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The purpose of this study is to use the recreation specialization construct to examine the diversity of mountain bike riders in the US to meet their needs better, and to help strengthen the sport and the outdoor economy. At one end of the specialization continuum are Completely High Specialists, and at the other end are Completely Low Specialists. As recreationists gain skill and experience, make an activity central to their lifestyle, and invest more in equipment, they can progress in specialization. Little if any research used the construct to study the larger noncompetitive and competitive mountain biker population. The authors analyzed a nationwide mountain bike data set collected in 2018 using snowball sampling. There were 13,623 mountain bikers across the US who provided usable online surveys. Specific recommendations are provided to help mountain bikers progress in specialization. Theoretical and methodological implications are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use county-level data to examine how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the tourism and hospitality sector, which was by far the most impacted of all sectors, focusing on employment and wage changes. Results support our hypothesis that rural counties experienced fewer negative impacts or even benefited from the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of job growth. We present maps showing the pandemic's effects on leisure and hospitality (L&H) employment across the nation, identifying the communities both hardest hit and least impacted. A linear regression model is developed to explore independent factors that influenced the pandemic's local impact. Results are robust across different measures of the key variable (rurality), including rural-urban continuum codes, distance from metropolitan areas, and population density. We also consider the impacts of social capital, income, and local economic diversification, among other factors. Our results suggest that remote, less-populated counties were more likely to experience stable employment in the L&H sector relative to pre-pandemic levels, and in some cases even experienced employment growth. JEL Classification: J2, J3, R1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the effect of social capital on resident attitudes toward tourism and support for tourism based on data collected from 637 residents in Tucker County, West Virginia. Data analysis includes descriptive analysis, factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modeling, multigroup analysis, and ANOVA. Results confirm findings of other studies that concern for the potential environmental, and social impacts of tourism and long-term planning have a direct positive effect on support for additional tourism development. In addition to the direct effect of the social and environmental impacts of tourism and long-term planning on support for tourism, this study identified that a common vision and participation in local organizations and informal social groups has a significant direct effect on long-term planning and protection of community values and an indirect effect on support for tourism development. In addition, significant differences were identified according to group, stake, and power in the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural destination management organizations (DMOs) are faced with considerable challenges as they attempt to promote economic prosperity through tourism. This study sought to identify rural destination management challenges in Tucker County, West Virginia; identify the roles and activities of the destinations DMOs in addressing these challenges; and develop a perceived destination management framework. DMO challenges include maintaining authenticity and sense of place; economic diversification; seasonality, low wage jobs, and lack of employees; connecting resorts to small businesses and communities; and establishing a common vision, identity, and coordination of activities. While the majority of tourism literature calls for DMOs to play a dual marketing and management role, this paper makes an important contribution by identifying the need for a Convention and Visitors Bureau and a separate organization with a specific mission to sustainably develop and manage tourism and coordinate activities of the stakeholder network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the relationships between visitor motivations, destination evaluation and future behavior intentions. Data for the study were collected through a structured questionnaire from a purposive sample of pleasure travelers to the state of West Virginia during summer 2012. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the data in AMOS. Results showed some significant relationships between visitor motivation, destination evaluation andfuture behavior intention. Visitors whose motivation was to relax tended to be more concerned about the quality of all destination attributes including: tourism facilities, hospitality, supporting factors and core attractors, while adventure seekers seemed less concerned about the destination's supporting factors and hospitality. Destination's core attractors and hospitality are important for repeat visitation and destination recommendation, their evaluation was seen to significantly and positively impact future behavior intention. However, evaluation of destination's superstructure, facilities and supporting factors didn't significantly impactfuture behavior intention. It implies that while good facilities and infrastructure are necessary, by themselves, they don't increase repeat visitation or recommendations of the destination because these are qualities any destination can offer. Destination managers, therefore, need to understand what sets their destinations apart from the competition enough that visitors want to return and/or recommend the destination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]