Early registration discount through January 30, 2025

Sign up for this Course and the Tell Your Economic Story Without Hiring an Economist course for a combined discount

FREE CONTINUING EDUCATION LEARNING CREDITS AVAILABLE

Do-It-Yourself Visitor Research for Parks, Trails, Heritage Sites and the Towns that Serve Them

three 90-minute sessions, Tuesdays, Feb. 25 - Mar. 11, 2025 • 11:30-1 PT/2:30-4 ET

 

Get a handle on how locals and visitors use trails, parks and heritage sites —and what that means for your community—without breaking the bank or tearing your hair out.

Visitor surveys and visitor counts can be a great tool for gathering information and generating insights that help you attract more visitors or encourage them to return, manage the visitors you already have, help local businesses generate more business from nearby trails, heritage sites and parks; plan and fine-tune programs; tweak your marketing; raise money and forge partnerships.

But no matter how low-budget, this kind of research requires investing resources that are precious to your organization like time, money, volunteer effort, relationships, and even your reputation. This course will help you make sure those investments pay off with a resource-efficient approach that yields reliable, high-impact information.

In this course, you will learn how to:

  • Estimate numbers of visitor or trail users, with or without automatic counters.

  • Create a survey plan that gives you the information you most need and fits your budget and other available resources.

  • Identify your target audiences and how to reach and collect data from them.

  • Figure out whether, how and when to engage volunteers, partners and other community support.

  • Develop a questionnaire that works using survey templates and models from other places.

  • Collect data you need to estimate your trail’s economic impact.

  • Organize, analyze, and learn from your data, including simple ways to estimate economic impact.

  • Present and leverage your findings to inform, generate support, promote action and make a difference for your community.

Who is this for?

Recreation and open space program managers • Trail advocates and friends groups • Heritage site managers • Chambers of Commerce & business alliances • Community & economic development staff • Tourism promoters • Place-based & conservation organizations • Extension & community development professionals • High school and college students • Downtown & Main Street groups • Business owners & other community leaders

 

Course instructor

Michele Archie, Harbinger principal and lead for collaborative regional economic analyses, economic impact projections, visitor and resident surveys, outdoor recreation assessments, and peer area reviews. Michele has led more than three dozen such studies for national and state parks, World Heritage Sites, trails and other recreational and protected areas across the United States. See Michele's LinkedIn profile.

 

Session dates and times

Three one-hour live webinars.

Tuesdays, Feb. 25 - March 11, 2025, 11:30-1 PT/2:30-4p ET

 

More details

  • Sessions available for replay in case you need to miss a session or want to review

  • $365 regular course fee • $295 early registration through January 30, 2025

  • Group rate for two or more participants from the same organization or community: $295/person ($245 early registration)

  • Register for both this course and Tell the Economic Story Without Hiring an Economist: Trails, Parks, Heritage Areas and Conserved Lands for an additional discount — $790 for both courses/$650 early registration or $650 group rate/$575 early registration

  • Contact us for special rates for groups of five or more. We often work with cohorts in our courses, and can create a custom package including group meetings and coaching during and/or after the course.

Sessions 

Session 1: Measure twice, cut once — Making a research plan that fits

  • Begin with the end in mind: what do you want to learn and why?

  • Target audiences and when, where and how to reach them

  • Understanding the basic research tasks and tools

  • A realistic look at your resources: making the most of what you have to accomplish your most important aims

  • Outlining a data collection plan

Session 2: Ins and outs of collecting data

  • How to use trail counters and other means of estimating numbers of trail users

  • Templates and how-tos for trail users and visitor surveys.

  • Engaging your business community in data collection.

  • Simple strategies for collecting information and insights about community perceptions.

  • How to collect data you need to estimate economic impact.

Session 3: Start making sense — Organizing and analyzing data

  • Assembling and analyzing data quickly, accurately and without tearing out your hair.

  • Simple formulas for estimating your economic impact.

  • Finding your findings: what did you learn?

  • How to present your findings clearly, accurately and persuasively.

  • Putting your findings to work