Tourism, Resiliency, and Indicators for Post-Pandemic Planning (TRIP)
The long-term goal of this project is to enhance the sustainability and resiliency of rural destinations by providing research-based information and a destination management framework for rural gateway destinations. This project is led by Doug Arbogast, West Virginia University Extension, with collaborators including National Extension Tourism Design Team (NETDT), Penn State, University of Vermont, University of New Hampshire, and the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development.
Project team members bring a unique combination of research and analytical skills in addition to extensive industry experience supporting rural tourism destinations and providing innovative programs to guide sustainable management strategies. The addition of researchers from the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development (NERCRD) at Penn State brings expertise in econometric modeling, which will be applied to develop a rigorous understanding of the county-level determinants and impacts of tourism development over time.
Objectives:
- Identify economic, social, and environmental indicators for sustainable tourism (across all US counties and in three case study communities).
- Survey residents and visitors in case study destinations to identify social and environmental indicators.
- Deliver Extension programming in targeted gateway communities through pilot programming using the research-based insights generated in objectives 1 and 2.
- Assess change over time and associated impacts thus providing a mechanism to update the data on a regular basis to monitor changes and reflect on community goals.
Resources for Residents
Funding Agency: USDA NIFA
Principal Investigator: Douglas Arbogast
Lead Institution: West Virginia University
Accompanying Institution(s): Texas A&M University, Penn State, University of Vermont, University of New Hampshire
Start Date: January, 2022 End Date: December, 2025