Research-Outreach Partnerships: Developing Targeted Marketing Strategies for Agritourism Enterprises

PRESENTATION

	Speakers:
	Lisa Chase Natural Resources Specialist University of Vermont Extension		Amelia Darrow, Owner of Olallie Daylily Gardens
	Thomas Noordewier Associate Professor of Marketing
	Description: Improving marketing effectiveness is the top priority for tourism businesses in Vermont, according to an evaluation of the 2003 Vermont Travel Industry Conference. Cost-effective marketing is of particular concern to small businesses with limited resources, such as family farms that have diversified to include agritourism. In response to this demand, University of Vermont Extension and the School of Business Administration created a partnership with the goal of developing a research-outreach program to improve the marketing effectiveness of tourism businesses throughout the state. For several years, the School of Business Administration had been conducting cutting-edge marketing research using a national profiling system to classify visitors to Vermont. The research was well-received in the literature and had been successfully applied at the state-level but had not been translated into a useable, affordable format for small businesses. The Extension/School of Business Administration partnership joined forces with an agritourism business, Olallie Daylily Gardens, to examine the feasibility of adapting the marketing research to the level of a small business. Olallie Daylily Gardens was selected because it is characteristic of many family farms in Vermont, and it is interested in expanding its tourism base as well as developing a catalog sale business. Based on data from one season, the pilot research program demonstrated success at using a national profiling system to classify visitors at Olallie Daylily Gardens and expand Olallie's customer base through a targeted marketing strategy. Preliminary findings suggest that the more specialized the products and services, the more specialized the marketing methods need to be. A formative evaluation found that all members of the partnership demonstrated a significant increase in learning. Results will be finalized in time for the NET 2004 Conference, and a presentation there would provide an opportunity to explore expanding the program to include additional tourism businesses in other states.