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              Market research, visitor surveys &
              planning to create special places
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The Challenge:
The city is looking for ways to increase the flow of money into its economy. It believes that it has a potential for increasing tourism. How does it evaluate its potential and what does it need to do to build its tourism potential?
 
Why Tourism-led Development
Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. Tourism-based development approaches can be found in communities of all sizes on the rural to urban continuum. Why would a community want to pursue a tourism-based development approach? There are several compelling reasons: (1) tourism can provide both direct and indirect economic benefits; (2) tourism can generate various social and cultural benefits; and (3) tourism can help achieve environmental objectives. Further, tourism-based development can often be applied in communities that may not have many other choices for encouraging economic development and this makes it a useful tool to address.
The ability of tourism-based development to be applied to a variety of communities facing many different issues and challenges is appealing, and thus holds much potential. What can make a difference is making the community stand out from the others, by combining techniques of marketing with community development.
 
We approach the rural tourism in terms of the creation of special places.While many think of tourism as synonymous with marketing, it goes far beyond that.
 
Marketing is essential, yet building the tourism industry in a community requires more, including planning, development and addressing policy issues that transcend the concern of marketers. It also demands better information and tools to assist with product development, planning and impact assessments.

We assist clients that are seeking to create a cohesive strategy for their downtown area. We provide economic and market research for downtown revitalization. There is a strong linkage between the best in urban design and the creation of economic opportunities. We seek to test new design concepts with local communities, local real estate professionals and developers, business owners and visitors to evaluate development potential. 

 


 
IE staff meet with community groups to test the popularity of several different development concepts.