The Tourism First Impressions program was adopt - ed by WVU Extension in 2012. It helps communi - ties see their town through the eyes of the first-time visitor, revealing their strengths and weaknesses as tourist destinations. The findings can then form the basis for future development. This program has been a catalyst for other efforts—such as asset map - ping and more thorough assessments and other kinds of participatory research. The Sustainable Tourism webinars draw on the lessons we’ve learned from doing this kind of tourism development work over the past ten years, providing participants with some founda - tional principles of sustainable tourism develop - ment so they can collaborate in their communi - ties to enhance their tourism opportunities. We can’t work with all the towns at the same time, so the webinars provide a tool for scaling up. It’s been great to see interest and regular participa - tion, and a dynamic and evolving curriculum. Talk about the role of partnerships in your tourism development work. The participatory approach we use is critical, Sustainable tourism projects are complex and require the perspectives of people from multiple fields and disciplines. “
because no single program or organization—no matter how well managed or funded it is—can single-handedly create lasting large-scale change. Within WVU, Extension partners with faculty and staff from a variety of colleges and depart - ments, including recreation, parks, and tourism; landscape architecture; the Natural Resources Analysis center; graphic design; public adminis - tration; and business and economics. Collectively, they provide a depth of knowledge and expertise and enhance our ability to help build economic development capacity in under-resourced rural communities.
ing Tucker project. Our transdisciplinary team— which included graphic designers, landscape architects, Extension specialists, and members of the local cultural district authority— co-created a comprehensive tourism development strategy that includes a cultural tourism agenda, trailhead improvements, sustainable growth strategies, and
communities establish indicators that they can measure over time to ensure that their tourism activity is sustainable. TRIP (Tourism, Resilience, and Indicators for Post-Pandemic Planning) will provide a feedback loop that will enable commu - nities to use data to reframe their tourism pro - motion activities and manage growth by estab -
cultural identity components to share, protect and connect Tucker County culture for vis - itors and residents. I also was recently awarded funding from USDA NIFA to lead a multi-state integrated research-Extension project that ultimately will re - sult in an evidence-based desti - nation management framework for rural gateway destinations. We’ll be including some of these participatory design principles into our research activities.
lishing sustainable tourism management strategies and having data they can measure over time to track success and revise strategies as needed.
What lessons are you learning that could help
How does your program use research and best practices?
other Extension professionals?
Research is a significant component of the work we do. We help communities collect and interpret primary data and make good use of secondary data to understand visitor preferences and resi - dent attitudes toward tourism projects, to mea - sure the impact of tourism, and to identify trends. In addition, we use a methodology called “trans - disciplinary public interest design.” We also refer to this process as “Design for Good,” a term coined by the landscape and graphic designers on our team. This approach recognizes that sustainable tourism projects are complex and require the perspectives of people from multiple fields and disciplines. This approach takes time, but the long-term investment allows us to develop strong, trusting relationships with the communities involved.
Be patient. Collaboration (the participatory approach) takes time. You have to be willing to put egos aside and realize that you’re co-learning, and that it’s a mutual process. You are the
What are your plans for expanding the program?
expert, but you’re also a learner. Your approach makes a big difference in gaining trust. You must be able to see it from the community’s perspec - tive. Mutual trust and respect are the pathway to deep - er engagement. Extension provides a pathway to access land-grant resources. There’s tremendous potential there. That’s why it’s very exciting for me to be able to do this work in Extension. Extension is the perfect combination of higher ed and also spending time in communities. I feel as if I’m part of their work at the local level. Our work can shed light on opportunities within Extension and elevate awareness about the need to invest in tourism fac - ulty and support them in Extension work.
I am leading two new multi-state projects that will examine resilience and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic through the lens of rural tour - ism in the Northeast region. We’ll convene Exten - sion and academic faculty across the country to en - courage collaborative assessments of rural tourism at the multi-state level; investigating the resilience, adaptability, and recoverability of different compo - nents of the rural tourism system; and identifying strategies that tourism businesses and destinations are using to cope with the pandemic. A USDA NIFA funded project with partners in four states (Vermont, New Hampshire, Pennsyl - vania and West Virginia) will focus on helping
What are some examples of “Design for Good” projects?
We recently published a peer-reviewed paper that describes how we used this process in our Shar -
36 The NET Effect | Extension Foundation/NTAE
Extension Foundation/NTAE | The NET Effect 37
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