August 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 37

ence and forced questionable spending
decisions by non-tourism professionals
within the hierarchy of the
government also cause trepidation.
Nonetheless,
these
obstacles
can
be overcome by educating elected
leaders from the onset of unification
about the need to view tourism as a
commercial enterprise that requires
special allowances to operate in the
vein of a for-profit entity as well as
discipline
about focusing
limited
tourism revenue on the greatest return
on investment.
Germinating Unification in
Higher Education
Many academic institutions merge
outdoor
studies,
conservation,
community
environmental
recreation
and tourism under a single
program or department given the
common thread of leisure time, so
it is surprising that so few unified
structures exist in practice. Perhaps
these tracks of study are more segregated
than their program names
suggest, leading some students to
lose the chance to grasp how the industries
can and should be integrated.
Dr. Harrison Pinckney, assistant
professor in Penn State University's
Department of Recreation, Parks
and Tourism Management (PSU
RPTM), says the academy " needs to
help students be creative about how
they go into the leisure field. They
may come in and see themselves as
parks, recreation or tourism practitioners,
but we need to get them to
think about the three collectively so
they can go out into the workforce
and influence unification. "
Dr. Peter Newman, department
head of PSU RPTM, states
institutions like his help students
see linkages but acknowledges
external factors of governance
create separations outside campus
walls. " In academia, it's important
to
highlight
the
linkages among
tourism and recreation and parks,
but in reality, we know that funding
drives the governance structures that
can create divisions between public
and private organizations. " Indeed,
the guarding of limited resources
is the mortar of silo-building in
local government, and future park
and recreation leaders need to help
elected leaders think beyond old
structures and think about their
strategic goals as driving the most
effective operating structures and
funding models, not the reverse.
The Future of Tourism
and Parks
The outdoor recreation sector will increase
its share of the national tourism
economy as population growth
pressures elevate national consciousness
about the value of our remaining
wild places and rural areas,
bringing the link between parks and
recreation and tourism into clearer
focus. By aligning with tourism
professionals who often have greater
economic development credibility,
backed by sizable data research operations,
park and recreation professionals
can strengthen their case for
conservation resources from local
and state leaders. " When you look
at places considered the 'most livable
cities,' they do a good job of balancing
what Benton McKaye called 'the
rural, wild and urban tissue' of the
landscape. Park and tourism professionals
can work together to protect
these values and keep our ecosystems
intact, " says Newman.
Even if functioning as separate
organizations, park and recreation
and DMO professionals still can
partner to advocate for sustainable
destination stewardship. Jack
Johnson, the chief advocacy officer
with DI, views park and recreation
entities and DMOs as destination
stewards with the shared goal of
" seeking both a successful amount
of use of the parks, as well as managing
them in a way that they are
available for future generations. " He
sees an opportunity for greater coordination
between industries to promote
unification: " On the national
level, we at DI would love to engage
with NRPA on how best to help local
communities form these partnerships.
Through education and tools
that the two of us could potentially
provide, further cooperation and
partnerships could be stimulated. "
No Looking Back
Welcoming tourism functions into
our department was the right move
for a high-performing department
already pushing the boundaries
of conventional
service delivery
through our place-making sensibility
and skills in experience curation,
storytelling and branding.
The merger of two creative forces
breathed new life into the organization
and emboldened staff to
take new risks. Our joint mission
challenges our team to view our
work more holistically and see
beyond the service delivery walls
of our own making. Most importantly,
our residents are the prime
beneficiaries of our unification success
story in the form of increased
levels of service made possible by
outside dollars steered into our
community to offset local taxpayer
burden. There is no one-size-fitsall
operating model for tourism
functions
within a community,
but for organizations like Prince
William County Parks, Recreation
and Tourism with a brand centered
on cultural and natural resources,
we're better together.
Seth Hendler-Voss is Director of Parks, Recreation and
Tourism at Prince William County (shendler-voss@pwcgov.org).
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| Parks & Recreation
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August 2023 - Parks & Recreation

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