Spring 1997
Vol. XV, No. 1
Promotion is an important part of any tourism program. For ecotourism and nature-based tourism programs, certain factors need to be considered before any promotion begins. Specifically, the fragility of the sites that tourists will be visiting (i.e., fragile habitats, wildlife breeding or nesting grounds), the impacts that visitor use will have on the area, and the level of visitation that can be sustained without harming the area need to be identified. For example, areas highly impacted by even a small degree of visitor use should either be not promoted at all or promoted to an extremely limited degree. Word-of-mouth advertising often attracts enough visitors to these areas already, making additional promotion unnecessary. Areas that can handle a larger number of visitors without being negatively impacted can be promoted to a greater extent.
One example of the degree of promotion used for an ecotourism program is that of the Eastern Lake Ontario Dune and Wetland Area, a 17-mile stretch of sand dunes and wetlands on the eastern shore of Lake Ontario. The area is highly susceptible to visitor-caused dune erosion. Thousands of visitors visit the area annually even though no promotion is done outside of that for Southwick Beach State Park (one of the state-owned properties within the area). Following the completion of an interpretive plan for the area and the implementation of some of the recommendations in the plan (i.e., signage and guidebook), the decision was made to not actively promote the scenic corridor because of the high number of visitors already coming to the area and the sensitivity of the area to visitor-caused erosion.
Once the degree of promotion to be used in the area is identified, the visitor group or market segment that the area will be promoted to is identified. For ecotourism and nature-based tourism, market groups are generally associated with the outdoor activities that visitors participate in while visiting the area. Ecotourism activities are generally based on non-consumptive activities that involve nature study, such as hiking, photography, bird watching, and scuba diving. Nature-based tourism activities often involve consumptive uses such as fishing and hunting. Targeting the people who participate in these activities is the key to effective promotion.
Identifying the promotional strategies needed to effectively promote to these market groups involves knowing what resources each market group uses to obtain information about the recreational activities they are interested in. Some examples of where to promote include magazines produced for the chosen market group, trade shows, WWW sites, outdoor recreation organizations (e.g., Audubon Society) and their newsletters, newspapers, and radio stations. The effectiveness of some of these promotional methods for one eco-tourism program is illustrated on page 2 of this newsletter in the article about the Lake Ontario Bird Festival.
While these forms of promotion can be effective at attracting visitors, methods of promotion that tie interpretation (i.e., educating visitors in an entertaining way) and tourism promotion together are also important and generally more effective at achieving long-term visitor management goals. One example of this is distributing an interpretive guidebook to visitors prior to their trip. This works both to attract them to the area and educate them about the existing natural resources in the area. Guidebooks can also help alleviate visitor pressure on sensitive sites by directing visitors only to sites that can tolerate visitor use; the location of sensitive areas is often not included. Directory signs can also serve this purpose. Guidebooks and other forms of interpretation (e.g., interpretive signs, interpretive center exhibits, staff) also help manage visitor behaviors by educating visitors about the "do's" and "don't's" of the area.
By combining interpretation with careful promotion, ecotourism programs provide unique travel experiences as they protect natural resources. Over-promoting an area needs to be avoided since sustainable, long-term ecotourism exists only if the natural resources being promoted stay intact.
CONTACT: Diane Kuehn, NY Sea Grant, at (315) 341-3042.
Farming for the Future Workshop
The second Farming for the Future workshop, Leadership Initiative for Community Agriculture Development, was held March 11th at the Watson Homestead in Painted Post, New York. The two day event was hosted by the Farming Alternatives Program at Cornell University and sponsored by the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program. Participants traveled from as far away as Michigan and northern New England, and included farmers, economic development specialists, extension agents, an EPA employee, local community leaders, university professors, and community development experts.
Topics included market development, linkages between agriculture and other sectors for economic development, urban and rural connections, agritourism, creating a regional product identity, methods of fostering agricultural entrepreneurship, food processing incubators, and value-added enterprises. Participants came in teams to work together on a problem or opportunity of local interest. Teams were at all different stages, from those who were just beginning to investigate these concepts, to those that had already begun to implement local agriculture development projects. The exchange of ideas was tremendous, as 12 to 14 hours was spent the first day in various discussion groups and about 7 hours more until the end of the conference.
Copies of the workshop's three-inch thick Community Agriculture Development Resource Notebook (which has handouts, presentation materials, publications and references) are available from the Farming Alternatives Program.
CONTACT: Joan Padula or Duncan Hilchey at (607) 255-9832.
In April, New York Sea Grant, the Oswego Maritime Foundation, Oswego County Department of Promotion and Tourism, and Ontario Scuba, Inc. sponsored Great Lakes Underwater!, a day long workshop filled with presentations about underwater recreational activities. Jene Quirin of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society presented a keynote presentation on the Edmund Fitzgerald Project. Other presentations included the B-24 "Getaway Gertie" Search Project, Oswego Maritime Foundation's Submerged Cultural Resources Program, Underwater Seaway Trail, and St. Lawrence River Historical Foundation Iroquois Project.
Seventy-five people attended the workshop, including scuba divers and others interested in the history of the Great Lakes. Workshop evaluations indicated that the presentations were well received and that the workshop should be continued next year.
CONTACT: Dave White, NY Sea Grant, at (315) 341-3042.
Birding is an important recreational activity, with about $219 million spent on goods and services related to bird watching in New York state in 1991 (Bird Conservation Magazine, 1997). The Lake Ontario Bird Festival was created to tap into the tremendous economic benefits that bird watching can bring to an area, and expand the awareness of residents and visitors about migratory birds. The eastern shore of Lake Ontario is well suited for a bird festival since every spring, thousands of migratory birds soar over this shoreline en route to their summer nesting grounds. One location along the lakeshore, Derby Hill, has been known to attract over 60,000 hawks in a single spring season.
Held on May 3 and 4, the Bird Festival was sponsored by many groups including The Nature Conservancy, Oswego County Tourism, Town of Mexico, Seaway Trail, Oswego County Planning, Onondaga Audubon Society, Niagara Mohawk, Greater Mexico Chamber of Commerce, and NY Sea Grant. The main contributing sponsor was Canon, which supported the festival with a $10,000 donation. Festival activities centered at Mexico Point State Park in Texas, NY included bird banding demonstrations, bird identification shows, wildlife rehabilitation demonstrations, landscaping for wildlife presentations, and a sale/show of wildlife art from around the state. Off-site activities included field trips to Derby Hill, Sandy Pond Beach, and littoral sites along the Lake Ontario coastline.
NY Sea Grant conducted a detailed evaluation of the festival to identify its economic impacts on Oswego County. This evaluation included both tabulation of total attendance as well as conducting a visitor survey. Attendance to the festival totalled 1,104 visitors, 97 of whom were surveyed. Estimates indicate that 57% of festival goers were from Oswego County, 39% from other areas in New York State, and 3% from other states.
Promotions for the festival were done through two magazine advertisements in bird watcher magazines, numerous press releases, the creation of a WWW site, and promotion through bird watching clubs such as the Audubon Society. Evaluation results indicate that most people learned about the festival through newspaper advertisements (42%), a friend or family member (30%), bird watching clubs (11%), and the bird festival brochure (9%). The magazine advertisements designed to attract out-of-state birders were seen by 6% of the visitors surveyed and attracted only an estimated 29 visitors from out-of-state. Next year's promotional efforts will focus on bird watching clubs, press releases, a festival brochure, and a WWW site; magazine advertisements will most likely be not used.
The direct expenditures by visitors attending the Bird Festival were estimated at about $26,500, which includes purchases at the festival site (food, art, and other merchandise), as well as expenditures at Oswego County restaurants, recreational activities, gas stations, and lodging facilities.
CONTACT: Diane Kuehn at 315-341-3042.
How satisfied are anglers with their fishing experience on Lake Ontario? To find out, Tommy Brown and Nancy Connelly of Cornell University conducted a survey of anglers to Lake Ontario to find out. The research was funded by the NY Sea Grant Institute. A sample of 1,500 anglers was used for the survey, which included nonresident, resident, seasonal, and short-term anglers. Of this sample, 838 anglers completed surveys for a response rate of 59%. Of these 838 anglers, 56% fished Lake Ontario or one of its tributaries in 1994 or 1995.
Anglers were asked to rate their satisfaction with nine different trip components (e.g., catching fish, relaxing) on a 10-point scale (1 = very dissatisfied and 10 = very satisfied). Respondents were also asked how their satisfaction would have changed if specific fishing-related tourism opportunities (i.e., a visitor information center with information about the Lake Ontario sportfishery, visiting a regional fishery museum, visiting a nationally-known retail outlet store) were added to their Lake Ontario experience. The results are as follows:
1. The average overall trip satisfaction for anglers fishing Lake Ontario or one of it's tributaries was 7.1 on a 10-point scale (1 = very dissatisfied and 10 = very satisfied).
2. Anglers were the least satisfied with catching fish (5.4 on the 10-point scale) and most satisfied with enjoying the companionship of family and friends (8.8).
3. The components that were most important to anglers satisfaction were "being aware of the presence of fish," "catching fish," "relaxing," "enjoying the companionship of family or friends," and "finding any needed retail services."
4. Forty to fifty percent of anglers felt that the addition of fishing-related recreation opportunities such as an information booth, fishing museum, or retail outlet store would not increase their trip satisfaction. Fifty to sixty percent felt that these opportunities would increase their trip satisfaction.
Overall, the results indicated that sportfishing promotion needs to focus on enjoyment of the fishing experience rather than on catching fish. A fact sheet containing more information about the results from this survey is available from NY Sea Grant (see the "Publications Available" section of this newsletter).
CONTACT: Nancy Connelly, Cornell University, at (607) 255-2830; Diane Kuehn at (315) 341-3042.
Alice Sprout, Home Economist of the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Wayne County, has been working with the bed and breakfast industry in Wayne County, providing assistance as needed. Dave Reville has been working on agri-tourism in cooperation with the Wayne County Agriculture and Farmland Protection Board. Dave conducted two meetings this winter with members of a subcommittee of the Farmland Protection Board. Dave has also been working with Seaway Trail in exploring and publicizing agricultural attractions.
CONTACT: Alice Sprout or Dave Reville, Cornell Coop-erative Extension of Wayne County, at (315) 331-8415.
This past winter, NY York Sea Grant conducted a study of tourism promotion agencies throughout New York State to find out how much sportfishing promotion is done. Out of the 60 tourism promotion agencies (TPAs) that the surveys were mailed to, 47 returned surveys for a return rate of 78%. Of these 47 TPAs, 70% indicated that they do promote sportfishing. The results summarized from the TPAs who do promote sportfishing include:
A free copy of the results of this survey are available from New York Sea Grant.
CONTACT: Diane Kuehn at (315) 341-3042.
Cornell Cooperative Extension association directors, agents, and specialists involved in tourism-related activities got together to discuss statewide extension efforts at the CCE Statewide Conference in March in Ithaca. The "Tourism and the Cornell Cooperative Extension System" session provided the opportunity to share ideas for tourism projects and programs, identify educational needs about tourism planning and development, and determine statewide program initiatives. Statewide initiatives identified were as follows:
1. Distribute "Tourism News" to legislators throughout the state. This expanded distribution has begun with this newsletter.
2. Develop a directory of tourism extension educators in New York. To accomplish this, participants at the tourism session at the conference filled out a questionnaire about their tourism activities in the state. The directory is included with this issue of "Tourism News."
3. Develop a list of tourism-related extension publications in New York. Cornell Media Services has offered to assist us with expanding the distribution of tourism extension publications in New York. Tourism extension publications will also be included on New York Sea Grant's Tourism WWW page. If you would like to include your tourism publication on this web page, please send Diane Kuehn a complete citation of the publication, description of the information included in it, its cost, and how it can be obtained.
CONTACT: Diane Kuehn at (315) 341-3042.
Cayuga County Finger Lakes Region Farm Trail & Rural Heritage Brochure. This brochure includes information on numerous agritourism attractions throughout Cayuga County. To receive a copy, contact: Cornell Cooperative Extension of Cayuga County, Education Center, 248 Grant Avenue, Auburn, NY 13021. Phone: (315) 255-1183.
Lake Ontario Angler Satisfaction. 1997. N. Connelly, D. Kuehn, and T. Brown. This four-page fact sheet discusses the results of a NY Sea Grant funded study about angler satisfaction on Lake Ontario. Overall trip satisfaction as well as angler satisfaction with specific trip components are discussed. Cost: $1.00. To receive a copy, contact: Sharon Mullen, NY Sea Grant, 101 Rich Hall, SUNY, Oswego, NY 13126. Phone: (315) 341-3042.
1996 Statewide Sportfishing Promotion Survey Results. 1997. D. Kuehn. This two-page service letter explains the results of a statewide sportfishing promotion survey of county and regional tourism promotion agencies that was conducted in 1996. Cost: Free. To receive a copy, contact: Sharon Mullen, NY Sea Grant, 101 Rich Hall, SUNY, Oswego, NY 13126. Phone: (315) 341-3042.
Barns! An American Resource
September 27-28, 1997
Wells College, Aurora, NY
This conference will provide information on maintaining and saving barns. The National Trust for Historic Preservation's Barn Again Program and New York State's Historic Barn Conservation Act of 1996 will be discussed. Information on barn inventorying and classification processes will also be included.
CONTACT: Cornell Cooperative Extension of Cayuga County, 248 Grant Avenue, Auburn, NY 13021. Phone: (315) 255-1183.
Tourism Innovations: Development, Policy, and Markets
The National Tourism Extension Conference
Hershey, PA
May 17-19, 1998
This conference provides an excellent opportunity to network with tourism extension educators from across the country, and learn more about tourism-related extension projects. Calls for presentation proposals will be mailed out in September.
CONTACT: Diane Kuehn at (315) 341-3042.
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