The Michigan Travel, Tourism and Recreation Resource Center: Perspective and Prospects

The Michigan Travel, Tourism and Recreation Resource Center (TTRRC) was established at Michigan State University (MSU) in 1985. From a subunit within the Department of Park and Recreation Resources (PRR) it has grown to be an autonomous unit with extensive ties across campus as well as to both the public and private sectors of this Michigan growth industry. TTRRC\u27s quick success in providing a wide range of research and technical assistance services is due to the sound base of support upon which to build provided by PRR faculty and long term recurring budget from the university. Relationships both on and off campus have been crucial in our success to date and receive on-going attention due to their importance to our mission and future. The future for centers such as ours appears bright given projected growth of the industry they were designed to support. The probability of success will grow with the: 1) availability of adequate recurring base budget support; 2) integration of the centers both on and off campus, 3) maintenance of an on-going effective communications program, and 4) recruiting of quality and adaptable personnel

Tourism Professionals Indicate Research Needs

County and local tourism officials have a great need for data to help them make their decisions. The authors surveyed professionals to determine data used and needed, the types of decisions made, and where data is obtained. The results provide a profile for information sharing

Impact of Light, Medium and Heavy Spenders on Casino Destinations: Segmenting Gaming Visitors Based on Amount of Non-gaming Expenditures

This article discusses the viability of targeting heavy spenders on non-gaming products and services in gaming travel marketing. A sample of visitors to two commercial casinos was divided into light, medium and heavy spenders based on spending per person per day, excluding gambling. Findings indicated that a large number of heavy-spending tourists were not interested in gaming, but in the destination\u27s other tourism products. This suggests that the region\u27s tourism assets play an important role in enhancing casino visitation. Promoting the casino as part of the overall tourism attractions may benefit both the casino and related businesses in the community

Issues for Managing Tourism Information

The need for a high quality tourism database is well known. For example, planners and managers need high quality data for budgeting, forecasting, planning marketing and advertising strategies, and staffing. Thus the concepts of quality and need are intertwined to pose a problem to the tourism professional, be they private sector or public sector employees. One could argue that collaboration by public and private sector tourism professionals could provide the best sources and uses of high quality tourism data. This discussion proposes just such a collaboration and a detailed methodology for operationalizing this arrangement

Attitudes of a scuba diving population concerning regulation of underwater resources

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/5571/5/bac4841.0001.001.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/5571/4/bac4841.0001.001.tx

Shipwreck vs. nonshipwreck scuba divers : characteristics, behavior, and expenditure patterns

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/5572/5/bac4839.0001.001.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/5572/4/bac4839.0001.001.tx