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Tourism & U: News you can use

The Tourism Center is a collaboration of the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences
and the University of Minnesota Extension.

 Summer 2009

In this issue
Social media update
Economic matters
Festival fever
The 8th habit
Quick Links
Tourism Fact
95% of MN residents
think tourism is
important to 
state economy 
Greetings!
 
As the summer sun bakes the soil and skin, we write to share our recent events and ideas.
 
Spring and summer found us travelling the state, country and world to deliver our most recent education and research offerings. Across the townships and timezones, we found consistent challenges to effective tourism development: resources, marketing, and management.  We're confident that our work together can make these challenges manageable.

Our goal is to support your success, now and always. 
Read, learn, ask: we're here for U!
 
Sincerely,
 
Ingrid Schneider, Director
612-624-4947, ingridss@umn.edu
Social media update: 1/3 and growing 
  
According to Pew Internet Research, the percent of adult internet users who have a profile on an online social network site quadrupled from 8% in 2005 to 35% at the end of 2008. Consider the opportunities to connect with a variety of generations who use Twitter, facebook and flickr: 80% of gen x-ers buy online!  Each social media tool has its merit, but all off them might be right for your organization.  Assess your own technology usership with Pew's quick quiz .

 
Follow us on Twitter (umntourism) for even more information!
Economic matters
Although there are no easy answers in today's economy, there is help to make decisions for your unique organization or community.  Our recently launched  economic analysis group works with you to identify opportunities and their economic impacts to your organization, region or the state.  We have information on general economic background of tourism as well tourism's economic impact in MN.
Need additional information? Contact us to see how we can answer your questions or direct you to our educational offerings.
 
Festival fever!
Minnesota summer means festivals and events! Use our festival research to target your marketing to the festival crowds or improve marketing of your own event.  A recent client indicated that the data from their festival profile helped them refine their marketing and see a four-fold increase in visitation!
 
Improve the festivals and events you work with through festival and event management training that we offer in-person, online or onsite!  Participants report increased sponsorship, improved marketing ROI and significant networking as a result of the course.
 
Register for festival event and management training or, better yet, consider training your region on effective event management!
Recently read:  The Eighth Habit
 
Stephan Covey's 'The Eighth Habit: From effectiveness to greatness' (2004) addresses the challenges of our times as we seek fulfillment and meaning in our work.  Covey adds a third dimension to the 7 habits framework and calls for us to find our voice and inspire others to find thieirs. Defining voice as our unique personal significance, Covey suggests our voice lies at the nexus of our talent, passion, need and consicence. Informative appendices and a DVD add depth and accessibility to the materials. This whole person model seems particularly poignant during these times and is inspiring both personally and professionally.