based heritage tourism can play in the economy of the region; historic Main Streets, an interactive look at the evolution and revitalization of Main Streets and downtowns, highlighting Kentucky Main Street Program communities from eastern Kentucky; and tax credits for historic buildings, case studies on the basics of utilizing federal and state historic rehabilitation tax credits to help building preservation and rehabilitation projects do more and go further with limited funding.
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