NORTH CENTRAL RESULTS
Eight out of the 12 states (67%) in the North Central region have faculty or staff who are involved in developing or delivering tourism- related Extension programs: Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, Iowa, and South Dakota. The four states that currently do not are Kansas, Indiana, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. With the exception of South Dakota, the other 11 states all would like to have more faculty or staff working on tourism-related programs. Three states have at least 80% of faculty time allocated to tourism-related work, and two states have 51%-60%. On the other hand, one state has 31%-40% of faculty time allocated to tourism-related work, while six states have no more than 20%. In other words, more than half of the North Central states have less than 40% of faculty time on tourism-related work. This finding at least partially explains the widespread desire to have more faculty or staff working on tourism-related programs. The most frequently offered program in the North Central region is agritourism—local foods, farmers markets, culinary tourism, farm stays, etc. Placemaking, cultural-heritage tourism, and Tourism education/training/ certification programs were each offered in five states. Other tourism-related programs, each offered in three states, include community and regional planning and development, economic, environmental, and social impacts of tourism and recreation, tourism research and evaluation, community tourism assessment, and the shared economy. Lastly, natural-based tourism (ecotourism, wildlife watching, and adventure tourism) and marketing/promotion were each offered in two states. In terms of tourism programs that states wish to offer but are unable to, respondents from
two states pointed out the need to have more Extension Educators, in order to implement programs more broadly. Respondents from two states identified agritourism, and the following program areas were each mentioned by one state: ecotourism, natural amenity-based tourism/creation, pandemic relief, marketing and communications strategies, tourism and tribal communities, and DEI issues in tourism. Lastly, respondents in two states were “not sure.” When it comes to challenges states face in providing services to support tourism, the most frequently identified are staffing and funding. Lack of staffing was identified in six states, need for more devoted time from currently faculty/ staff in two, and lack of funding in five. One respondent specifically pointed out the lack of a faculty of specialist who could take the lead on tourism-related work. One respondent mentioned the state is not thought of by most as a destination. Another respondent pointed out that tourism tends to take a backseat as an “in vogue” economic development strategy, while other sectors and entrepreneurship tend to dominate discussions. —Xinyi Qian, University of Minnesota
24 Extension Tourism: Impact and Opportunities of Land- and Sea-Grant Programming
extensiontourism.net
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