National Extension Tourism Conference 2013 - Proposal Call

This is one worth attending, I never miss it.

 

NET 2013 Call for Proposals

 

13 National Extension Tourism Conference

 

“Building Lasting Relationships“

DoubleTree Suites Detroit

Downtown-Fort Shelby

Detroit, Michigan

August 6-9, 2013

The 2013 National Extension Tourism (NET) Conference Program Committee invites proposals for the 2013 NET Conference, the theme of which is “Building Lasting Relationships.” Based on this theme, the Conference Program Committee is seeking proposals for oral presentations, poster presentations, and panel presentations/workshops in the following nine broad topical areas:

 

• Rural Tourism Development/Tourism in Resilient Communities
• Community and Regional Planning and Development
• Economic, Environmental, and Social Impacts of Tourism and Recreation
• Agritourism—Local Foods, Farmers Markets, Culinary Tourism
• Heritage and Cultural Tourism
• Nature-Based Tourism: Ecotourism, Wildlife Enterprises, Adventure Tourism, Coastal Tourism
• Marketing and Promotion
• Training and Evaluation

 

NET 2013 Proposal Guidelines

 

NOTE: To submit a proposal click on the "NET 2013 Proposal Submission Page."

The Program Committee encourages all proposal submitters to “connect” their work in tourism and recreation development to the conference’s “Building Lasting Relationships” theme, and is calling for new presentations (previously unpublished) and/or projects in progress. Please note: If a proposal is accepted for presentation at the conference, presenters must register for the conference.

 

The deadline for proposal submission is March 1, 2013, with notification of submission status by March 22, 2013. Visit the conference website at http://www.extensiontourism.net/ for further information on the 2013 NET Conference, Proposal Submission and Guidelines
http://extensiontourism.net/conference/net-2013-call-for-proposals/net-2013-proposal-submission-page/

Pondering product development

Yesterday I had the good fortune to spend the day in the room with a collective brain trust of people from BC to ponder tourism product development.  The day was organized by staff of Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training (Tourism British Columbia). It was a super opportunity to relay a number of insights that I have gained through fieldwork, research and comparison to other destinations over the years. I know that the perspectives shared by the wisdom in the room will be helpful for BC to continue its pursuit of excellence as a destination.

Many of my previous posts touch on the topic of product development. I find that the topic is often a misunderstood concept among people in tourism.  While product is one of the "p's" in the traditional marketing sense, in tourism, it is often neglected in terms of overall strategy.  At the provincial or national level in many destinations, one can see that the majority of funding and other supports are targeted toward "promotions" as they are assumed to bring the best return on investment.  But, for many rural communities - or destinations that are at early stages of development - the product is not at a state of readiness to be able to provide consistent, high quality experiences (the actual product in tourism). And thus, from an economic development standpoint - these areas are missing out on opportunities to benefit from tourism at the local level and this potential revenue is also lost for the regional/provincial economy.  For these areas, a focus on product is vital to allow them to enter into the market and for the redistribution and circulation of financial benefits within a province.

But, it is not just about rural communities - all innovation processes rely on a commitment to continuous quality improvement. Investing into product is a requirement for all long term success of tourism destinations. Tourism experiences are dynamic and must remain responsive to social trends.  What is popular today is not guaranteed to be popular tomorrow and as such, reflection on what experiences are offered, where and for who is critical for destinations. The business world does this take up at the local and firm level, but there is a role for regions and provinces to reflect on this as well and to provide appropriate supports to enable the market to function in a way that visitors can connect to emerging products.

I am always on the watch for innovative product development supports around the world - and this is an opportunity to share a few that are worth looking at. For those that want to know more (or share others with me)- take a peek at these...

Hawaii Tourism Authority - Product Enrichment program. The HTA's Product Enrichment Program funds a number of programs supporting efforts to ensure a quality tourism product and unique experiences. Included are the County Product Enrichment Program, Community-Based Natural Resources Program, and Kukulu Ola: Living Hawaiian Culture Program.


Canadian Badlands Corporation - Canadian Badlands Ltd. (CBL) is a not-for-profit Alberta Corporation providing a new and innovative approach to creating an integrated, destination-based tourism industry in South-Eastern Alberta. CBL is the largest co-operative regional partnership of municipal governments in Alberta. The shareholders are 62 municipal governments recognizing the power of co-operative efforts to develop and implement a strategic regional tourism development plan. Check out their array of product development supports!


The US Extension System - the Public University system in the US has an extension system to provide supports for communities and regions within the University territories. I have benefited tremendously from working through Michigan State years ago, and my favourite conferences remain to be the National Extension Tourism Conferences where all of the folks who do on the ground work in product development gather every couple of years.  The range of innovative supports provided through these Universities is a great asset for all levels of government to take note of. Take note of Texas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

Market readiness programs - Helping operators go from good to great and keeping the idea of innovation alive is at the heart of market readiness programs which are popular in Eastern Canada. Check out Newfoundland , and NF Labrador.

Mentorship programs - to allow businesses to learn from who they really want to learn from - successful entrepreneurs!  Check out Nova Scotia's program

Share other ideas - what do you need, what do destinations need or what do you know about that really works?

Embedding tourism in broader rural development strategies

This morning I gave a presentation at the National Extension Tourism Conference in South Carolina called "Embedding tourism development in broader rural development strategies: Insights from Canada". In the talk, I attempted to highlight why those involved in tourism need to understand broader rural policy issues such as depopulation, aging infrastructure and regional planning in order to be more effective. One of the overarching approaches that would help us do this is called Amenity Based Rural Development (ABRD), of which I have written on the blog previously.

I see tourism as one tool for rural communities to use in revitalization, and I see tourism as part of a bigger picture than a sectoral approach to simply bring in money and visitors to communities. To date, I have seen rural areas approach tourism for sheer economic development purposes, without necessarily understanding the broader realities of rural life or the goals of residents. If we understand that tourism also plays a role in providing exposure to an area that may attract new residents or invesment (if they are seen as attractive), then we may be seen as an important player at different tables. These tables and the different stakeholders seated at them, would also value the role tourism can play in rural development - and be willing to embed it within. So instead of always complaining that we need others to value tourism, our presence and broadened perspective, using an umbrella like ABRD, would result in the type of support needed.

I was lucky to be book-ended by two heavy hitters at the session as well. Dr. Stephen Burr from Utah spoke about the role of tourism in gateway communities. He shared data from a recent visitor study in Grand Staircase- Escalante National Monument and demonstrated the benefits of proximity to natural amenities like this, to the adjacent communities. For example, 1/3 of visitors stayed in local hotels, 1/3 in various campgrounds in the region. 8 of 15 of the gateway communities had visitation rates of 30-75%. In terms of activities, 57% of folks were using the amenity for recreation purposes (not related to the monument itself) including photography (75%), hiking, (69%) and viewing of attractive amenities such as natural features, rocks, wildlife etc. This study made me think that we could use similar insights in BC about the presence of our protected areas and adjacent communities - in particular to note differences in the communities that benefit and those that do not. This type of information would be useful to assist in ensuring that these areas maximize benefits to adjacent areas. The ICURA on protected areas and poverty reduction at VIU, of which I am currently part of, might be the place to explore this further.

The final session was done by Cynthia Messer from the University of Minnestoa, Extension. She shared insights on an 18 year longitudinal study on tourism development in two particular case locations - San Luis in Colorado and 12 villages in Van Buren County, Iowa. Of particular interest to me was the observation of how Van Buren has been more effective over the long term due to their collaboration between the communities - whereas San Luis has struggled with burnout of the "STP" or same ten people. As I advocate rural areas to collaborate to maximize resources AND because visitors usually travel to rural regions - I found her insights validating.

That is it for the conference now - it was great - and I was able to encourage folks to come up to Canada for ours as well. Will keep you posted on the next NET conference in either 2013 or 2014.

National Extension Tourism Conference 2011

Well today was jam packed with great sessions at this years National Extension Tourism Conference. This is one I try not to miss and have been to the one in Vermont 4 years ago, Utah 2 years back and now in South Carolina. The US has a different system than Canada with an embedded support to work with regions/communities and operators in rural tourism. Their Land Grant institutions have what is called an extension arm - where professionals from the Universities work as agents of change within their regions in a variety of specialist areas. Earlier this week, a conference was held for the National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals (March 7-9th) here in Charleston as well.

I first became familiar with this system when I did my PhD at Michigan State. My research work with the Recreation and Tourism Resources Center was in rural tourism in the Michigan Thumb region. I often wish that we had an equivalent system, at least with the same structural supports within Canada. Our system in Canada seems to place Universities within communities and regions, but there is not a clearly articulated mandate to serve and work with them for change. While it can be found in mission statements, there are few funded structures to enable things to happen long term. My position is one however, at VIU, that was created as a long term strategy to create some of these links. If I could only have a team of specialists like down here though...

I digress - the conference. Today was packed with good sessions - here are some tidbits to take away for those who can't be here:

David Sheatsley was the keynote this am (US Travel). He gave an overview of some research on visitation to the US. Their total domestic visits have been increasing and are expected to hit a new record in 2012 as Americans are encouraged to travel closer to home. Consumer confidence is on the upswing - but is still only at 70.4% whereas 90% is considered healthy - so a ways to go yet. There is a gap between the perception of affordability of travel and people's money available to do so - this gap is biggest for boomers. One of the issues, not surprising, is the effect that fuel prices is having on an already weakened system. For example, of the top concerns that may impact travel, the top ones were all financial - including gas prices, airline costs whereas the impact of personal debt on travel has been decreasing in significance. The reasons people are indicating they may travel more this year? 40% to relieve stress, 40% for a break from home or work, 39% they have additional time, 39% to reconnect with family or friends, 25% had put off travel due to the state of the economy and 15% due to household budget improving. The outlook for 2011? People will continue to stay close to home, but will drive further. High fuel costs will impact household budgets so value and frugality will reign.

I attended a series of sessions on the use of mapping to assist in tourism planning and marketing. These were useful, but I found myself wondering if costly investments into developing databases and then maintaining them are not better done in the private sector. One session on Market Maker was quite interesting - it connects producers to buyers of agricultural products - but they have been expanding the application across various states and into new sectors, such as agritourism.

Carol Patterson and Miles Phillips did a great workshop on the "Good Bad and the Ugly of tourism" complete with sound effects. Based on numerous experiences, they outlined how operators creatively used their ideas to either produce successful ventures or to "gain experience". Too many examples to share - but you can check out Carol's information for regular updates and newsletters.

And, the last of the day was a great workshop on how Ohio extension agents have been introducing social networking applications to agritourism businesses. Julie Fox provided details on their introduction sessions and their hands on workshops and outlined some of the lessons learned. They have piloted their approach a number of times and I kept thinking that this is something we need to build in as a collaborative approach between students and operators in BC. A couple of the tips they share at their experiential workshop are:

1. Know what people are saying about you (online already) Use google alerts, social mention to find out and get alerts from online mention of your business name

2. Become familiar with popular media sites such as twitter, face book, YouTube and linked in - and think about how they could work with your business;

3. Get engaged in great content - give people something to talk about - photos, videos, chats, polls, stories

4. Get the customer engaged - have them tell their stories, ask for feedback on new products, and build a relationship with them

5. Integrate social media into your marketing plan

Well, I will update more tomorrow and am presenting on how tourism needs to be embedded in broader rural development strategies, like amenity based rural development.

The value of horse drawn carriage rides for visitors

I am writing this entry from Charleston, South Carolina where I am visiting this week for the National Extension Tourism Conference - one of my favorites (and I will write more about it this week).

Yesterday, in an effort to get a feel for the City, I decided to take one of the horse drawn carriage rides throughout the City. I often try to do this as I have found that the experience provides me with a lot of benefits. I get familiar with the destination, learn a ton about the history and architecture, and it connects me to the products that I can add to my list during the visit. These benefits are not provided in many communities and I am not sure that those in the industry recognize the role that carriage companies play in overall visitor experience.

In the past few years, I have begun to think that a study to compare the strategies and supports used by various communities to attract or manage carriage companies is needed. When I was in Montreal, I learned that there were many issues for the companies in trying to work with the City. Some were being lured away by a progressive community in Manitoba that was trying to establish the service there. Yesterday, I learned about the regulations in place here in Charleston, and I also observed some of the innovative strategies being used to control the impacts of the industry - for example:

The City has integrated the stables for horses within the market square area - these are heritage buildings for the most part. The sense for visitors, of seeing horses in their stalls and part of the landscape is great - and I am sure it entices, as it did for us, a number of people to decide upon taking a trip. The location of the carriages waiting, is very visible for visitors. There is something about horses drawing a carriage that gets people's cameras out...

The horses are employees with excellent labour standards - they can only take out five trips per day, work 5 days a week with 2 off, and they have to take 3 months off after serving 6, so they work half the year. They also get new rubber shoes every 6 weeks - soft on their legs but also protects the streets and keeps noise down.

The companies use a lottery system to control where they take their guests. They pull up to a "bingo ball" unit and give a series of numbers to the recorder - the number of their unit, the number of people on the trip, the horses name (to control the number of trips a day) and the driver. They are then given a route to take, which disperses them throughout the city and eliminates too much congestion.

There is an equine sanitation unit on patrol. When a horse has nature call while on route, the driver drops a small flag on the pavement. Within 2o minutes, a sanitation truck comes by to clean it up - which prevents smell and unsanitary conditions from evolving. Horses also wear manure bags.

Drivers give cars the right of way - but on narrow streets, it is often difficult. I am sure there is some tension with the home owners, but from what I could see - they appear to have the right building blocks in place.

All this for $20 per person for an hour long trip! Quite affordable considering what I have paid elsewhere. The company we used said business is usually good - as tourism is the number one industry for the City.

So there you have it, many insights for others who are using this strategy for tourism. I often believe that these sorts of initiatives are ones that should be welcomed and supported by communities (vs. regulated to death) as they probably do a better job of connecting people to product than many of our current systems (i.e. visitor information centers).

More on NET to come in the next few days...

Preserving and promoting heritage assets for rural tourism

Yesterday I was contacted by someone from the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington, DC to bring to my attention a special issue of the Forum Journal (Winter 2010) that focused on Heritage-Based Rural Development.

BC has an active Heritage Branch in the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts and I have had the good fortune to work with many of their staff in the past. Efforts to bring together those in heritage preservation and tourism have been made in recent years as there is a growing recognition of the synergies that can happen when working together. Sometimes when blending people from different worlds – it is a good idea to focus first on common goals. I would like to propose in this blog, that those working on heritage tourism think a bit broader about how heritage can support rural development in general – not just through tourism. By following the suggestions and examples in the articles discussed above, the protection and promotion of heritage assets leads to the goals of many rural areas. For example heritage assets make communities more attractive to visitors, residents and businesses which can keep people in the community. It also invests in foundations of authenticity which can create places where people experience a “sense of place” (which is becoming difficult as all our cities begin to look alike).

So how do the journal articles suggest this happens – well I don't want to take away from your enjoyment in reading the articles – but here are a few highlights I gleaned. Based on two pilot projects (regional based) along the Mississippi River in Arkansas and in central Kentucky – James Lindberg’s article provides six principles for heritage based development including:

1. Use a regional approach
2. Protect historic authenticity
3. Nurture grassroots involvement and leadership
4. Forge strong partnerships
5. Be flexible, and
6. Make a long term commitment

Using these as guiding principles – they also propose six strategies for moving forward. I thought these were particularly useful for rural development:

1. Educate about the value of rural heritage
2. Conserve heritage assets
3. Encourage local entrepreneurship and the use of historic structures
4. Develop heritage tourism potential
5. Brand and market your regional identity
6. Advocate for public policies that support heritage-based rural development

So without spoiling your read, go and review the articles (they are short) as they point out many tips under each strategy. I couldn’t help but think about the many examples of heritage resources in BC that I have visited over the years that are in dire need of conservation before they can be of any use for tourism. Many rural residents are aware of these assets and value the sites, places and people that have established roots to the area. The state of many sites however is unfortunate – old buildings crumbling or being demolished for new developments. Once they are gone, and once the people that are connected to these places are gone – these heritage resources will be much more difficult, if not impossible to revitalize.

Canadians often say that Canada doesn’t have its own culture (which I adamantly disagree with). Perhaps it is time we learn from others – even within our own country (i.e. Quebec efforts around heritage preservation are excellent) about what our heritage amenities are and then prioritize them as key ingredients for rural development. We know they are there, and we should know by now the roadblocks that are preventing them from being restored and utilized – so now all we need are creative ideas on how to get there (which starts with being a priority). With so much emphasis on “tourism product development” going on, heritage resources must be incorporated into these discussions in ways that balance the mandates of protection and promotion.

I like to expose myself to the thinking and practices south of the 49th whenever I can. There is a collective understanding about rural tourism development in the USA that Canada can, and should, learn from. Universities have supported extension activity in tourism across the States for quite some time and clusters of active regions have demonstrated many promising practices. Luckily, I will get the opportunity for more interaction with folks by attending the Rural Tourism Conference in Mississippi October 25-27th. For others who want to attend a good conference on rural tourism, keep your eyes open for the next National Extension Tourism Conference as well.