The 9-11 Memorial Preview Site is at 20 Vesey Street

It started as a pilot program in 2010, and now the successful Downtown Culture Pass has expanded to include more museum partners and expanded benefits. The revamped pass gets visitors to Lower Manhattan free or reduced prices on unlimited entry to museums, tours and attractions, as well as discounts at local businesses, all for one low price -- $30 for adults, $15 for youth (13 to 17), and $5 for children (7 to 12); kids under 6 are free. The Downtown Alliance's "DowntownNYC" smartphone app also is now the official mobile app for the Culture Pass.

The Culture Pass makes more than a dozen cultural institutions easily accessible to the growing number of Lower Manhattan visitors. The Pass is available for purchase on its website, or in person at the Anne Frank Center USA, the American Museum of Finance, and the 9/11 Memorial Preview Site.

The success of the Downtown Culture Pass is due in part to record tourism south of Chambers Street, which in 2011 reached nearly 10 million visitors. Already the National 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Center site has hosted more than four million visitors since its September 2011 opening, with record crowds on pace this summer leading up to the 11th anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

To accompany the steady rise in tourism, Lower Manhattan also has seen a notable increase in new hotel construction and building conversions. Read more about the downtown hotel boom here.

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