Marketing Rural Tourism

“Developing and strategically marketing rural tourism has been shown to foster entrepreneurship, job creation, and cultural revival.” (Soulard et. al., 2023)  

This workshop was developed for members of tourism organizations, community leaders, and local volunteers with little background or experience in marketing tourism and recreational assets.  Participants will be provided with insights into identifying target markets, the importance of digital marketing, and how to create effective tourism marketing campaigns that reach different generations.  

The presenter will also be providing information and resources from a recent research project completed by the University of Illinois and Illinois Extension called I-Rural: Reimagining Illinois Rural Tourism Through Community and Extension Collaboration.  Resources include an I-Rural Toolkit that communities and organizations can use to better understand and promote local tourism as well as an updated grant resource guide.

Presenter:

Pam Schallhorn is an Extension Specialist with a diverse background in both finance and community/economic development. Her teaching and research interests include creative-sector economic development; downtown revitalization; reversing the outmigration of young adults from rural communities; and cultural awareness. Before coming to Extension, she was a commercial lender and Director of the Small Business Development Center in Rockford, IL.  She holds a master’s degree in political studies and a bachelor’s in finance.