Marketing Rural Tourism Elmwood
The registration is closed for Marketing Rural Tourism. If you believe you received this message in error, please contact Pam Schallhorn at pscha2@illinois.edu
When? Tuesday, October 15, 2024, 6:00pm to 7:00pm – refreshments and networking will be available after the program
Where? Elmwood Junior & Senior High School, 301 W Butternut St., Elmwood, IL
Cost? No charge to attend.
Who should attend? Members of tourism organizations and their volunteers as well as anyone interested in learning how to market their local and regional tourist attractions and recreational assets
Where? Elmwood Junior & Senior High School, 301 W Butternut St., Elmwood, IL
Cost? No charge to attend.
Who should attend? Members of tourism organizations and their volunteers as well as anyone interested in learning how to market their local and regional tourist attractions and recreational assets
Program Description:
Rural tourism activities have been shown to foster local entrepreneurship, reverse the outmigration of young adults, provide local workforce opportunities and expand economic opportunities in rural communities. Furthermore, a recent study (White, 2023), indicates that “recreation-dependent counties grew more than twice as fast as the nation overall and the Midwest’s recreation counties mirrored this trend”.
Rural tourism activities have been shown to foster local entrepreneurship, reverse the outmigration of young adults, provide local workforce opportunities and expand economic opportunities in rural communities. Furthermore, a recent study (White, 2023), indicates that “recreation-dependent counties grew more than twice as fast as the nation overall and the Midwest’s recreation counties mirrored this trend”.
Join University of Illinois Extension on Tuesday, October 15, 2024, for Marketing Rural Tourism. Pam Schallhorn, Extension Specialist in Community and Economic Development will discuss ways to create effective tourism marketing campaigns that reach different generations as well as insights into identifying target markets and the importance of digital marketing.
Richard Proffer, Extension Educator in community & economic development will introduce a recent study completed by the University of Illinois and Illinois Extension: I-Rural: Reimagining Illinois Rural Tourism. Resources being made available that night will include the rural tourism toolkit that allows communities and organizations to better understand and promote their communities as well as an updated grant resource guide.
If you need reasonable accommodations to attend or have questions about the program, please contact pscha2@illinois.edu.
Pam Schallhorn is an Extension Specialist in community and economic development serving forty counties in western and central Illinois. She holds a master’s degree in political studies and a bachelor’s degree in finance. Before coming to Extension, she was a commercial lender for over two decades and the Director of the Small Business Development Center in Rockford. Her teaching and research interests include entrepreneurial development, economic development policy, downtown revitalization, reversing the out migration of young adults from rural communities and cultural awareness.
I-Rural: Reimagining Illinois Rural Tourism Through Community and Extension Collaboration: The project’s goal was to develop tools to plan, develop and implement rural tourism projects with evidence-informed processes that support local entrepreneurship, foster collaboration, and develop local workforce opportunities. The project was led by Joelle Soulard, Ph.D., and Sharon Zou, Ph.D., both professors in the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism, College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois.