This year marks the 250th anniversary of America's founding, but interest in U.S. historical tours is extending beyond 2026, according to tour operators.
Demand for semiquincentennial-themed itineraries was so great at Collette that the tour operator created an American Story tour for 2027 that traces the country's Revolutionary War history.
EF Go Ahead Tours has added an 11-day itinerary focused on America's founding story from Boston to Yorktown, Va. And Stephen Ambrose Historical Tours, an operator specializing in military history, expanded its Revolutionary War offerings in 2027 to four itineraries, up from just one.
The EF itinerary will kick off on July 4 and focus on the Revolutionary War. Historian Iris de Rode, who was featured in Ken Burns' 2025 documentary "The American Revolution," will join the tour as a guide from Philadelphia to Yorktown.
The trip was created after EF and market research firm Qualtrics Research discovered in a May survey that the Revolutionary War interested respondents the most out of all topics in American history. Despite that interest, just one in five American travelers have visited Revolutionary War landmarks, according to the survey.
The American Revolutionary War lasted until 1783, so there are years of anniversaries on the horizon, providing an ongoing hook for operators to develop products, said Lael Kassis, EF Go Ahead vice president of market innovation and development.
Richie Karaburun
Treating the anniversary as a one-time thing that ends in 2026 would be a "major failure," said Richie Karaburun, a clinical associate professor at New York University who teaches about destination marketing and branding.
"The winners will be the destinations or tour operators that sell this journey," Karaburun said. "It's just the start. It's a great spark. I think the long-term business will be there."
Already, the 2027 Stephen Ambrose tours have sparked steady interest, said president Talia Ambrose, and interest this year for Collette's Revolution tour was so strong that the operator added departure dates in 2026.
"The anniversary has increased visibility, but it's part of a larger trend toward experiential, purpose-driven travel, where history, culture and storytelling play a central role," said Diana Ditto, vice president of product marketing and growth strategy at Collette.
Part of the demand comes from the desire for meaningful travel that sparks emotional resonance, turning "American history from just background noise into a travel purpose," Karaburun said.
On the Stephen Ambrose tours, the multiday itineraries form "a connected narrative that only becomes deeper each day," Ambrose said.
Good timing
A lasting buzz around America's anniversary would be a welcome development for domestic operators and destination management organizations feeling the pinch of fewer international travelers, Karaburun said.
A litany of factors -- geopolitical uncertainty, economic worries, high airfares, the broadcast of the Ken Burns documentary and a post-pandemic rediscovery of domestic travel -- has created "a perfect storm" for those hoping to capitalize on this interest, he said.
The EF-Qualtrics survey found the opportunity gap: Even among well-traveled respondents, only about half have been to cities important to the Revolution, such as Boston or Philadelphia. Fewer than 20% have visited Valley Forge in Pennsylvania, Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts or Yorktown in Virginia.
DMOs for relevant cities have an opportunity to join forces to market the journey, not just individual destinations, Karaburun said.
"America 250 is a great reminder that domestic travel is not second-best travel," he said. "This is deeply emotional, and educational. And if it's done right, it's commercially very powerful."