Course Description

An introduction to the fundamental concepts, principles, and approaches to operating commercial recreation and tourism businesses in natural resource settings. Taking an entrepreneurial approach, this class will develop an understanding of business and marketing concepts as they relate to commercial recreation and tourism.

Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
In addition to requirements of undergraduates, graduate students are expected to do the following on their business plan: •Use 3 different scenarios for their demand projections (optimistic, realistic, and pessimistic) and create three separate income statements, cash flow statements, and balance sheets based off of these estimates. Graduate students should also carry these projections out over 2 years, which means their financial analysis would have 6 income statements, cash flow statements, and balance sheets. •Read 8 assigned articles on strategic management/entrepreneurship and include an appendix to their business plan on how their business relates to the ideas/principles presented in the articles.

---

Athena Title

Entrep Recreation and Tourism

---

Undergraduate Prerequisite

Permission of major

---

Graduate Prerequisite

Permission of major

---

Semester Course Offered

Offered spring

---

Grading System

A - F (Traditional)

---

Student Learning Outcomes

• By the end of this course, students will be able to demonstrate knowledge of how to apply the basic concepts, principles, and approaches to operating commercial recreation and tourism businesses in natural resource settings.
• By the end of this course, students will be able to distinguish the different complexities associated with delivering tourism and recreation services on public versus private land.
• By the end of this course, students will be able to grasp the complexities of operating recreation and tourism businesses that are seasonal and develop cash flow management strategies to ensure the business remains solvent.
• By the end of this course, students will be able to create a full scale business plan that research trends in recreation and tourism, and use these trends to exploit these opportunities into novel business ideas that are profitable.
• By the end of this course, students will become proficient in using MS Excel to create financial statements to show the health of a business.
• By the end of this course, students will be able to confidently present a business plan to potential investors.

---

Topical Outline

• 1. Course Introduction and Syllabus Review
• 2. What is Commercial Recreation and Tourism?
• 3. Entrepreneurship in CRT
• 4. The Nature of Commercial Recreation and Tourism
• 5. Starting a Commercial Recreation and Tourism Enterprise
• 6. Financial Management
• 7. Marketing
• 8. Operations Management
• 9. Public Land Recreation and Tourism Issues
• 10. Commercial Recreation and Tourism Programming
• 11. Private Land Recreation and Tourism Issues
• 12. Sustainability in Commercial Recreation and Tourism

---

Institutional Competencies

Analytical Thinking

The ability to reason, interpret, analyze, and solve problems from a wide array of authentic contexts.

Creativity & Innovation

The capacity to combine or synthesize existing ideas, images, or expertise in original ways and the experience of thinking, reacting, and working in an imaginative way characterized by innovation, divergent thinking, and risk taking.

---