The Wyoming Outdoor Recreation, Tourism and Hospitality (WORTH) Initiative opened Wednesday with a ceremony at the Marian H. Rochelle Gateway Center.
The Initiative hopes to boost tourism, hospitality, and outdoor recreation industries in Wyoming by partnering with UW and community colleges in the state.
“They really wanted the university to do more for the industry, because it’s a 4 billion dollar industry in the state of Wyoming,” Dan McCoy said.
At the ceremony on Wednesday, President Ed Seidel named Degree Coordinator for the Outdoor Recreation and Tourism Management program Dan McCoy as the interim director of the WORTH Initiative.
McCoy outlined three main pillars of the WORTH initiative: applied research, outreach and extension, and expansion of educational products like certificates and other applied experiences.
“We’ve got really great advice coming from really the top industry leaders from across the state,” McCoy said.
An advisory committee formed as part of the WORTH initiative includes industry leaders such as members of the Wyoming Board of Tourism, CEO of the Jackson Chamber of Commerce Anna Olson, and other stakeholders from around Wyoming.
The Wyoming Office of Tourism recently released its 2021 Economic Impact preliminary findings and found that visitor spending generated $243 million in local and state tax revenues, which amounted to a 50.5 percent increase from 2020.
Additionally, 1730 jobs in the leisure and hospitality sectors were added in 2021.
“The WORTH initiative will elevate Wyoming’s next generation of hospitality and tourism industry leaders,” Diane Shober, Executive Director of the Wyoming Office of Tourism, said.
“As the second-largest industry in the state, it’s crucial that we start to build a partnership with the University of Wyoming and community colleges now to ensure we continue to strengthen and diversify Wyoming’s economy into the future.”
Shober is one of the members of the WORTH Initiative’s advisory committee.
Governor Mark Gordon allocated $3.14 million through the Wyoming Innovation Partnership to help launch the initiative.
The funding will help schools provide new certifications, professional and academic development opportunities, and research projects.
Currently, UW’s Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources offers a minor in hospitality, but the initiative hopes to grow that program. McCoy said that feasibility studies are currently being conducted for a Bachelor’s degree in hospitality management.
“I’m just excited to finally launch this next thing that we said we were going to do and we’re making this commitment to the second largest industry in the state,” McCoy said. “It’s just a really exciting thing that the university’s doing.”
Additionally, McCoy said that the Initiative hopes to encourage extensive involvement from students.
“There is a strong desire to have as many students working in hospitality and tourism as possible,” McCoy said.
“I’m really excited to involve students in this as researchers and see the possibilities for them, continue to open those doors and possibilities where they can see themselves in this industry in the long term and create career trajectories for them all.”
