The UGA Hospitality & Tourism (HOST) Summit

Community tourism is a public/private community collaboration among residents and organizations that can produce significant economic outputs while providing quality experiences to visitors. For a community’s hospitality and tourism industry to be successful, the relationship between residents and community organizations needs to be in sync and well-orchestrated. However, specific tourism-industry research such as visitor profiles, tourism economic impact studies, hotel trend analyses, and tourism marketing and branding assessments, are needed for each community to successfully compete in the marketplace.

In order to meet the needs and demands of the various community stakeholders and to align interests across fields, an interdisciplinary team of 13 tenure/tenure track faculty and affiliated service and research faculty, collectively known as the UGA Hospitality and Tourism (HOST) Research Initiative, was assembled to provide comprehensive hospitality and tourism research support intended to enhance and enrich the ongoing community and public engagement efforts. The HOST group includes faculty and staff researchers from Agricultural and Applied Economics (AAEC); Hospitality and Food Industry Management (HFIM); Parks, Recreation, and Tourism (PRTM); Landscape Architecture (LAND); Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant (MAREX), and Public Service and Outreach (PSO).

The interdisciplinary, collaborative efforts of the HOST team will culminate in the holding of a research and networking Summit. Here, the group of hospitality and tourism content experts will provide valuable, industry-nuanced information to UGA Extension, UGA Public Service and Outreach, Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development, and other UGA hospitality and tourism publicly-engaged programs. Research results conducted by the team will be used to support applications to larger federally and industry supported hospitality and tourism grant programs which engage hospitality and tourism efforts at the local, state, and regional community levels. Attendees will have the opportunity to network and build collaborative relationships, learn about other relevant stakeholders, and will leave with a comprehensive list of attendees, their contact information, and an inventory of expertise areas.

Keynote Speaker:
Mark Jaronski; Deputy Commissioner, Explore Georgia, Georgia Department of Economic Development

Event Date:

Location:

Schedule:
8:30 – 9:15 a.m. – Keynote Address (Mark Jaronski: GA Department of Economic-Development Explore GA Division)
9:30 – 10:15 a.m. – Special Topics Speaker 1 (The Business of Hospitality)
10:15 – 10:45 a.m. – Refreshment Break
10:45 – 11:30 a.m. – Special Topics Speaker 2 (Tourism and the Economy)
11:30 – 12:30 p.m. – Lunch
12:45 – 1:30 p.m. – Panel Discussion (UGA Hospitality and Tourism Projects)
1:45 – 3:00 p.m. – Focus Group Session – Hosted by UGA’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government (Empowering our UGA Hospitality and Tourism Network)
3:00 – 3:30 p.m. – Refreshment Break
3:30 – 4:00 p.m. – Closing Remarks

Cost:
Free for Attendees

Event Cancellation Policies:
(1) To change or cancel your registration, call (706) 542-3537, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET. (2) If an event is cancelled for any reason, the UGA Center for Continuing Education & Hotel will not be responsible for any charges related to travel.

Hotel Cost:
To change or cancel your hotel reservation, call (800) 884-1381 or (706) 542-2134.

Program Contact Information:
Program Contact:
John Salazar
(706) 542-0769
jsalazar@uga.edu

Registration Contact:
The Georgia Center
(706) 542-7493
registration@georgiacenter.uga.edu

Special Needs:
If you require special services, contact Sales@georgiacenter.uga.edu by April 25, 2022.

Dietary restrictions should be indicated on the registration form or during the registration process.

Downloadable Content