Author: Sydney Flowers

Rural and nature-based tourism is one of the fastest-growing segments in the tourism industry, and the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism in the College of Applied Health Sciences at Illinois wants to be at the forefront of helping develop it.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimated the U.S. outdoor recreation economy accounted for $374 billion of gross domestic product in 2020. A survey of tourists from eight Midwest states—including Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Tennessee and Wisconsin—revealed that Illinois was their No. 1 destination.

The I-Rural project, funded by Illinois Extension and the University of Illinois’ Office of the Provost Investment for Growth Program, was launched in 2022 to develop a model that will guide rural tourism development across the state. Illinois Extension and RST have partnered to help rural communities create strategies for capturing a piece of the fast-growing tourism industry. The river-based communities of Grafton, Havana, Savanna and Galena are piloting the project.

In the project’s first phase, interactive workshops were held with local leaders and business owners at the four pilot sites, followed by stakeholder interviews in Phase 2 and the development of a survey to understand rural tourist motivations and preferences in Phase 3. 

RST Assistant Professors Joelle Soulard and Sharon Zou said that “throughout the project, we made multiple visits to communities. During these visits, we met and connected with local government staff, business owners, public land managers, nonprofit staff and residents.” 

Executive reports and webinars were held to share the findings and access to the I-Rural Toolkit, which showcased strategies to develop rural tourism and grant-funding opportunities. 

Building new relationships between RST faculty and Extension staff was critical to the project. The relationships Extension built in the communities enhanced the ability of RST researchers to gather data. This year, I-Rural is seeing RST research converted into relevant, actionable plans in rural communities throughout Illinois, Soulard and Zou said.

“We presented our project to Illinois Extension’s Local Government Education webinar series,” the RST faculty members said. “More than 65 local officials and community leaders attended. Student engagement was an important part of the project. We had undergraduate and graduate students who participated in all aspects of research. We published a series of articles in tourism management journals based on this research, and the citation index for these articles is rapidly growing, showing how Illinois is a leader in advancing the literature in this area.”

Jennifer Russell, the University of Illinois Extension Community & Economic Development educator working in the region, said that local leaders are attending events to learn about regional tourism and growth in the industry, and communities are applying for Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development grants to upgrade local resources such as a community pool, downtown riverfronts and docks. 

“Communities are exploring opportunities to host new tourists because of an increase in cruise ships docking nearby,” Russell said, “while also marketing local assets like wildlife viewing, hiking, camping, orchards, mushroom hunting, road trips, zipline, ski-lift, alpine coaster, specialty markets and more.”

Grafton is continuing to work on tourism-related projects, she said. Aerie’s Resort recently opened an alpine coaster, and the mayor’s office is heading up a Veteran-themed art installation and a ferry study to improve transportation infrastructure for residents and Missouri tourists crossing the Mississippi River.

Richard Proffer, Illinois Extension community and economic development educator for Mason County, said that there was “a lot of excitement” on the part of businesses and residents invested in their community in Havana who didn’t know how to implement tourism strategies. 

After reviewing studies of visitors, a group was formed to activate programs. Natural tourism is a draw for Havana and the county, with visitors from Chicagoland coming for stargazing and 2,000 attendees at the Eagle Days festivals in February, considered an optimal time for people to see the majestic birds. Bed and breakfast bookings increased in the area, and survey responses from tourists prompted the establishment of a restaurant serving breakfast, Proffer said.

Zou and Soulard said they are in the final stage and wrapping up the project, but stressed that much work remains to be done. 

“We are trying to visit the communities to share our findings that are relevant and helpful for their tourism development,” the researchers said. “We will present the project to the National Extension Tourism conference in Milwaukee, and we are hoping to connect with extension [groups] from across the country and seek ways to expand the project to a regional one. We would also like to dive into agritourism sector, and we are currently collaborating with folks at the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics.”

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