Developing Tourism in
Your Community
Roger Merchant, Extension Educator
University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Community-based tourism involves working with 3 key arenas
needing attention in the tourism planning process…
The planned, organized work that a community, county
or region has to engage with on order to get to a community
supported, sustainable tourism plan includes these steps-actions…
-
organize a diverse
planning group
-
develop planning
timelines
-
inventory and evaluate
attractions and services
-
conduct a swot analysis
-
identify community
values
-
discuss attitudes
towards tourists
-
address the costs and
benefits of tourism
-
evaluate markets and
how to access niches
-
identify business
opportunities and assistance
-
access funding for
investment
-
monitor-manage-evaluate
tourism ongoing
-
commit
to quality hospitality and friendly customer service
(Minnesota Extension
Tourism Center)
"Tourism is a complex system of interrelated parts:
attraction assets, services, transportation, information,
communication, markets, hospitality. Each part influences all
others. Six key conditions must be met before the tourism system can
operate smoothly and effectively for a given destination, be that a
community, county or region". (Texas Department of Commerce)
- Community support
- Local and regional leadership
- Identification of market niche
- Regional cooperation
- Financial support
- Ongoing networking
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