AKA, an award-winning, fully integrated creative and media agency, has shared three ways in which historic US attractions can successfully leverage America250.
On 4 July 2026, Americans will commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States. For historic US attractions, America250 offers a massive opportunity. This historic event has the potential to connect to every single American—that’s 334 million people according to the United States Census Bureau.
It makes a major moment and provides an urgent, limited-time reason for visitors to attend perennial institutions. That gives attractions two-plus years to plan for success. Simply adding an America250 logo or red, white and blue drink is probably not going to drive many ticket sales. So what will?
Amanda Blackman, chief strategy officer of AKA, shares that the two most cited reasons for NOT visiting an attraction are consistently “I didn’t think of it” and “I didn’t think it was for me.” Blackman calls this resonance and relevance and says it’s the key to attracting new visitors, especially as 250 rolls around.
Here are her top three tips for ensuring your historic attraction cuts through the noise, welcomes everyone in, and, crucially, moves people to purchase tickets.
1. Increase Relevance
Blackman explains: “America250 should be relevant to all Americans, but we need to really show that connection. This is an amazing opportunity to take advantage of a platform with incredibly wide familiarity AND to tell lesser known and unknown stories.”
“Every American has a connection to America250, and this celebration will truly be a reflection of the millions of diverse histories, stories and experiences across our country,” says AKA collaborator, bestselling author and public historian Jason Steinhauer, founder of the History Communication Institute.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to invite visitors in, engage them in conversation, and show how theirs and their families’ journeys connect to the broader history of our nation,” Steinhauer states.
Blackman explains that relevance matters both in programming and in communications:
“How are we reflecting a wide variety of experiences in our advertising? Are the creative, messaging, and experience itself welcoming and accessible to all? Are people seeing their friends—or influencers they follow—sharing how much they loved your attraction, and wholeheartedly recommending it online and in real life? Are potential attendees hearing about your exhibition or event and thinking, ‘That sounds like it’s for me’? That’s relevance.”
2. Increase Resonance
The second point Blackman says will be key to success is resonance, which starts with reaching people at the right time in their planning journey.
“It’s a wildly cluttered landscape with many experiences competing for attention—including sitting on your couch and ordering in,” Blackman says. “We HAVE to be in front of potential audiences at the right time and be top of mind when they are making their decisions.”
She explains that full-funnel advertising campaigns work best when planned in conjunction with various audiences’ booking latency, in addition to the right messaging. “Resonance means being top of mind,” she says, “but is also about sharing values with audiences.”
To increase both relevance and resonance, Blackman encourages historic US attractions to make influencers part of their America250 journey now.
She notes, “Not just any influencer, of course. We really suggest focusing in on people that align with your mission and resonate with the audience you want to invite in—regardless of follower count. If someone’s built up trust with one of your target audiences, and their engagement rate is high, that can be way more valuable than a macroinfluencer with little to no engagement.”
3. Increase Collaboration
Finally, Blackman suggests working together with other attractions, museums, sites and attractions to create can’t-miss experiences—both in programming and communications. “We can make America250 bigger in each market by partnering together. Most travelers plan full days rather than singular activities, so let’s make it easy for them.”
Blackman is intrigued by taking heavy lifting of itinerary planning off visitors and giving them options based on their interests. She suggests the ability to book itineraries based on interests, time, cost or traveller type.
“All boats can truly rise with the tide if we work together,” she says. “Is there an Ultimate America250 Travel Experience tour out there yet? Who’s creating the trip of a lifetime—one that visits each revolutionary site and attraction in the country with a dedicated historian? That’s clearly a big undertaking, but it’s the sort of thing that pierces the veil of indifference and gets people talking.”
Click here for additional information.
Коментарі