Can We Carve Another Lake Erie?

1. Can We Carve Another Lake Erie? OSU Sea Grant Extension Sustainable Tourism

4. My goals for tonight • Better understanding of the role of perception • Better understanding of tourism industry • Dialogue about communications/marketing challenges • Identify several OSU Sea Grant Extension tourism programs to address these challenges

5. Overview • Destination Image • Perception of Lake Erie • Tourism in Ohio • Why OSU Sea Grant Extension is Involved in Tourism • OSU Sea Grant Extension Activities • Ohio Tourism Leadership Academy

6. Destination Image • A mental construct chosen from a flood of information. • Controlled • Promotional brochures, literature • Uncontrolled • Opinions of others • Media Where does social media fit within this system?

7. Destination Image

8. For most products and services, information sources for this stage are primarily controlled and commercially driven – rarely influenced by media, movies, education For tourism destinations, information sources for this stage are primarily uncontrolled sources Why?

9. How does this compare with the image process of choosing a university or your program?

10. What Travelers are Seeking “Geotourism,” National Geographic Travel & Travel Industry Association of America, 2003

11. What Travelers are Seeking

12. Perception is REALITY

13. Let’s play a game

14. Iraq

16. Perceptions of Ohio

17. Perceptions of Ohio

18. Still primarily industrial Americans are geographically challenged Water quality is perceived as poor

19. What Messages are we Sending?

21. http://youtu.be/bZ8Sj-ow_wI

22. Why is OSU Sea Grant Extension Involved? • Tourism is a huge economic sector • $10.7 billion spent within Ohio’s coastal counties • More than 114,000 jobs are supported by these dollars • More than $430 million tax dollars are generated for state revenues • More than $320 million in tax dollars are generated for local communities

24. Why is OSU Sea Grant Extension Involved? • There is an opportunity & need for education • Low education barriers to entry • Fragmented with unique market characteristics • Education & training focused on marketing and sector specific • Current structure is boundary specific • Few regional mechanisms to create new products • Tourism is linked to environmental quality • Impacted by (and impacts) the environment

25. Something old Something new Something blue

26. Why is OSU Sea Grant Extension Involved? • There is an opportunity & need for education • Fragmented with unique market characteristics • Education & training focused on marketing and sector specific • Current structure is boundary specific • Few regional mechanisms to create new products • Tourism is linked to environmental quality • Impacted by (and impacts) the environment • Tourism as a Public Good with positive externalities

27. What Matters Most? Security Basic Services Leadership Openness Aesthetics

28. What Matters Most? So What about Aesthetics? • Beauty and physical setting • Outdoor parks, playgrounds trails • Air quality • Climate

30. Environmental Quality or Economic Health? "Better Not Bigger: How to Take Control of Urban Growth and Improve your Community" by EbenFoder

31. “America’s brightest people are attracted by America’s most beautiful places.” - Colorado Governor Roy Romer

32. OSU Sea Grant Extension Activities

33. OSU Sea Grant Extension Activities • Increase economic contributions • Research • BGSU birding study • Glenn School hotel taxation study

34. OSU Sea Grant Extension Activities • Increase economic contributions • Education • Ohio Tourism Leadership Academy thru the Ohio Travel Association • Ohio Tourism Toolbox • Tourism Industry Needs Assessment

35. OSU Sea Grant Extension Activities • Increase economic contributions • Communications & Outreach • National Park Service Civic Engagement Facilitation • Creating new regional products • http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/LakeErieBirdTrailIndex/tabid/21961/Default.aspx • Community facilitations

36. Lake Erie Birding Trail

37. OSU Sea Grant Extension Activities • Protecting qualities that attract visitors • Research • Climate Change Research with Michigan partners

38. OSU Sea Grant Extension Activities • Protecting qualities that attract visitors • Education • Birding Workshops for Resource Managers

39. OSU Sea Grant Extension Activities • Protecting qualities that attract visitors • Communications & Outreach • Conservation assistance • Clean Marina Program

40. Ohio Tourism Leadership Academy

41. Context Fragmentation means associations are key players in policy decisions Board composition and functionality, therefore, become vital

42. Purpose Difficult to fill leadership nomination ballots Learning curve for new board members creates adjustment period Inability to actively engage industry members in advocacy Difficulty in crossing borders

43. Survey says . . . Lack of confidence in their abilities Lack of knowledge about what to do and how to do it Not apathy

45. How it came to be Partnership with the Ohio Travel Association Industry Network State association president 10-year board member Co-chair of legislative committee

46. Goals • Increase representation of the tourism industry in policy-shaping behaviors • Increase skills, knowledge, and understanding of tourism issues and democratic process • Foster and encourage traditional and nontraditional industry innovation, partnerships, and leadership

47. Year-long • Economic Development • Arts and Humanities • Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation • Legislative Advocacy • Media and Communications • Historic Preservation and Heritage

48. Legislative Advocacy • Advocacy Tips • One-on-one meetings with key elected officials • Tour of the statehouse • Meeting with state tourism association executives

49. Media and Communications • Meeting with Columbus Dispatch Editor • Meeting with ONN and WTVN10 Station Managers • Tour of Station

50. Hands-on Experiences