E-mail this pageTourism Applied Research
Tourism & Hospitality Industry - Applied Research Services
2002 - Present
The technical Assistance Center (TAC) has operated as the economic development outreach service of SUNY Plattsburgh for 38 years. Tourism business development is a key TAC service area because of the importance of the industry to northern New York's economy.
In performing tourism research, TAC works closely with faculty in the college's Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management department (HRTM) and the Communications department. These instructors bring years of professional tourism and hospitality experience and specialized research skills to the projects TAC undertakes.
Above all, TAC seeks to be responsive to the needs of regional tourism & hospitality professionals.
Recent TAC Tourism & Hospitality Applied Research Projects
- Americade (2007): TAC was retained to conduct an economic impact analysis of this annual event which attracts motorcycle fans from around the country to Lake George, NY.
- The Adirondack Museum (2007): Researched and compiled a report on attractions, leisure visitor attendance, and demographics across the Adirondack Park.
- Westchester County Office of Tourism (2006): The County contracted with TAC to conduct a conversion and return on investment analysis, plus a study of tour bus companies who operate in the County. TAC developed and administered survey instruments, tabulated responses, and analyzed and reported the results.
- Racquette River Corridor Project (2006-07): TAC coordinated a yearlong effort to develop a detailed strategic plan for implementation, of the Racquette River Corridor Project/Blueway Trail. As part of this process, TAC is conducting a comprehensive economic analysis of the Racquette River corridor's tourism industry in an effort to identify ways to enhance tourism development. This project, completed by March of 2007, is funded by New York State's Department of State.
- ORDA Economic Impact Study (2006): Using data provided by the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) and other relevant tourism sources, TAC assessed the direct, indirect, induced and additional labor income economic impacts of this regional tourist attraction's economic activity for the 2004-05 fiscal year.
- Online Branding of North Country Tourism Destinations (2006): This research project was conducted in collaboration with faculty in the SUNY Plattsburgh Web Visibility Project in the Department of Communications. The research addressed the question: "To what extent are our North Country communities developing, through their online representations, a real distinction on an era of "commoditized" electronic tourism?"
- Ticonderoga Quality Destination Survey (2005-06): The Lake Placid - Essex County community-wide startegic planning effort, engaged TAC to design a visitor survey to find out more about the Ticonderoga tourist, including the length of time that travelers stayed in the area, the importance of cultural activities, attractions or events, and their overall satisfaction with the community's tourism-related infrastructure. The survey focused on perceptions of the local history/heritage attractions and cultural tourism in general.
- Lake Placid Ironman Event (2005): The primary focus of this study, conducted for the Lake Palcid/Essex County Visitor's Bureau, was to measure the overall economic impact of the 2005 event on the local economy.
- Leisure Travel Information Study - Return on Investment, Conversion Rate Analysis and Vistor Profile (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006): The purpose of these studies, commissioned by the Lake Placid/Essex County Visitors Bureau, was to ascertain key visitor statistics as the result of the Bureau's leisure travel marketing campaign, TAC determined conversion rate factors and return on investment ratios for public marketing dollars expended by the Bureau during 2003, 2004 and 2005. The study conducted for 2003 established a benchmark to which key statistics in future reports may be compared.
- Hotel Feasibility Study, Ticonderoga (2003): The primary focus of this study, commissioned by Lakes to Locks Passage, Inc., was to determine the feasibility of attracting a new hotel in the Town of Ticonderoga. A Best Western hotel is under construction.
- Marketing Workshop, Wilmington, NY (2002): A joint service of the Northern New York Tourism Research Center at SUNY Potsdam and the Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management department of SUNY Plattsburgh. Participants learned about effective marketing techniques that can be employed by small businesses in rural areas, with a focus on Internet marketing.
SUNY Plattsburgh Faculty Associated with TAC's Applied Tourism Research
John Parmelee, M.A., Instructor, Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management
John Parmelee has extensive hospitality industry experience in the area of operations management, including hotel management. Mr. Parmelee teaches in the hospitality industry and tourism management disciplines. Mr. Parmelee has been the principal investigator in many nothern New York applied tourism research studies conducted by TAC.
Mark Gultek, Ph.D, Asistant Professor, Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management
Dr. Gultek teaches Hotel Operations, Hospitality Law, Foodservice Purchasing, and International Hospitality courses. His research interest is in hospitality and tourism marketing.
Jonathan R. Slater, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Communications Department
Jonathan R. Slater is co-diretor of the Community Web Visibility (CWV) Research Project. The CWV project seeks to understand the relationship between communication and economic development. The project analyzes the ways communities convey and promote their physical presence to a potentially global audience through the World Wide Web.
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Contact Information
For more information about the Technical Assistance Center at SUNY Plattsburgh, please contact:
E-mail: tac@plattsburgh.edu
Phone: (518) 564-2214
194 US Oval
Plattsburgh, NY 12903