Profiles of Best Practices (For an Adobe Acrobat version of this profile, click here!) Attracting Outside Resources-Technology as a Tool for Tourism
Community, County Vilas County Area of Project Impact Vilas County Population Affected 21,033 |
Situation
Tourism promotion is a significant part of the economy of Vilas County . However, promotional opportunities were underutilized because of a lack of technical capacities. As a consequence, the application of new technologies for tourism promotion was identified as a critical need as the area looked to enhance the industry for current and future economic development.
Economic Development Strategies
Given the importance of tourism to the economy of Vilas County , one of the county level economic development initiatives focuses on increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of capturing outside dollars through tourism.
Implementation
Based on the county's focus on improving its tourism-based economy, Vilas County 's Chamber of Commerce, Advertising Department, and a UW-Extension Agent spearheaded a collaborative project to create a tourism telecommunications network. The countywide network linked local chambers of commerce, the Vilas County Advertising Department, and area tourism businesses via a central computer visitor information system. This technological network to enhance the county's tourism industry utilized two new mechanisms for advertising the area's resources: 1) kiosks-a series of easy-to-use touch-screen computer tourism information stations located throughout the county, and 2) the Internet.
This two-phased project received grant funding from the Wisconsin Advanced Telecommunications Foundation ($49,000) and the Wisconsin Department of Tourism ($25,000). The first phase involved development of the computer information network and system of eleven local 24-hour InfoCenters (kiosks). The second phase involved making the centralized tourism information available to prospective visitors through the Internet. In addition, business and economic development professionals were educated about the project and were provided with the capacity to utilize the technology as a tool for tourism. For instance, three series of training seminars were conducted for local chamber of commerce staff and area tourism businesses so that local business and economic professionals could utilize the new tools for tourism. These sessions provided demonstrations of the tourism network components and reviewed the costs and benefits of participating in the project. As a result, businesses throughout Vilas County now utilize this technology through specific business software applications to access and update network information; and local chambers of commerce utilize network information to handle tourism inquiries.
Partners and Leadership
The project was a cooperative effort by the Vilas County University of Wisconsin-Extension, Vilas County Advertising Department, and the Vilas County Chamber of Commerce (a consortium of twelve local chambers). The grant proposals were developed and administered by Vilas County UW-Extension and Advertising staff. On-going project administration is through the Vilas County Chamber of Commerce.
Outcomes
Following completion of the project's first phase, a total of 97 tourism businesses subscribed to the network. In addition, eleven touch-screen computer kiosks were installed throughout the Vilas County area at designated chamber locations. Six of the local chambers have installed and are utilizing the project's administrative software. Furthermore, all participating businesses now have the same information accessible through the Internet. As a result of the second phase of the project, over 900 tourism businesses were participants of the Vilas County tourism telecommunications network as of January of 2002. In addition, telephone logs from kiosk telephones are also shared with local chambers and businesses to illustrate how the network refers customers within the region.
Contact
Bryan Pierce
Vilas County UW-Extension
330 Court St.
Eagle River , WI 54521
(715) 479-3648
Cindy Burzinski
Vilas County Advertising
330 Court St.
Eagle River , WI 54521
(715) 479-3649
Note: In the following photo, Eagle River Chamber Director Connie Heeg checks out the Vilas County 24-Hour InfoCenter touch-screen computer kiosk.
