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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.

 Fall 2009

In this issue
Trail travels
Assessing ag tourism
Serious about service
Movie about MN tourism
Quick Links
Tourism Fact
95% of MN residents
think tourism is
important to 
state economy 
Greetings!
 
Our summer sizzled and we're thrilled to share our harvest with you!
 
Perhaps most exciting is a film project on Minnesota tourism!  A partnership with Twin Cities Public Television resulted in a 30 minute film that will air in December.
 
Beyond the film, fall finds us celebrating another successful Festival and Event Management program, preparing to learn more about our resort guests and byway visitors, and continuing to seek ways to help you succeed.
 
Let us know how we can make your fall bountiful with our research, education, or training.
 
Sincerely,
 
Ingrid Schneider, Director
612-624-4947, ingridss@umn.edu
Trail Travels
 
An ambitious and unique study of Minnesota recreational trail user groups revealed that recreation trail users total trip spending was $2.41 billion.  These total trip expenditures culminate in more than 30,000 MN jobs and nearly $205 million in state and local taxes. The study also identified valuable information on motivations for trail activity and trail-related conflict.
 
Read the full report or use one page 'at a glances' for summary information.
Assessing agricultural tourism
Crisp apples and corn mazes attract not only our attention, but a travel market as well!  A trio of research efforts has engaged farmers, consumers and wineries to identify markets, farm stay products, and possibilities for these niches in Minnesota.  Consider if and how your community or organization can benefit from this close-to-home travel experience.
 
Serious about service
 
In today's economy, every service encounter is essential.  Federal, state and local organizations are continually recognizing this need and calling on us for service training, particularly with our revised program on diverse consumers.  Continually seeking to optimize our own services, we recently completed focus groups on the customer service and civic life needs of Latinos in Worthington, MN. Balanced with an international perspective, such as UNESCO's 2009 report Investing in Cultural Diversity and Dialogue, look to us for even more informed and effective programming.
MN tourism film 'Tourism in Minnesota: Ideas at Play' 
 
The Tourism Center has co-produced a Twin Cities Public Television Production, Tourism in Minnesota: Ideas at Play. The 30 minute show will air on the Minnesota Channel in December, will be available on the Tourism Center's website and will be distributed across the state by Extension's Community Vitality educators. The production features stories and discussion about tourism initiatives across Minnesota.