Published September 01. 2026 01:26PM<\/p>\n
On the heels of the UNESCO World Heritage designation, the Historic Bethlehem Museums and Sites has announced a new tourism planning initiative.<\/p>\n
On Aug. 4 Historic Bethlehem officials revealed that they are engaging PlaceEconomics to conduct a study in order to determine what improvements can be made to the historic district and how those enhancements can grow the impact of tourism.<\/p>\n
HBMS chairwoman Colleen Gilbert says, \u201cwe need to insure that we can deliver the best possible experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Board treasurer Larry Eighty says PlaceEconomics will research and provide analysis to develop policy and provide technical assistance.<\/p>\n
Some work on physical improvements is already completed or underway with the renovations to the Grist Miller\u2019s House completed and restoration at the Tannery to begin soon in the Colonial Industrial Quarter along the Monocacy Creek. The study covers the twenty acres and 20 buildings that HBMS \u201ccares for.\u201d<\/p>\n
PlaceEconomics will research and investigate how a more cohesive historic sites visitation experience can be implemented to insure that when people visit they will feel welcome.<\/p>\n
The economic analysis is the first step of two with a second to make implementation recommendations. PlaceEconomics will complete their research in the fall.<\/p>\n
PlaceEconomics principal and CEO Donovan Rypkema says the firm works in both the USA and internationally. \u201cWe\u2019ll be measuring the economic impact incrementally,\u201d says Rypkema. \u201cThe draw of the sites impacts jobs (in the community), labor jobs, taxes and its impact on the community,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n
Historic Bethlehem president and CEO Loriann Wukitsch says they \u201ccast the net wide\u201d to form a Master Planning Initiative Advisory Council. Representatives from businesses, government, education, transportation, economic development, historic, tourism, the arts and residents will meet monthly and take field trips to other areas with historic successes.<\/p>\n
Rypkema says, \u201cbeing competitive is not being like your competition, but rather because you\u2019re being different.\u201d What you have in Bethlehem is \u201ca real asset and it\u2019s integrated into the best downtown in America. It really is unique.\u201d<\/p>\n
Press photos by Dana Grubb\u201cWe need to insure that we are delivering the best experience,\u201d says Colleen Gilbert, board of trustees chairperson for Historic Bethlehem.<\/p>\n
Loriann Wukitsch, president and CEO of Historic Bethlehem, explains citizen involvement in the study.<\/p>\n
Historic Bethlehem board of trustees treasurer Larry Eighmy says, \u201cwe want to build upon going from good to great.\u201d<\/p>\n
PlaceEconomics principal and CEO Donovan Rypkema said the draw of the UNESCO World Heritage sites in Bethlehem impacts jobs, taxes and the overall community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published September 01. 2026 01:26PM On the heels of the UNESCO World Heritage designation, the Historic Bethlehem Museums…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":276659,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":["post-276658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276658\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}