Participation Type
Paper
Session Title
Session 5.13 Tourism and Development
Presentation #1 Title
Resident and Visitor Attitudes Toward Tourism Development in Summersville, West Virginia (WV)
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
The goal of this study was to evaluate residents’ and visitors’ attitudes and perceptions toward tourism development in Summersville, West Virginia. Summersville, WV is located in Nicholas County in the New River Gorge region of West Virginia. With numerous campgrounds, Summersville Lake, and the Gauley River, it is a nature-based and adventure tourism destination. West Virginia University was engaged in the fall of 2012 to help the Summersville Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) evaluate residents’ and visitors’ attitudes toward tourism development in order to make informed decisions on tourism development options for the community. Data were collected through structured questionnaires designed with the input of CVB management. A total of 164 resident and 264 visitor surveys were completed. Results showed that while both residents and visitors support tourism development, they tended to differ on what should be the focus of development. Driven by economic motives, residents supported across the board development including such things as theme parks and casinos. On the other hand visitors tended to support improvement of the very same things they visit the destination for including adventure and nature-based/outdoor activities. Therefore, residents want to diversify their offerings, while visitors want more of the same. However, both groups overwhelmingly support development of more supporting services like restaurants and pubs. Findings from this study have important implications regarding the direction of further tourism development in Summerville.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Doug Arbogast is Rural Tourism Specialist at West Virginia University in the Community Resources and Economic Development (CRED) unit of Extension Service. He is responsible for developing and delivering rural tourism development services and in doing so works collaboratively with the team of Extension professionals and WVU faculty to promote sustainable development of tourism businesses in West Virginia.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #2
Kudzayi Maumbe is an Assistant Professor in the department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism Resources (RPTR) at West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. Kudzayi’s concentration area is tourism/destination management and marketing. She is interested in applied research and works with communities on projects that address a variety of tourism development, marketing and management issues and challenges
Resident and Visitor Attitudes Toward Tourism Development in Summersville, West Virginia (WV)
Corbly Hall 117
The goal of this study was to evaluate residents’ and visitors’ attitudes and perceptions toward tourism development in Summersville, West Virginia. Summersville, WV is located in Nicholas County in the New River Gorge region of West Virginia. With numerous campgrounds, Summersville Lake, and the Gauley River, it is a nature-based and adventure tourism destination. West Virginia University was engaged in the fall of 2012 to help the Summersville Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) evaluate residents’ and visitors’ attitudes toward tourism development in order to make informed decisions on tourism development options for the community. Data were collected through structured questionnaires designed with the input of CVB management. A total of 164 resident and 264 visitor surveys were completed. Results showed that while both residents and visitors support tourism development, they tended to differ on what should be the focus of development. Driven by economic motives, residents supported across the board development including such things as theme parks and casinos. On the other hand visitors tended to support improvement of the very same things they visit the destination for including adventure and nature-based/outdoor activities. Therefore, residents want to diversify their offerings, while visitors want more of the same. However, both groups overwhelmingly support development of more supporting services like restaurants and pubs. Findings from this study have important implications regarding the direction of further tourism development in Summerville.
