ELMWOOD, Ill. – For those who live in a small town the benefits of small-town living seem obvious. However, it can be a challenge for rural communities to market those benefits to a larger audience and draw in tourism traffic. There are various tools and ideas available for organizations, business owners, government officials, and local citizens to use that can help rural communities boost their tourism.
Join the University of Illinois Extension, the City of Elmwood, and the Elmwood Development Association for a workshop designed to help local communities to better market their tourism assets, on Tuesday, October 15 at 6 pm at Elmwood High School at 3021 W Butternut in Elmwood.
Rural tourism activities have been shown to foster local entrepreneurship, reverse the out-migration of young adults, provide local workforce opportunities, and expand economic opportunities in rural communities. Furthermore, a recent study (White, 2023), indicates that “recreation-dependent counties grew more than twice as fast as the nation overall and the Midwest’s recreation counties mirrored this trend”.
Leading the discussion will be Pam Schallhorn, Extension Specialist in community and economic development with the University of Illinois Extension. She will discuss ways to create effective tourism marketing campaigns that reach different generations as well as provide insights into identifying target markets and the importance of digital marketing.
Richard Proffer, Extension Educator in Community & Economic Development will introduce a recent study completed by the University of Illinois and Illinois Extension: I-Rural: Reimagining Illinois Rural Tourism. Resources being made available that night will include the rural tourism toolkit that allows communities and organizations to better understand and promote their communities as well as an updated grant resource guide.
Make sure to register for the event at go.illinois.edu/MarketingTourism
There is no charge to attend this session. A networking session will be held at the high school immediately following the workshop.
University of Illinois Extension develops educational programs, extends knowledge, and builds partnerships to support people, communities, and their environments as part of the state's land-grant institution. Extension serves as the leading public outreach effort for University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences in all 102 Illinois counties through a network of 27 multi-county units and over 700 staff statewide. Extension’s mission is responsive to eight strategic priorities — community, economy, environment, food and agriculture, health, partnerships, technology and discovery, and workforce excellence — that are served through six program areas — 4-H youth development, agriculture and agribusiness, community and economic development, family and consumer science, integrated health disparities, and natural resources, environment, and energy.