Robert Silk
Arts and culture are big business in Florida’s
Palm Beach area.
So much so, in fact, that according to a study
released Feb. 12 by the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, spending in 2015
by visitors at the county’s 19 largest cultural attractions was $311.8 million.
Throw in an additional $226.5 million that visitors in town specifically to
attend those events spent on things like hotels and restaurants, and the figure
rises to $538.3 million.
But with those 19 locales — among them the
Kravis Center for Performing Arts, the Palm Beach Zoo and the Del Ray Beach
Center for the Arts — making up just a fraction of the more than 200 cultural
associations between Boca Raton and Jupiter, the many options can be dizzying
to a visitor. Indeed, Palm Beach County plays hosts to 42,000 cultural events
per year.
However, Palm Beach-area tourists, and the
agents who book their trips, need not be overwhelmed anymore thanks to the
newly created Cultural Concierge program, which the Palm Beach cultural council
says is the first of its kind in the world.
The program, which launched in November, is
the brainchild of Marilyn Bauer, the cultural council’s director of marketing
and government affairs. During a previous career as a travel writer, Bauer
often went on hosted fam trips, on which local experts showed her around.
Cultural Council of Palm Beach County Director of Marketing Marilyn Bauer, standing, and Cultural Concierge Bama Lutes Deal. Photo Credit: The Cultural Council of Palm Beach County
“We thought, ‘How can we give cultural
tourists that top service, give them access just like travel writers got when they
entered into a destination?’” she said.
The answer the cultural council came up with
was to hire an expert of its own, a cultural concierge, and to make that person
available to provide personal touches to trip planners and tourists alike, free
of charge.
Serving as cultural concierge — the world’s
first, according to the council — is Bama Lutes Deal, a musicologist and Palm
Beach native who has more than 30 years experience in the arts.
She serves as a facilitator for Palm Beach
visitors interested in cultural experiences of all sorts. All they have
to do is call or email, either before or during a trip, and Deal will provide an
insider’s knowledge tailored to the needs of the client.
Deal said she weighs all sorts of factors,
including cost, geographic desirability and a client’s specific preferences
before making suggestions. She can recommend classes, such as glass blowing.
She can suggest little-publicized gallery receptions with artists. She can
point a birdwatcher or photographer toward spots where they’ll see ibises roosting
by the thousands. And on occasion, she can set up extra perks for clients, like
a time Deal when she sent visitors to the Palm Beach Dramaworks playhouse.
“I called the house manager, and when they
arrived he welcomed them and helped seat them personally with an upgrade,” she
said.
Deal added that she even tries to keep in
touch with clients during their stay to find out how they’ve enjoyed their
events.
Bauer said that in its research the Cultural
Council of Palm Beach has found that the area’s cultural tourists tend to be
baby boomers and empty nesters who have become more interested in collecting
experiences than in collecting belongings.
“What better way to collect experiences than
working with a cultural concierge,” she said. “It’s cultural currency.”
Travel agents and visitors can contact Deal
during working hours via email at Concierge@PalmBeachCulture.com or by telephone at (561) 214-8082. Visit the Cultural
Concierge Web page for more information.