The purpose of this thesis is to assess the role of bed and breakfasts (B & Bs) in heritage tourism and in the broader historic preservation movement. The thesis evaluates the relationship between B & Bs and heritage tourism, the factors that tend to make B & Bs successful, the role of historic buildings in the B & B industry, and B & Bs as an adaptive reuse strategy. It also identifies barriers that prevent B & Bs from playing a larger role in heritage tourism and historic preservation. The background of both the bed and breakfast and heritage tourism industries are presented. The primary sources for the research were actual bed and breakfast owners. Five B & B owners and their businesses, located throughout the state of Indiana, were selected as case studies. These case studies include: The Carole Lombard House in Fort Wayne, The Lantz House Inn in Centerville, Old Northside B & B in Indianapolis, the Victorian Guest House in Nappanee, and Maple Hill B & B in Middletown. A profile of each case study is presented which addresses some basic questions: why the owner opened the B & B, what type of rehabilitation work, if any, was necessary for the business, whether or not heritage tourism or historic preservation have played an important role in the success of the business, and how the owner believes the B & B has affected the surrounding area. Other sources consulted for thisresearch include professional associations and heritage tourism specialists, as well as a wide variety of publications. All sources are combined to draw conclusions regarding the relationship between B & Bs and heritage tourism. The value and success of B & Bs as a heritage tourism and preservation strategy is discussed, as is the importance of a building's historic character as a factor in a B & B's success as a business. / Department of Architecture

The goal of the thesis is to plan for tourism in a historic community in a manner that would enrich the experiences of its visitors and residents. In order to avoid tourism's undesirable impacts, a method is presented to document residents' and visitors' problems and the improvements they desire, and to describe and compare their images of Madison.Data collection begins with structured interviews followed by a questionnaire distributed to random samples of residents and visitors. The results of the questionnaire analysis establish the residents' and visitors' images. The two images are compared using statistical tests to identify the places with greatest, moderate, and least image differences. Out of the twenty-six places tested, eleven show significant image differences.The image findings are incorporated into the site analysis for tourism. Objectives for tourism are expressed in a concept diagram, and then refined in a conceptual plan. The accompanying recommendations outline policies for proposed facilities, visitor-resident relations, and environmental education. / Department of Landscape Architecture

The objective of the study is to propose a strategy to revitalize Muncie's downtown through cultural tourism. This is seen as a critical catalyst to help preserve the historical fabric of the downtown.Muncie's downtown, with its historical and cultural assets, has an opportunity to attract the tourism, convention, and conference business which in turn can support hotels, restaurants, specialty shops, and entertainment establishments.In view of above, this creative project attempts to revitalize downtown through linking and promoting cultural tourism facilities like museums, theaters and festivals, convention and conference centers, and specialty shops.A transport loop connecting the tourist anchors like Ball State University, Minnitrista Cultural Center, and downtown of has been proposed. The tourist routes in Muncie and to East Central Indiana have been identified to enable the visitors to visit tourist destinations easily. Signage, and banners have been proposed along major routes to give proper orientation to visitors and also to enhance the image of Muncie.A strategy has been outlined for the preservation historical buildings through adaptive reuse. All these proposals have been incorporated as an urban design strategy. / Department of Architecture

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Indianapolis is considered by many a competitive, large population city with incredible resources for business conferences and event tourism. The city’s flagship event, The Indianapolis 500, has paved the way for the city’s success. With initiative, planning, construction, and implementation the city’s tourism prowess has grown over the past three decades. Indianapolis has become host to a plethora of mid-size and large conferences every year, a regular on the host circuit for the NCAA Final Four, host of the annual Big Ten basketball tournament and most recently the host of the 2012 Super Bowl. Indianapolis continuously attempts to bring in more events every year. Not many residents get to see, or are even aware of, the associates busy at work attempting to fill hotel rooms, conference centers and stadiums. The Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) of the city are constantly working and tweaking strategies to increase exposure and get tourists excited about visiting Indianapolis. However, it is difficult to identify what truly separates Indianapolis as a tourist destination from any other competitive, second-tier population, landlocked city. Centrality within the country and the tourism infrastructure may be argued, but a representative from nearly any city in competition with Indianapolis may make a counterpoint to most resources. Instead of running in circles with this argument, this thesis looks to probe into a resource for Indianapolis that could be turned into a strong marketing tool for tourism: its employees. The overall purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of resident contact employees in the food service and lodging industries concerning Indianapolis’ tourism attributes, and their relation to Indianapolis’ destination marketing and managerial strategies.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This thesis will explore issues concerning cultural tourism investment and resident quality of life in the Midwestern city of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is important to understand from a cultural tourism perspective how further attempts to grow and invest in tourism will affect resident perception of quality of life and future cultural tourism investment. To achieve this goal, data from the 2012 Indianapolis Quality of Life survey was statistically analyzed to specifically examine how residents' perceived quality of life affects cultural tourism investment. This allows for the study of what city-service attributes (i.e. safety, attractions, transportation, et cetera) identify as potential indicators of whether residents' perception of quality of life affects cultural tourism investment and if there were any correlations between demographic factors of age, gender, ethnicity, and household income with the perception that investing in cultural events and attractions for tourists is good for residents. Results indicated that several key city-service attributes identify as potential indicators of whether residents' perception of quality of life in Indianapolis affects residents' perceptions that investing in cultural tourism for tourists is good for residents. In addition, several key city-service attributes identified as potential indicators of residents' perception of quality of life in Indianapolis excluding perceptions of cultural tourism investment. Finally, results indicated that demographic factors of gender, age, ethnicity, and income were not significant when it came to affecting the perception that investing in cultural events and attractions for tourists is good for residents.