Featuring Our Faculty

Tourism Policy and Planning

Community Outreach Interests

My interests are in providing communities with a full range of sustainable tourism services, developing strategic tourism plans, suggesting tourism management strategies, implementing tourism marketing concepts, and introducing tourism policies. Throughout a long career in the tourism industry, I have prepared state and local strategic tourism plans, introduced to communities "Edgell's Ten P's for Marketing Tourism," prepared business plans for resort developments, developed international tourism destinations, provided direction in sustainable tourism as an economic development strategy, consulted on special history, heritage, culture tourism projects, and served in roles such as Under Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce for Travel and Tourism, Commissioner of Tourism for the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Vice President of Strategic Marketing (international marketing firm). Some my current interests include "climate change and tourism" along coastlines; strategic overview of tourism opportunities in a five county Contentnea Creek project; developing a state strategic tourism plan for 2009-2012; providing an inventory and direction for a county tourism plan; and helping to structure a new tourism resort.

Research Interests

As a professor of tourism, an international consultant on global tourism solutions, and researcher; I have considerable interest in the past, present, and future development of tourism. I am researching and examining best practices for tourism development in communities. Tourism policy and planning is a field of special long term study. Sustainable tourism management in all its varieties and vagaries is an area that has fascinated my interests for many years. Rural tourism development and international tourism marketing have occupied a lot of my time in the past and continues to be of great interest. More recently I have become fascinated with the intricacies of resort development, planning, and marketing.

Notable Publications

Edgell, David L., Sr., and Maria DelMastro Allen, Ginger Smith, and Jason R. Swanson. 2008. Tourism Policy and Planning: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann,

Edgell, David L., Sr., and Carolyn E. McCormick. 2008. "Climate Change and Tourism: The Case for the Coastline of the Outer Banks, North Carolina" The Coastal Society.

Edgell, David L., Sr. 2006. Managing Sustainable Tourism: A Legacy for the Future New York: The Haworth Press, Inc.

Edgell, David L., Sr. 2002.Best Practices Guidebook for International Tourism Development for Rural Communities. Provo: Brigham Young University Press.

Selected Relevant Activities

Initial draft of “Contentnea Creek: Strategic Overview of Tourism Opportunities” by David L. Edgell, Sr. and Karen Mulcahy, in progress 2008.

Business Plan for “Music City, Illinois: Destination and Convention Resort” David L. Edgell, Sr. and others, in progress 2008.

“Kansas Tourism Opportunities: Strategic Overview”, 2005.

“Tourism Industry Examination and Analysis: ‘Prairie Discovery and Visitors Center’, Manhattan, Kansas, 2005.