tourism

“You Can’t Miss It”- Giving Rural Tourists Better Directions

September 29, 2009

We’ve all heard it, and probably all said it to others too. Your own town can seem so easy to get around, when it’s what you are accustomed to. When I moved to the mountains of rural western North Carolina 20 years ago and asked for directions practically every day, the phrase I learned to [...]

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Social Media for Tourism Businesses

April 7, 2009

Social media like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and others are obviously a huge trend for all industries these days. But social media can be especially useful to tourism businesses. Hotels, restaurants, tour guides, retail outfitters, golf courses and resorts can all benefit from getting messages out to potential customers – whether they have reservations yet or [...]

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The Experience Seekers

March 22, 2009

The Great Lakes Cruising Coalition is working to get more cruise lines enjoying the Great Lakes, to pull into port and visit their small towns. One of their members posted estimates on the economic impact for each day a cruise ship visits. With just two tourist vessels scheduling 12 stops in one city for 2009, [...]

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Saving Open Space

March 16, 2009

The most powerful argument of all for saving open space is economics. In most states, tourism is the number two industry. Jim Fowler, American Economist

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Last Minute Tourism: Weekend Travelers

March 15, 2009

Rural businesses and small towns that attract large numbers of tourists are re-thinking their strategies this year, as the economy causes everyone to reconsider travel plans. Apparently Americans’ views of corporate greed are even affecting the types of accomodations that travelers choose to stay in: “Group and corporate travel are down considerably at many area [...]

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Coping With The Modern American Tourist

March 9, 2009

The modern American tourist now fills his experience with pseudo-events. He has come to expect both more strangeness and more familiarity than the world naturally offers. He has come to believe that he can have a lifetime of adventure in two weeks and all the thrills of risking his life without any real risk at [...]

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Tourism Across The Canadian Border

March 8, 2009

Tourism throughout the US is down, but we’re not the only ones. Canadian tourism has seen a decline, too, partly due to the drop in Americans traveling over the border but also because fewer Canadians are traveling. Take a look at how tourism businesses in Canada are being encouraged to plan for tourists who travel [...]

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Fun Can Mean Business for Rural Business

March 6, 2009

Have you given any thought to how attracting tourists to your area could help your business? The Palm Springs, California Bureau of Tourism did, and decided to market to college students traveling during spring break, using social media. You can take a look here to read four perspectives on what small business owners thought and [...]

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Luring Last Minute Travelers to Rural America

March 5, 2009

It seems that all of us in rural America are going to have to work a little harder this year to attract tourists and other regional visitors to our businesses. Apparently, state tourism and commerce agencies are finding it quite a challenge to get travelers to go out for an occasional night on the town, [...]

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Climate Change in Appalachia

March 3, 2009

As some of you may already know, my handmade craft business is very much seasonal and tourist-based, particularly from May through October when travel on the Blue Ridge Parkway is heaviest. For those of us with tourism businesses, nature and our mountain climate can be our best friends ….or our adversaries. We watch our regional [...]