Tourism Extension
The mission of the Tourism Extension Program is to improve the quality of tourism provision across rural NC by helping individuals and communities develop healthy, prosperous, and enduring tourism enterprises that will boost economic and community development efforts. 
The Tourism Extension Program is housed within the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Development (PRTM) in the NC State College of Natural Resources (CNR), and is a function of the North Carolina Cooperative ExtensionService (NCCE).
Tourism Extension includes two tenure-track Specialists, Dr. Samantha Rozier Rich and Dr. Stacy Tomas, with joint academic appointment in NCCE and PRTM. Dr. Rich and Dr. Tomas assist Extension Agents in developing prosperous tourism enterprises across the state of NC.
Tourism is big business in North Carolina. According to the NC Department of Commerce (2007), “Annually, visitors to North Carolina spend over $16 billion, generating over 190,000 jobs for North Carolinians” helping to make North Carolina the 7th most visited state in the country. Tourism provides economic development opportunities to rural and urban areas that have been negatively impacted by declines in traditional industries, including manufacturing and textiles. In short, tourism means jobs for many North Carolinians and economic prosperity for communities across the state. PRTM’s Tourism Extension programs recognize the importance of tourism and allow PRTM to be a partner in planning, developing, and growing sustainable tourism resources across North Carolina and beyond.
RESOURCES FOR PRACITIONERS AND COMMUNITIES
If you are an extension agent, business owner, community leader, or simply a citizen seeking help with a tourism project, PRTM offers a number of resources that can help you – visit the Tourism Extension website for additional information and resources.
FEATURED TOURISM EXTENSION PROGRAMS
Over the past few years, Tourism Extension has successfully implemented a variety of programs and initiatives that foster collaborative relationships and further sustainable tourism development across NC:
NC Hospitality
NC Hospitality is a state-wide program which offers Extension Field Faculty (including extension county directors and extension agents) the opportunity to train businesses and front-line employees in their community on customer service skills. Over 450 businesses and employees have been trained using the NC Hospitality program, and nearly 100 NC Extension Field Faculty have been trained to teach NC Hospitality.
NC Birder Friendly and NC Birding Trail
The NC Birding Trail, as well as the Birder Friendly Business and Birder Friendly Community Training Program are additional examples of successful programs whose development and implementation were prompted and supported by Tourism Extension. The NC Birding Trail was guided by a steering committee consisting of representatives from six agencies: NCCE (including Tourism Extension), NC Wildlife Resources Commission, NC State Parks, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Audubon NC, and NC Sea Grant. The state-wide trail is divided into three segments: coastal plain, piedmont, and mountains. The Birder Friendly Training Programs were co-developed and co-taught by Tourism Extension and Audubon NC. The programs provided training and resources for businesses and communities near the NC Birding Trail to help provide assistance in marketing to birders as they travel the NC Birding Trail. To date, nearly 300 businesses and communities have participated in the training program.
TIES University Consortium Field Certificate Program
The Consortium works collaboratively to administer an ecotourism certificate of study applicable to a range of academic disciplines and degree programs and professionals who desire a holistic understanding of ecotourism. The program assists individual universities and extension programs in the provision of a concentration of study in ecotourism. These disciplines may include, but are not limited to: recreation, parks, and tourism; hospitality management; geography; business; natural resource management; natural resource law, public administration; and landscape architecture majors.
For more information about the Tourism Extension program at NC State visit our website or contact:
Stacy Tomas, Ph. D.
stacy_tomas@ncsu.edu
919-513-7404
Samatha Rozier Rich, Ph. D.
samantha_rozier@ncsu.edu
919-513-0351