Rural Tourism Assessment: Roscommon County Summary
July 30, 2024 - Andy Northrop , Michigan State University Extension
The Roscommon County Economic Development Corporation and Michigan State University Extension established a partnership in early 2023 to strengthen rural tourism across the county and three communities by capitalizing on stakeholder knowledge, input, and first-time visitor perspectives to the area. Learn more about this initiative in the article, "Initiative launches to strengthen small-town, rural tourism in Roscommon County, Michigan."
Following MSU Extension’s Rural Tourism Assessment format, Roscommon County along with Prudenville/Houghton Lake, St. Helen, and Village of Roscommon participated in the multi-phase effort.
- Phase 1 was conducted April 2023.
- Phase 2 was conducted September - October 2023.
- Phase 3 was completed May 2024.
- At the time of drafting this summary, Phase 4 is being planned for Fall 2024.
As part of RTA, Phase 2 consists of a comprehensive FIT assessment in and with participating partners. In this effort, Roscommon County and the three identified communities received five first-time visitors at separate times between September and October 2023.
All five visitors spent three nights, four days visiting various stakeholder identified tourism assets from Phase 1, as well as a wide range of self-identified tourism assets while on site. A total of 15 nights were spent in the county: eight nights in hotels, four nights in motels, two nights camping, and one night in a bed & breakfast.
Visitor profiles
- 1 Female from Generation X visited with her spouse between Friday-Monday.
- 1 Male from Generation X visited alone between Tues-Friday.
- 3 Males from Millennial Generation visited alone between Thurs-Sunday.
- All visitors are married residents of either Upper or Lower Peninsula, MI, and are employees of Michigan State University Extension with various expertise.
Visitor diverse personal interests
- Artists
- (Mountain) Bike Rider(s)
- Birder(s)
- Camper(s)
- Foodie
- Hiker(s)
- Paddler(s)
- Nature and Outdoor Enthusiast(s)
- Trail Enthusiast(s)
- Water Lover
- Trip Planners
- Avid/World Travelers