Featuring Our Faculty

Commercial Recreation and Tourism

Community Outreach Interests

My interests lie in the area of assisting communities with the sustainable development and planning to enhance symbolic capital and the destination's image. I have previous experience and a grant (Ohio Department of Natural Resources) on analyzing and evaluating the image of a nature-based tourism destination for a three county area along Lake Erie in Ohio.

Research Interests

In general, my research interests include destination image, tourism symbolic capital, sustainable tourism development and practices, travel constraints, tourism quality, travel narratives, and backpackers’ journeys. The specific problem statement for my research agenda is to investigate the formation of symbolic capital for destination development which is derived from the destination image and the tourists’ perceptions of a journey. This problem statement drives my research agenda and includes two conceptual paths and two substantive paths that relate to my problem statement. The conceptual paths are based on the concepts of symbolic capital, destination image and the journey. The two substantive paths primarily apply the concepts of destination image and the journey to substantive or applied research issues. The substantive paths provide insights into marketing, service delivery, and managing of a sustainable destination (including a nature based destination) and events and analyzing an education foundation for tourism professionals.

Notable Publications

Obenour, W., Groves, D., & Lengfelder, J. 2006. "Image segmentation and implications for the development of a nature-based destination." Journal of Hospitality and Leisure Marketing. 14(1): 24-48.

Obenour, W. L., Lengfelder, J. & Groves, D. 2005. "The development of a destination through the image assessment of six geographic markets." Journal of Vacation Marketing. 11(2): 107-119.

Obenour, W., Patterson, M., Pedersen, P., & Pearson, L. 2006. "Conceptualization of a meaning-based research approach for tourism service experiences." Tourism Management. 27(1): 34-41.

Obenour, W. L. 2005. "The 'Journeys' of Independence for Female Backpackers." Tourism Review International. 9(2): 213-227.

Obenour, W. L. 2004. "Understanding the Meaning of the 'Journey' to Budget Travelers." International Journal of Tourism Research. 6(1): 1-15.

Groves, D., Obenour, W. & Lengfelder, J. 2003. "Colas and Globalization: Models for Sport and Event Development." Journal of Sport Tourism. 8(4): 320-334.

Obenour, W. L., Lengfelder, J., & Cuneen, J. 2005. "Body of knowledge for a tourism curriculum: Revisited," Schole. 20: 43-56.

Courses

RCLS 6220: Managing Commercial and Tourism Industry Leisure Services

RCLS 4121: Tourism Planning and Development

RCLS 4120: Leisure Services Marketing