SOUTHERN RESULTS
Participating southern region institutions place a strong programmatic focus in agritourism (AL, AR, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA). State participation in other tourism related topics is less consistent. Six states conduct programming related to tourism education, training, and certification programs (AL, LA, FL, NC, GA, TX). Five states explore community and regional planning/development (AL, AR, FL, KY, NC). Five states conduct work related to place making (AL, AR, FL, KY, TX). Four states explore projects related to nature-based tourism (AR, MS, NC, TN). Three states research the economic, environmental, and social impacts of tourism and recreation (GA, MS, NC). Three states provide programming and assistance related to tourism marketing and promotion (AL, AR, NC). Three states conduct community tourism assessments (FL, KY, NC). Three states explore cultural heritage tourism (AR, FL, NC). Lastly, two states conduct tourism research and evaluation (NC, SC). Going forward, Extension faculty report an interest to expand tourism programmatic and service offerings to include first impressions programs, rural tourism development (including agritourism), branding, visitor profiles, and return on investment (ROI) studies. Extension faculty and staff across the southern region have expressed significant interest in developing and offering tourism related programming and services within their states. Those states comprising the southern region are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Of the 18 institutions among southern region states responding, 12 have faculty allocating some percentage of time to tourism related activity. More specifically, only three faculty have 51% or more of their time attributed to a tourism related focus; whereas, the remaining thirteen allocate between 10-30% of their time to tourism. Southern region states whose Extension organizations employ faculty providing tourism
expertise are found within all but Oklahoma. Further, five of the six institutions not currently offering tourism programming and related services are 1890 institutions. Growing tourism capacity among southern region institutions is of significant interest to the majority of responding institutions as all but Kentucky and Mississippi expressed a desire to have additional faculty or staff members developing and delivering tourism related programming through Extension. Cultivating and sustaining tourism related programming and expertise in the southern region can be accomplished by developing and implementing thoughtful plans of action capable of leveraging the collective strengths and expertise among faculty and Extension services in the southern region and beyond. Through the SRDC and NET, southern Extension tourism faculty could assemble a working group of those Extension professionals actively engaged in tourism related programming and service offerings. Bringing together Extension faculty across the region would facilitate opportunities to establish communities of practice, facilitate the sharing of curricular resources and tools, and promote multistate collaboration as extramural funds are secured and various types of scholastic products are produced to the benefit of Extension programs in the southern region and beyond. In addition, collaborative efforts in the southern region could be easily connected to other regions or national efforts through NET.
13 Extension Tourism: Impact and Opportunities of Land- and Sea-Grant Programming
extensiontourism.net
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