Introduction National Extension Tourism (NET) is a national network of professionals from the Extension services of U.S. Land- and Sea-Grant universities who engage in tourism and outdoor recreation research, education, and outreach programs. The NET Design Team provides leadership and guidance for running and maintaining the network’s collaboration. It currently includes 12 regional representatives and receives administrative and leadership support from the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development (see opposite page). NET supports the continued development of sustainable tourism programming within Extension services in collaboration with institutions of higher education, federal agencies, and other partners. Through such efforts Extension contributes to the long-term economic development, environmental stewardship, and socio-cultural wellbeing of American communities. For more than 50 years Land-Grant Extension services have conducted programming that supports communities’ tourism and recreation economies, emphasizing outreach efforts that assist local leaders and governing officials in making informed decisions about tourism and recreation as components of overall community development. In 1978 and again in 1993, national Land-Grant Extension system governing bodies issued high-level reports calling for such programming. The NET Design Team originated as a response to fulfill the 1993 report’s action agenda, focused at first on coordinating efforts of those at Land-Grant institutions. Support within these institutions for tourism and recreation efforts has experienced cycles at the state and Federal levels. Today, Land-Grant based programming is supported by Extension and Agricultural Experiment Station funds, USDA NIFA competitive grants, private sector sources, and fee-for-service models. Sea Grant has responded to community needs related to coastal tourism and has, to varying degrees across states, invested in such programming for decades. Sea Grant’s efforts in tourism are embedded in all four of the national
Sea Grant focus areas in a number of states. Many programs are working on coastal tourism issues and impacts to coastal ecosystems, yet there is no unified national strategy to address this important subject. In 2008 several programs began an informal dialog about how to reinvigorate Sea Grant’s interest and role in tourism. The NOAA Sea Grant Coastal Tourism Vision Plan 2018-2028 builds upon its framework and recommendations to continue strengthening the role that Sea Grant plays in promoting sustainable coastal tourism across the network. In March 2020, the NET Design Team, with the support of the Regional Rural Development Centers (RRDCs) and USDA, met to draft their 2020-2025 Strategic Plan. That plan highlights the important role Extension services play in assisting communities across the U.S. to benefit from tourism and outdoor recreation, and identifies several objectives, including: • inventorying and assessing existing Extension and Sea Grant tourism programs • identifying a contact in each state who can provide accurate information on current Extension and Sea Grant tourism programs • developing a national database of land grant and Sea Grant Extension tourism programs organized according to region and topical areas • sharing applied research, special programs, or other tourism development and To that end, the NET Design Team and RRDCs carried out a national survey process from 2017 to 2019 to catalog current tourism and recreation programming being conducted by U.S. Extension professionals. The findings are summarized in this report, which: • documents the distribution, depth, and breadth of tourism and outdoor recreation programming offered by the Land- and Sea Grant Extension services; • demonstrates the regional impacts of this programming; and, • highlights opportunities for expanding this programming nationally. outdoor recreation technical expertise with key stakeholders and audiences.
1 Extension Tourism: Impact and Opportunities of Land- and Sea-Grant Programming
extensiontourism.net
Powered by FlippingBook