Source: WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY submitted to NRP
AN ASSESSMENT OF TOURISM CLUSTERS IN THE APPALACHIAN REGION
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
MCINTIRE-STENNIS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1014379
Grant No.
(N/A)
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Oct 4, 2017
Project End Date
Sep 30, 2022
Grant Year
(N/A)
Program Code
[(N/A)]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
886 CHESTNUT RIDGE RD RM 202
MORGANTOWN,WV 26505-2742
Performing Department
Forestry
Non Technical Summary
Tourism has been used as an effective means for rural economic diversification and growth in the Appalachian Region in the past decades. A recent trend of economic development in the region is to promote tourism in the form of clusters or networks. Since regional tourism clusters have been less examined in the literature as compared to other industry clusters, an overall assessment of tourism cluster initiatives and practices in the region is needed so that best practices of existing tourism clusters can be used to guide future tourism development in the Region. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the formation, operation, effectiveness, challenges, and prospects of tourism clusters in the region.
Animal Health Component
20%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
80%
Applied
20%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
1340599206070%
6086099310030%
Knowledge Area
134 - Outdoor Recreation; 608 - Community Resource Planning and Development;

Subject Of Investigation
0599 - Recreational resources, general/other; 6099 - People and communities, general/other;

Field Of Science
2060 - Geography; 3100 - Management;
Goals / Objectives
This study aims to investigate:1. How tourism clusters in the Appalachian Region havebeen formed and developed?2. What are the challenges with and prospects for tourism clusters in the Region?and3. What contributions tourism clusters have made to local or regional communities, economicallly, social-culturally, and environmentally?
Project Methods
A comprehensive literature review of theories and practices on industry clusters in general and tourism clusters in specific in a global scope will be conducted. This review will provide a foundation on which this study is based.Data will be collected through both secondary sources and primary sources (i.e., questionnaire surveys among different stakeholders including business owners, government officials, academics, and local residents). Two questionnaires will be designed based on findings from the literature and inputs from selected stakeholders. The first questionnaire will focus on SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis and IPA (importance-performance analysis), while the second questionnaire is to understand the role that each stakeholder plays in the development and management of tourism clusters through a network analysis. Core actors that successfully contribute to the creation, development, and management of tourism clusters will be identified through this analysis.

Progress 10/01/19 to 09/30/20

Outputs
Target Audience:1. Academics and practitioners throughpresentations and publications. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been disseminated through publications ininternational journals and presentations at international conferences. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?1. Finish a review article on tourism cluster development. 2. Continue to work on stakeholder surveys and prepare a research article.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1. Continued collaboratingwith Oluwatoyin Adebisi (Ph. D. candidate) and her advisor, Dr.Doolarie Singh-Knightson a dissertation research project involving agro-tourism clusters in WV and surrounding states. 2. Collaborated with Dr. Doug Arbogast on a project focusing on recreation economy fora cluster of 10 rural towns onMon National Forest.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Deng, J., & Andrada, R. (2020). Visitors spatial movement patterns and market segmentation in Washington, D.C. Tourism Analysis, 15(1), 1-20
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Arbogast, D., Butler, P., Faulkes, E., Eades, D., Deng, J., Maumbe, K., & Smaldone, D. (2020). Using social design to visualize outcomes of sustainable tourism planning: A multiphase, transdisciplinary approach. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. 10.1108/IJCHM-02-2019-0140


Progress 10/01/18 to 09/30/19

Outputs
Target Audience:1. International academics 2. Regional GIS professionals Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?1.To conduct a phone interview among tourism stakeholders in the Appalachian Region to further understand: A. How tourism clusters in the Appalachian Region havebeen formed and developed? B. What are the challenges with and prospects for tourism clusters in the Region?and C. What contributions tourism clusters have made to local or regional communities, economically, social-culturally, and environmentally? 2.To write a report on findings from the phone interview.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1. During the reporting period, I continue to collaborate with Oluwatoyin Adebisi (Ph. D. candidate) and her advisor, Dr.Doolarie Singh-Knightson a dissertation research project involving agro-tourism clusters in WV and surrounding states.Specifically, a survey questionnaire was developed and an online self-administered survey was conducted. 2. A phone interview protocolwas developed, and a graduate student will be hired to conduct phone interviews with relevant stakeholders in the Appalachian Region.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: Deng, J., & Rogelio, A. (2019). Visitor's spatial movement patterns and market segmentation in Washington DC. Presented at the 2019 National Environment and Recreation Research Symposium (NEER), April 9, 2019, Annapolis, MD.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2020 Citation: Deng, J., & Andrada R. (in press). Visitors spatial movement patterns and market segmentation in Washington D.C. Tourism Analysis.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kearns, M., & Deng, J. (2019). A gap analysis of the service area of West Virginias trail network. E-Review of Tourism Research, 17(1), 78-93.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Deng, J., & Li, J. (2019). Segmentation of nature-based tourists in a rural area: A single-item approach (a 2008-2009 study). Sustainability, 11(7), 2052; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11072052.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Xu, L., Xu, H., Wang, T., Yue, W., Deng, J., & Mao, L. (2019). Measuring urban spatial activity structures: A comparative analysis. Sustainability, 11, 7085; doi:10.3390/su11247085.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Wu, J., Zhong, Y., & Deng, J. (2019). Assessing and mapping forest landscape quality in China. Forests, 10, 684; doi:10.3390/f10080684.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Cheung, W., Bauer, T., & Deng, J. (2019). The growth of Chinese tourism to Antarctica: a profile of their connectedness to nature, motivations, and perceptions. The Polar Journal, 9(1), 197-213.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: 1. Yuan, J. & Deng, J. (2019). Impact of motivation, past experience, and satisfaction on destination loyalty: A case study of Zhangjiajie National Park. Presented at the 2019 National Environment and Recreation Research Symposium (NEER), April 7, 2019, Annapolis, MD.


Progress 10/04/17 to 09/30/18

Outputs
Target Audience:3. GIS professionals through my presentation on GIS and trail accessibility in WV? Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Help to guide the said Ph.D. to develop her proposal on tourism clusters. One component of her dissertation focuses on developing a toolkit to train and educate tourism practitionners. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?1. Through publications 2. Through conference presentations What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?1. Continute to review the literature 2. Conduct an online and/or mail-questionnaire survey

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? All under process. I am collaborating with Dr. Doolarie Singh-Knights (from WVU Extension Service) and her Ph.D. student on agro-tourism cluster development in West Virginia and surrounding states. A questionnarie is being developed.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2018 Citation: 2. Deng, J., & Yuan, J. (2018, abstract accepted). Impacts of motivation, past experience, and satisfaction on destination loyalty: A case study of Lushan National Park, China. 2019 National Environment and Recreation Research Symposium (NERR), Annapolis, MD, April 7-9, 2019.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2018 Citation: 3. Deng, J., & Andrada R. (2018, abstract accepted). Visitors⿿ spatial movement patterns and market segmentation in Washington D.C. 2019 National Environment and Recreation Research Symposium (NERR), Annapolis, MD, April 7-9, 2019.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2018 Citation: Kearns, M., & Deng, J. (2018). The service area of West Virginia⿿s trail network. WV GIS conference 2018, Charleston, WV, June 23, 2018.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Deng, J., & Pierskalla, C. (2018). Linking importance-performance analysis, satisfaction, and loyalty: A study of Savannah, GA. Sustainability, 10(3), 704. doi:10.3390/su10030704.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Li, J., Deng, J., & Pierskalla, C. (2018). Impact of attendees⿿ motivation and past experience on their attitudes toward the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 36, 57-67.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Zhong, Y., Liu, H., & *Deng, J. (2018). Nationwide leisure and recreation data collection in the United States. Journal of Hubei Polytechnic University (Humanities and Social Science), 35(2), 25-34.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Yuan, J., *Deng, J., Pierskalla, C., & King, B. (2018). Urban tourism attributes and overall satisfaction: An asymmetric impact-performance analysis. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 30, 169-181.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Deng, J., & Li, J. (2018). Determination of derived importance of a tourism destination: A comparison of indirect methods. Current Issues in Tourism. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2018.1444588.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2019 Citation: Deng, J., & Andrada R. (resubmitted). Visitors⿿ spatial movement patterns and market segmentation in Washington D.C. Tourism Analysis.
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Deng, J., & Liu, H. (2018). Recreation and Leisure in China. In T. Tapps & M.S.Well (eds.), Introduction to Recreation and Leisure (3rd ed.) (pp. 397-406). Champaign, Illinois: Human Kinetics.