Dr. Fang Meng with Dr. Richard Perdue, the President of TTRA.

Dr. Fang Meng and Dr. Simon Hudson received the Best Paper Award in the 2012 Travel and Tourism Research Association (TTRA) Conference.

Simon Hudson presenting the feasibility study of Aiken International Horse Park to the Aiken Chamber of Commerce and the media.

Simon Hudson and his son Rupert (a student in the Darla Moore School of Business), presenting their paper called "The Use of Social Media to Attract and Engage with Music Tourists" at the Soundtracks Conference in Liverpool, U.K. on July 8th. Simon also presented a paper written with PhD student Stefanie Benjamin called "The Influence of Music Videos on Tourism".

Dr. Hudson presenting at an international events conference in Belfast, Northern Ireland on June 21. While in Ireland, he was interviewed for the local newspaper and the link to the feature is:

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/business-news/the-future-is-bright-16174196.html

Emerald Literati Network Award

In June, Dr. Hudson won an Emerald Literati Network Award for Excellence for his article, which can be retrieved by clicking on the link below:

Working together to leverage film tourism: collaboration between the film and tourism industries

2012 Best Research Paper Award

Dr. Fang Meng and Dr. Simon Hudson are the winners of the Best Research Paper Award for the 2012 Travel and Tourism Research Association (TTRA) Conference. Their paper "Drive Tourism in Rural Destination Development: Dual Perspectives from Industry Stakeholders and Potential Visitors" is the 2012 award selection bestowed by Sage Publications.

Report on Tourism in The Pee Dee Just Released

The Center has just completed a study that looked at the rural Pee Dee region of South Carolina and its potential to capitalize on the thousands of drive tourists that come through every year on their way to coastal destinations. Interviews and focus groups of tourism industry stakeholders and two consumer surveys were conducted for data collection. Results revealed major constraints to tourism development in the Pee Dee including the lack of a clear brand, poor accessibility, limited cooperation between regions in Pee Dee, lack of cooperation between Pee Dee and the coastal regions, limited infrastructure and tourism product, very poor signage, and limited marketing funds. But opportunities for tourism development in this rural area as a drive tourism destination were also recognized, such as the unique historic and nature-based attractions. Culinary tourism and festivals and events are also likely to attract drive tourists to the Pee Dee, and potential tourists would be interested in natural beauty scenic drives as an alternative way of reaching the coast.

Based on the results, a number of recommendations have been made in the report for growing tourism in the Pee Dee. The full report can be downloaded at:

http://www.hrsm.sc.edu/CoEETourismandED/PDFs/SCTourismStats/DevelopingTourismintheRuralPeeDee.pdf