Recovered original newspaper manuscript submitted 2009-01-29. Dates, technology claims and observations are historical, and original newspaper print publication has not been verified.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation recently announced it would be launching a new network for travelers interested in heritage destinations. Natchitoches is one of the cities that will be participating in the online community that the Trust says will showcase “the broad range of heritage destinations, sites, venues and events that define our collective past and enrich our lives.”
A New Heritage Travel Network
The network will be run by Heritage Travel, Inc., a for-profit subsidiary of the National Trust. And while the effort seems to skew closer to a marketing tool rather than a true social network, it will certainly help promote heritage tourism across the country. Hopefully the effort will offset the effects of an economy in which fewer people are traveling, and those that are traveling tend to stay closer to home.
Natchitoches in particular will be poised to use the site to build buzz leading up to its tricentennial celebration in 2014.
So what will you be able to find out about Natchitoches on the site? According to the Natchitoches Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, the site will contain descriptions of historic neighborhoods, the downtown area, heritage areas and scenic byways. It will also contain information on visitor services, a directory of every heritage site in Natchitoches Parish (with contact information), recommended heritage and cultural walking and driving tours, heritage and cultural events listings, restaurants, heritage-related shops, lodging and articles related to historic and cultural aspects of Natchitoches.
Tourism Planning Meets Social Networking
The site is billed as a “one-stop travel planning resource” as well. If you’ve ever book a trip on a site like Travelocity, you’re aware of the function that allows travelers to read and write reviews of destinations. What’s different about this site is that it allows users to interact around the heritage resources of the communities involved.
Communities are able to create their own space on the site by paying a set-up fee as well as an annual fee determined by a number of factors. As one of the Trust’s past “Distinctive Destinations,” Natchitoches received a discounted invitation to join.
So why pay for a web presence when Facebook will grow to an estimated 330 million userbase this year and there are so many free social networks out there with more flexibility? The answer is marketing muscle. According to the Heritage Travel’s site, it will spend $4 million each year advertising the network, offering a guaranteed audience from the beginning. And, as a former Distinctive Destination, Natchitoches’ absence would be notable.
If you’d like to find out more, I’ll be following the progress of the Heritage Travel site on my blog at www.natchitochespreservation.ning.com.
What Remains
The proposed heritage travel social network belongs to a period when tourism promotion and social media were rapidly converging. The original proposal does not, by itself, establish that the planned service succeeded or that its community contributions have survived. Cane River National Heritage Area continues to provide public interpretation and resources for people exploring the region. In retrospect, this column is also a record of a recurring challenge: how a place maintains control of its own stories when the platforms used to promote them change. Cane River National Heritage Area.
Updated October 2026
Article Catalog CardView the manuscript record, provenance & surviving materials
| Artifact | Original Natchitoches Preservation Network newspaper manuscript. |
|---|---|
| Submission | 2009-01-29. |
| Evidence | Dated email submitted to the Natchitoches Times. |
| Role | Heritage columnist, community media practitioner. |
| Print publication | Not independently verified. |
Critical Questions + Add to the Record
Application here: A proposed commercial heritage-travel network raises questions about who controls a community’s presentation to visitors and what happens when the platform changes.
Know something that adds context, documentation, correction, or firsthand knowledge to this record? Keep this page open and copy its URL into the contribution form.
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