Research Approach

Tourism is much more than marketing and promoting visits for increasing tax revenues and industry profits.  It is a powerful force for community change.

MTRC will explore the role of tourism in human and community development.  It will convene the resources and expertise necessary to promote shared visions for tourism as a driver of positive social change.  MTRC initially intends to highlight the importance of additional studies on the relationship of the tourism and hospitality industries, locally and globally, in regards to:

• Poverty Alleviation
• Community Safety and Security
• Human Capital Development
• The Value of Meetings
• Environmental Quality and Sustainability

The Challenge:

Government and industry sponsors have limited resources and can afford to support research on only a few specific issues at a time, usually related to short term economic impact.

In tourism research, fully comprehensive, systems approaches are not typically used and dynamic aspects of growth and change are not usually addressed.

The Solution:

MTRC will evaluate long-term, system-wide strategies for tourism to enhance the public good that are beyond the planning horizon of most industry and government organizations.  The tourism industry would greatly benefit from knowledge capital that determines how tourism could enhance community quality of life.