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School once again is back in session, and students have flooded the town. The entire community struggled with the tragedy on the opening day of classes, but everything now appears to be in high gear. And, we are all thankful it was not worse.

With the resignation and relocation to New York of Sue Caruvana, I would like to announce that Tom Harned will be in charge of our annual Virginia Institute for Economic Development course. Tom recently retired as Vice President of the Martinsville-Henry County Economic Development Corporation. He currently serves on the International Economic Development Council Board of Directors Governance Committee and the Virginia Economic Developers Association Board of Directors Executive Committee. We are most pleased with Tom’s involvement in this important educational course for new economic developers.

As in years past, this fall we will host a showcase for economic developers to engage with research units at the university. This year the Energy Research Engagement Showcase will take place November 29-30. Representatives from the private sector and economic developers will be invited to interact with our faculty on their efforts in energy, which is a subject of importance to us all. Virginia Tech has about 200 faculty working on energy related projects, so it should prove to be an engaging event with significant breadth and depth.

Finally, hope springs eternal for the football team. Visions of bowl games are dancing in our heads

As part of OED’s continuing support for Dickenson County’s tourism-based economic development efforts, OED, working closely with Virginia Tech’s Hospitality & Tourism Management Department, developed a guidebook, Starting a Small Tourism Related Business in Dickenson County and then offered a series of workshops introducing the guidebooks.

The guide begins with a simple entrepreneurship quiz to help users better determine their ability and motivations to begin a new business. The general small business planning process outline is provided for the potential entrepreneur to determine the courses of action in starting a new companyor organization in Dickenson County. Also included are tips to start such businesses as bed and breakfasts, restaurants, and retail/service businesses with a down-home flavor. Local success stories are given to supplement the importance of tourism-related businesses in Dickenson County and Southwest Virginia. The guidebook can be accessed through the Dickenson County Chamber of Commerce website.

The growing interest in Virginia’s cultural heritage continues to prod localities across the state to look at innovative ways to capture consumers’ interest and dollars through the state’s unique artisan traditions. Recently, the Town of Wytheville along with Wythe and Bland county hired Virginia Tech to conduct an economic impact analysis of a proposed artisan’s center in the town of Wytheville. As a component of the study, building construction professor Thom Mills also conducted an analysis of several buildings in the town as possible sites for the center.

Using data from the Virginia Tourism Corporation, the Virginia Tech team looked at a number of variables to assess the likely impact of visitors to an artisan center in Wytheville. Utilizing a standard multiplier formula from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Tech faculty were able to document the impact the facility would have on local tax revenues and household incomes.

With criteria supplied by town officials, Mills analyzed several buildings in the core downtown area to assess as possible sites for the center based on several criteria like curb appeal, access to parking and cost to renovate. To move the project to the next stage, local officials now have the difficult job of developing a financial package.

Making an Informed Decision for Economic Growth: A Hotel Feasibility Study for Scott County, VA.
Eric Howard

The Office of Economic Development in conjunction with the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management is in the process of conducting a hotel feasibility study for Scott County. The team for this project includes Dr. Chad Miller, Yeasun Chang, and Eric Howard. Upon completion this study will provide Scott County with tools that can be used to attract hotels to the area.

At its most basic level a hotel feasibility analysis is a study to determine if a particular area can support the development of a new hotel. At a more detailed level this type of study provides a market analysis of the areas tourism industry, approximates the general cash flow for multiple hotel-type scenarios, and identifies what sector of the market a possible hotel should cater to. A hotel feasibility study can be used as a gauge to determine the possible success/failure of a hotel in the study area and to estimate the total revenue a hotel could produce. This is helpful in determining what type and level of investment should be undertaken to establish a hotel in the study area.

The project team is currently collecting and analyzing data from a wide variety of sources, and will be presenting some preliminary findings to the Scott County RDA at the end of September. The project in its entirety will be completed by January. Tourism development is an exciting opportunity that could provide an economic stimulus to Southwest Virginia, bringing together the heritage-based and natural amenities of the area to provide an escape from the grind of day-to-day life of the business world.

A study by James Wong of Wichita State University, found that local tourism does have a significant impact on the level of capital outlays for transportation, police protection, fire protection, corrections, parks and recreation, financial administration, and general government administration expenditures. This analysis indicates that tourism promotion does promote economic development, but it is not a costless instrument for economic development. (Source: Wong, John D. 1996. “The Impact of Tourism on Local Government Expenditures” Growth and Change, Vol. 27, No. 3, 313-326.)

Martha Frederick of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service observed that tourism development has its benefits as well as costs and that changes to the community are inevitable, but the harmful effects of tourism development can be mitigated by careful planning and marketing (Source: Frederick, Martha. 1993. “Rural Tourism and Economic Development,” Economic Development Quarterly, Vol. 7, No. 2, 215-224)

A study by Kathleen L. Andereck of Arizona State University and Christine A. Vogt of Michigan State University, East Lansing found that communities differ with respect to residents' attitudes toward tourism. (Source: Kathleen L. Andereck and Christine A. Vogt. 2000. “The Relationship between Residents' Attitudes toward Tourism and Tourism Development Options,” Journal of Travel Research, 39: 27-36.)

Suzanne Wilson and colleagues at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign demonstrate the importance of a community approach to tourism development and that rural tourism development and entrepreneurship cannot work without the participation and collaboration of businesses directly and indirectly involved in tourism. (Source: Wilson, Suzanne et al. 2001 “Factors for Success in Rural Tourism Development,” Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 40, No. 2, 132-138)

Donald English from the USDA-Forest Service and David Marcouiller of the University of Wisconsin at Madison concur that resource-based tourism-dependent rural counties are experiencing greater increases in population growth, housing construction, and per capita income levels than nondependent counties (Source: English, Donald et al. 2000, “Tourism Dependence in Rural America: Estimates and Effects,” Society & Natural Resources, Vol. 13, No. 3, 185 – 202)

VIRGINIA TOURISM CORPORATION OFFERS LOCAL TOURISM DATA
The Virginia Tourism Corporation (VTC) works to generate incresed visitor expenditures, tax revenues, and employement by supporting, maintaining, and expanding the Commonwealth's domestic and international travel market. Through its national and international marketing programs, the VTC researches and targets specific, highly profitable audience segments in those geographic markets offering the highest potential of travel to Virginia. VTC distributes the "Virginia Is for Lovers Travel Guide" and other publications designed for specific niche travel markets to potential visitors.

Have you ever wondered what the economic impact of tourism is on your community? The VTC recently announced that locality specific traveler spending estimates for 2004 and 2003 are available on their website. The VTC, in coordination with the Travel Industry Association (TIA), prepared estimates of travelers’ expenditures, travel-related employment, payroll and state and local tax receipts for each of the 134 counties and cities throughout the Commonwealth. To research the economic impact profile for your community visit the following VTC website: http://www.vatc.org/research.htm.

The Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management (HTM) at Virginia Tech is one of six in the Pamplin College of Business. Historically, the HTM Department has been ranked as one of the premier programs in the nation. The undergraduate curriculum has been ranked 17th, the Masters of Science curriculum 4th, and the Ph.D. program 1st. A recent study reported in Hotels Magazine ranked the HTM faculty 3rd in the world on research productivity. The HTM Department annually awards over $30,000 in merit scholarships funded by corporations such as Marriott, Darden Restaurants, and Hilton Hotels.

The HTM Department partners with the Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center to provide structured real-life laboratory and internship experiences. Additional internship sites include the Hotel Roanoke, the Marriott Corporation, The Hyatt Corporation, Darden Restaurants Corporation, Compass Foods, The Homestead Resort, The Virginia Tourist Corporation, and numerous other places. The internationally recognized faculty are actively engaged in research and professional practice.