SC Tourism Center: July 2013

Monday, July 22, 2013

Jah Roots using Hydroponics to Promote Agri-Tourism

HRSM student, Scott Harriford IV, is using an innovative idea and hard work to build agri-tourism in South Carolina. See full article below:

http://www.sc.edu/news/newsarticle.php?nid=6321#.Ue13xG0pgnU

Friday, July 19, 2013

Watch Dr. Hudson's Interview to learn more about the Bluffton Branding Project

Simon Hudson being interviewed by WHHI TV on Hilton Head Island about the Bluffton Branding project. See the full interview at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=jIB0QSqBU4M

Dr. Hudson presents at the Making Waves International Conference on Events 2013

Simon Hudson presenting at the Making Waves International Conference on Events 2013 in Bournemouth, U.K. 3-5 July. The paper he presented was co-written with Fang Meng and David Cardenas, and was called “Gauging potential demand for new events.”

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Governor's School Intern Contributes to the Center and the Bluffton Branding Project

“During the internship I shadowed my mentors during research meetings with students, researchers, and entrepreneurs. This summer gave me a unique chance to observe the career of scientific researchers and see how the scientific method is being applied to grow South Carolina’s economy. This summer’s research experience could never have been recreated in a typical school setting.”-Joe Marazzo

During his summer internship at USC’s SmartState Center of Economic Excellence in Tourism and Economic Development, Joe Marazzo, rising senior from the SC Governor's School, had the opportunity to work alongside some of the most renowned tourism experts in the world. Under the direction of Dr. Simon Hudson, Dr. David Cárdenas, Dr. Fang Meng, Joe assisted with the implementation of a research project aimed at the rebranding of Bluffton, SC. The aim of the project was to reach out to local community members, leaders and business owners to develop a brand for Bluffton, South Carolina that would attract businesses, tourists and new residents to the city without dismantling the core values of the community. During this six-week internship, Joe had the opportunity to learn about qualitative and quantitative research methodologies that have contributed to this branding research. He gained valuable experience in project implementation, community-based research methodologies, interviewing techniques, charrette methodology and data analysis.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

USC Partnering with USCB and Rawl Murday on Branding Charrettes

Dr. Fang Meng facilitates branding exercise on July 9th, 2013 in Bluffton, SC.

In conjunction with Rawle Murdy, and USC-B our Center is conducting research in Bluffton, SC to help them develop and identify their town unique brand/image. The first stage of the research consists of administering 4 Charrettes and conducting over 35 key stakeholder interviews.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

USC SmartSate Center of Excellence in Tourism and Economic Development well represented at the Travel and Tourism Research Association's annual meeting held in Kansas City

Dr. Cardenas and Dr. Meng traveled to Kansas City, Mo, to attend and present at the Travel and Tourism Research Association's Annual Meeting. The duo was invited to present two papers “Resident Attitudes Toward Future Tourism Development: The Application of Trustworthiness” and “ Tourism Use History: Market Segmentation to Measure Resident Support for Future Tourism Development”. The data used for both presentations was part of the Aiken-Equine grant our Center received last summer. More on this presentation and the conference can be found at http://www.ttra.com/events/ttra-annual-conference/.

SC Tourism Center