August 2016 – International Institute of Tourism Studies

A SEASON OF HIGH-PROFILE THOUGHT LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

GW IITSAugust 30, 2016December 11, 2017

As we gear up for the United Nations-designated 2017 International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development—and tourism becomes increasingly recognized as a significant tool to drive responsible economic, social and environmental development—our team is gearing up for speaking engagements at a number of key conferences around the world:

Visiting Research Scholar Jeremy Sampson will be representing the International Institute of Tourism Studies at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Honolulu, Hawai'i on September 3rd from 8:30AM to10:30AM. The IUCN is a global conservation organization focused on the sustainable use of natural resources. Sampson’s presentation on Regional Sustainable Tourism Initiatives as Conservation Change Agents is jointly organized by the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation and the International Institute of Tourism Studies at The George Washington University School of Business.

Executive Director Seleni Matus will be teaching a course on cultural heritage tourism at the 18th Annual American Indian Native Alaskan Tourism Alliance conference at the Tulalip Resort & Casino on Monday, September 12th. Click here for details.

Dr. Hannah Messerli, our newly appointed Dwight D. Eisenhower Research Professor and Tourism Policy Chair (and GWU alumna) will be at the Adventure Travel and Trade Association Conference on September 22nd in Anchorage Alaska, where she’ll be presenting the 2016 Annual Adventure Travel Scorecard, a publication of the ATTA and the International Institute of Tourism Studies. The scorecard assesses the readiness of countries around the world to host adventure travelers using ten different criteria.

Seleni Matus will also be delivering a keynote address at The Summer School in Leadership and Governance for Sustainable Development, which will take place in Akureyri, Iceland - October 5th to 9th. Co-organized by the Foundation for European Sustainable Tourism (FEST) and the European Travel Commission (ETC), the conference aims to address the role of transformative tourism projects in generating a sustainable visitor economy.

Learn more about how the International Institute of Tourism Studies is helping to shape thinking behind tourism as a tool for sustainable development. Follow the activities of our team on Facebook.

As National Parks Turn 100, GW Tourism Looks to the Future

GW IITSAugust 25, 2016

When you think of the U.S. National Parks, do the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite and the Everglades immediately spring to mind? What most people don’t realize is that the National Park Service (NPS) actually protects over 400 sites including monuments, heritage trails and, of course, parks and is a pioneer in conservation.

As students of tourism management learn, wild, public lands rank among our country’s top treasures, attracting more than 300 million visits a year and creating billions of dollars in economic benefits for surrounding communities. But the NPS faces a backlog of $12 billion for maintenance of infrastructure including roads, bridges and pipes.

At a recent event hosted by the travel marketing group Brand USA, panelists stressed that the future of our parks rests on us. That means promoting parks—and especially lesser-known sites—to new visitors, including young people and international travelers.

For many years the International Institute of Tourism Studies has partnered with the NPS on a variety of research and tourism projects. This year, as the NPS celebrates its 100th anniversary, we’ve been helping to promote a trail right in GW’s backyard: The Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail, which crosses through three states and Washington, D.C., and includes hundreds of miles of natural paths and waterways.

Our work included a brand survey. We talked to tourism marketers and managers along the Potomac Heritage Trail to understand how the NPS can better promote the trail so that it resonates with visitors. One of the challenges is positioning a heritage trail in a way that makes its unique characteristics compelling. Unlike the world-famous Pacific Crest and Appalachian Trails, which can be hiked from end to end, a heritage trail is not necessarily one long route, but is conceptually connected by history, culture and nature.

We hope you’ll mark the centennial of the National Park Service by visiting our country’s parks and heritage sites this year and sharing your experiences—and this post—with your social networks.

Peers, data and partnerships

GW IITSAugust 19, 2016

Students enrolled in the new course A Journey Through the Sharing Economy taught by associate professor Stuart Levy were recently in San Francisco, where they met with leaders from companies revolutionizing the travel industry through peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms. AirBnB and Uber for example, are not only improving the user experience, they’re gaining enormous competitive advantage over traditional travel and tourism companies.

Chip Conley, AirBnB’s Head of Global Hospitality & Strategy explained how the eight year-old company—which in July alone saw 2 million guests and is now valued at $30 billion—is striving to become the “global super brand of travel.” AirBnB's future success will be based on its ability to collect and analyze data on its users and then to use that information to offer curated travel experiences. So, for example, based on a customer’s recent stay, AirBnB may be able to assemble an individually-tailored set of recommendations that goes beyond accommodations to include dining and activity options.

The George Washington University’s International Institute of Tourism Studies is working with destinations to access and analyze data on their partners by facilitating collaborations with P2P tech companies. Join us to learn more at the Development & Management of Tourist-Oriented Walkable Urban Places seminar September 21^st through the 23^rd at George Washington University. This executive seminar will introduce participants to the use of AirBnB data in analyzing the role of walkable urban places in tourism performance. Metropolitan Washington, DC will be used as the prototype for designing a model for a walkable city tourism strategy. Through these partnerships, even destinations with traditionally limited marketing capacity have the ability to reach new customers and to improve the visitor experience. To learn how the International Institute of Tourism Studies can help your destination to join the growing trend of P2P engagement, please contact us at iits@gwu.edu.

Preserving Culture through Tourism in Indian Country

GW IITSAugust 2, 2016

For Natasha Gourd, tourism provides a way to preserve and share her tribe’s cultural traditions, so that today’s visitors and future generations—“the children we cannot yet see"—can better appreciate and understand her people’s way of life. In July, IITS researchers met Gourd on a tour of North Dakota Indian Country, where five tribal nations are working to develop their tourism offerings. The five nations— including the Sisseton Wahpeton, Standing Rock, Mandan-Hidatsa-Arikara, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and Spirit Lake —have recently formed the North Dakota Native Tourism Alliance in an effort to design tourism opportunities together. Each tribe is also developing its own strategy around cultural tourism. For example, Gourd and other members of the Spirit Lake tribe are hoping to attract visitors to their reservation from Devil’s Lake, which is a fishing destination 20 minutes away.

For the IITS researchers, the Bureau of Indian Affairs-sponsored trip provided an opportunity to better understand the challenges that these nations face and to help them develop strategies around cultural tourism, which can provide tribes with a means of generating badly needed income. We listened to tribal elders share the oral histories of their people, watched as a traditional teepee was built and attended a wacipi or powwow, which you can see on our Facebook page. Please be sure to like and share this post with your friends.