Arezza - Knowledge Tourism

 Travel Planning and Destination Management in the United States and Italy

The Knowledge Tourism concept brings together local customs, values, and traditions with expertise in a variety of disciplines to learn, experience and expand knowledge of the territory in a holistic program that addresses:

Community histories that take-into-account the shaping of economic development projects

Geography and historic trade routes that consider river, lake and coastal navigation, highways, wagon trails and rail routes to ensure sustainability and resilience.

Industry Commerce Agriculture and Sustainability

Places transitioning from traditional industrial and commercial activities to technologically innovative ones; in some instances, they are also able to re-establish their traditional economic activities with a successful application of the so-called knowledge economy and, in the process, becoming once again competitive in the world marketplace;

Best Experienced in the Company of Local Friends and Experts

Tourism is one of the largest industries in the world economy right up there with real estate, autos, and financial services. It is also highly segmented: business travel, meetings, cruises, family vacations, food, and wine travel, responsible, sustainable, ethical, and more.

Cultural Tourism assumes uniquely local dimensions wherever you go; the activities that you, the local or global visitor, select and, irrespective of the length of your stay, are unique of the community you are visiting and rooted into the local economy, culture and traditions.

Knowledge Tourism Means Doing and Going Where the Locals Go

The Environment the importance to a community of environmental issues and practices like energy efficiency and water conservation cannot be underestimated, especially if tourism is an important contributor to the local economy.

Educated Travelers select destinations primarily on-the-basis of cultural, gastronomic, wellness and similar preferences; increasingly, they expect that the places they visit reflect their values on key issues like recycling practices, air and water quality, as well as the availability and quality of public transit.

Business Travelers require efficient plans to meet trip objectives. This may entail visiting several locations in a compressed period-of-time to seek investment and sales opportunities. They look to Main Streets shopping and entertainment venues, Historic Districts and other community neighborhoods that have or plan to put in place energy savings measures as well as other environmental safeguards that help reduce the cost of doing business in that local area.

A Successful Destination is defined as one that develops projects built around existing facilities that need upgrading and/or expansion to manage tourism flows and local production capabilities to enhance community offerings.

Communities as Anchors for Local and Regional Travel

Cultural Anchors Museums, Theaters and other Historic Buildings located on Main Street and in Historic Districts are repositories of a community’s values and traditions. Each Local Project integrates architecture with digital media and engages visitors through interaction with local citizens.

The best way to travel is in the company of people who live and work in the places you visit

Evansville Indiana

history industry and a 21^st Century Economy

Evansville is the largest city and the commercial, medical, and cultural hub of Southwestern Indiana and the Illinois-Indiana-Kentucky tri-state area. Located along the banks of the Ohio River, it is often referred to as the Crescent Valley or River City.   

Early History the area has been inhabited by various indigenous cultures; archaeologists have identified several archaic and ancient sites in and near Evansville, with the most complex at Angel Mounds, built and occupied from about 900 A.D. to about 1600 A.D., just before the arrival of Europeans to North America. The European-American city was founded in 1812.  French hunters and trappers were among the first Europeans to come to the area, using Vincennes as a base of operations for fur trading. The land encompassing Evansville was formally relinquished by the Delaware in 1805 to General William Henry Harrison, then governor of the Indiana Territory.

Evansville became a thriving commercial town with a river trade, and the town began to expand outside of its original footprint. The economy received a boost in the early 1830s when Indiana unveiled plans to build the longest canal in the world, a 400-mile ditch to connect the Great Lakes at Toledo, Ohio with the inland rivers at Evansville. The project was intended to open Indiana to commerce and improve transportation from New Orleans to New York City.  

The main ethnic groups consisted of Protestant Scotch-Irish from the South, Catholic Irish coming for canal or railroad work, New England businessmen, Germans fleeing Europe after the 1848 revolutions, and freedmen from Western Kentucky.

The era of greatest growth occurred in the second half of the 19^th century as a major stop for steamboats along the Ohio River, and the home port for companies engaged in the river trade. Railroads eventually became more important and in 1887 the L&N Railroad constructed a bridge across the Ohio River along with a major rail yard southwest of Evansville.

Automobile and Refrigeration Manufacturing Became Important Early in the 20^th Century

In 1916, seeing the need for a dependable truck, the Graham brothers entered the truck chassis business. In 1921, after the death of both Dodge brothers, Graham Brothers started selling 1.5-ton pickups through Dodge dealers. These vehicles had Graham chassis and some Dodge parts. Dodge Brothers bought a controlling interest in Graham Brothers in 1925, picking up the rest in 1926.

The city saw exponential growth in the early twentieth century with the production of lumber and the manufacturing of furniture. By 1920, Evansville had more than two dozen furniture companies. In the decades of the 1920s and 1930s, city leaders attempted to improve Evansville's transportation position and successfully lobbied to be on the Chicago-to-Miami Dixie Bee Highway - U.S. Highway 41.

During World War II, Evansville was a major center of industrial production which helped revive the regional economy after the Great Depression. A huge, 45-acre shipyard complex was constructed on the riverfront east of St. Joseph Avenue for the production of oceangoing LSTs (Landing Ship-Tanks). After the war, Evansville's manufacturing base of automobiles, household appliances, and farm equipment benefited from growing post-war demand.

Tourism the business district and riverfront feature riverboat gambling, restaurants, bars, and shops that attract tens of thousands of visitors each year and the city's downtown district retains its early twentieth-century architectural style.

Evansville Has Thirteen Neighborhoods that Qualify as Historic Districts

A 21^st Century Economy Evansville is the regional center for a large trade area in Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois. The largest industry sectors in size in Evansville are healthcare, finance, education, and manufacturing. Other major industries by employment are energy, warehousing, distribution, and retail.

Evansville's strategic location on the Ohio River, strong rail and highway infrastructure, and its designation as a U.S. Customs Port of Entry, make it an ideal location for the transfer of cargo.

Tourism and Entertainment the business district and riverfront feature riverboat gambling, restaurants, bars, and shops that attract tens of thousands of visitors each year and the city's downtown district retains its early twentieth-century architectural style.

Bosse Field Baseball Stadium built in 1915 is the third-oldest Operating Ballpark in the United States

The Victory Theatre is a vintage 1,950-seat venue that is home to the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra. Each year, the orchestra presents a seven-concert classics series and special event concerts, as well as numerous educational and outreach performances. The theater also hosts local ballet and modern dance companies, theater companies, and touring productions.

The Evansville Civic Theatre is Southern Indiana's longest-running community theater, dating from the 1920s when the community theater movement swept across the country.

Museums Angel Mounds State Historic Site is nationally recognized as one of the best preserved prehistoric Native American sites in the country. The Evansville African American Museum was established to continually develop a resource and cultural center to collect, preserve, and educate the public on the history and traditions of African American families, organizations, and communities.

The Evansville Museum Transportation Center features transportation in southern Indiana from the latter part of the nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth century.

The Reitz Home Museum is Evansville's only Victorian House Museum

Transportation the city boasts road, rail, water, and air transportation systems. Public transit includes the Metropolitan Evansville Transit System – METS - which provides bus transportation to all sections of the city. Evansville has several multi-use trails for bikes and pedestrians as well as on-road bike paths that help cyclists get around the city by bicycle.

Public and Private Port facilities receive year-round service from five major barge lines operating on the Ohio River. The river connects Evansville with all river markets in the central United States and on the Great Lakes and with international markets through the port of New Orleans.

Evansville has been a U.S. Customs Port of Entry for more than 125 years

Kingston New York

Industry and Commerce along the Delaware Canal and Hudson River              

Located 91 miles (146 km) north of New York City, Kingston was New York's first capital in 1777; in the 19^th century, the city was a transport hub, with rail and canal connections. The city has three historic districts: Stockade, the Midtown Broadway Corridor, and Rondout West Strand downtown.

Kingston Landing is a short navigable distance from the Hudson River and the point of reference for coal shipments and bluestone via the Delaware and Hudson Canal.

Kingston Albany and New York City were the three major Dutch Settlements on the Hudson River

In the early 1800s, four sloops plied the river from Kingston to New York. By 1829, steamers made the trip to Manhattan in a little over twelve hours, usually travelling by night.

The Hudson River Maritime Museum is located at 50 Rondout Landing at the foot of Broadway along the old waterfront. Its collections are devoted to the history of shipping and industry on the Hudson. In the early 1800s, four sloops plied the river from Kingston to New York. By 1829, steamers made the trip to Manhattan in a little over twelve hours, usually travelling by night.

Industry and Commerce the Delaware and Hudson Canal brought an influx of laborers to manage the coal terminal and the Newark Lime and Cement Company shipped cement throughout the United States. Also, large warehouses of ice sat beside the Hudson River from which the ice was cut during the winter and preserved all year to be used in early refrigeration. Large brick making factories were also located close to this shipping hub. Rondout's central location as a shipping hub ended with the advent of railroads.

The Rondout neighborhood is known for its artists' community and its numerous art galleries

Transit Kingston CitiBus provides service within the city and to Port Ewen and commuter service is available by bus to New York City. Amtrak Rail Terminals are located 11 miles (20 km) and 17 miles (30 km) away in Poughkeepsie. Stewart International Airport is 39 miles (62.8 km) south in Newburgh. Weekend water taxi service between Kingston and Rhinecliff. The Catskill Mountain Railroad, a scenic railroad company, runs trains from Kingston. Ongoing projects connect Kingston's three neighborhoods with a combination of rail trails, bike lanes and complete streets connections.