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Bookstore tourism is a type of cultural tourism that promotes independent bookstores as a group travel destination. It started as a grassroots effort to support locally owned and operated bookshops, many of which have struggled to compete with large bookstore chains and online retailers. Cultural tourism (also culture tourism) is the subset of tourism concerned with a country or regions culture, especially its arts. ...
Independent bookstores are primarily owned and operated by local business people with ties to the community, as opposed to chain bookstores or online booksellers, most of which are owned by large corporations. ...
Grassroots is a political movement for individual constituents of a community to voice their ideas and opinions. ...
The project was initiated in 2003 by Larry Portzline, a writer and college instructor in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania who led "bookstore road trips" to other cities and recognized its potential as a group travel niche and marketing tool. He promoted the concept with a how-to book and a web site, and groups around the U.S. soon began offering similar excursions, usually via a chartered bus, and often incorporating book signings, author home tours, and historical sites. In 2005-06, the Southern California Booksellers Association and Northern California Independent Booksellers Association embraced bookstore tourism, offering trips to independent bookstores in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco. Location in Pennsylvania Coordinates: Country United States State Pennsylvania County Dauphin Incorporated 1791 Charter 1860 Mayor Stephen R. Reed (D) Area - City 26. ...
The Bookstore Tourism movement encourages schools, libraries, reading groups, and organizations of all sizes to create day-trips and literary outings to cities and towns with a concentration of independent bookstores. It also encourages local booksellers to attract bibliophiles to their communities by employing bookstore tourism as an economic development tool. Others benefiting include local retailers, restaurants, bus companies, and travel professionals. Economic development is the development of the economic wealth of countries or regions for the well-being of their inhabitants. ...
The effort also provides organizations with an outreach opportunity to support reading and literacy. World literacy rates by country The traditional definition of literacy is the ability to use languageâto read, write, listen, and speak. ...
Portzline has traveled across the country to promote the concept. In Fall 2006 he launched the National Council on Bookstore Tourism (NCBT), a nonprofit organization and trade association that will partner with booksellers, libraries, educators, literary festivals, the travel industry and economic development agencies at the national, state and local levels. In 2006 he created a promotional video featuring group "bookstore road trips" in New York City's Greenwich Village and in Los Angeles area "beach towns" and posted it on the NCBT website.
See also
Independent bookstore is a term used in Canada and the United States to identify bookstores that are primarily owned and operated by local business people with ties to the community, as opposed to bookstores owned by large corporations, or those that are based online. ...
Cultural tourism (also culture tourism) is the subset of tourism concerned with a country or regions culture, especially its arts. ...
Literary Tourism Literary Tourism is a type of cultural tourism that deals with places and events from fictional texts as well as the lives of their authors. ...
Tourists at Oahu island, Hawaii Tourism is the act of travel for predominantly recreational or leisure purposes, and also refers to the provision of services in support of this act. ...
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