Industrial heritage tourism is often viewed as a positive way for the local economic restructuring, an establishment of new tourism market, and the images of the regions. This project explores the possibility of developing industrial heritage tourism in Toledo and Waterville region, in particular, the areas along the Canal. The objectives are to develop a suitable planning model for both communities and governments. The perceptual mapping and consensus building model are used in this project.

The perception of the stakeholders is the primary element in regional planning that is essential as a foundation to beginning most developmental projects. It is critical to bring all of the divergent stakeholders together and to help them see how their particular interests are involved in the development of the tourism destination. These stakeholders in most communities are the politicians, the business community, the local, state, and national officials, and the general public. Planning processes will be severely stifled when conflicts of interests exist among different stakeholders in different communities. This is a study to explore these foundational elements and how these stakeholders can be utilized to build consensus toward common goals, and these common goals can be used as an effective foundational tool to stimulate interest as well as development in industrial heritage projects. The use of examples and case studies from other areas can help stakeholders understand their communities. Once the individuals realize the advantages of industrial heritage, a planning process can begin in earnest to explore the potentials of their communities and regions. The focus of this project is to explore these foundational perceptual elements through the various planning groups or stakeholders and to determine how to build consensus toward industrial heritage and tourism.

The canal system, especially in the area of Toledo, Ohio was used as a test study area to survey stakeholders from both governments and communities, to determine their perceptions about industrial heritage, and to see whether the industrial heritage concept could be used for regional development, ultimately, to develop an experiential tourism corridor. The very first phase of the project explored and identified case studies that have been successful in regard to industrial tourism. A pre-survey was conducted to assess the perceptions and attitudes of the stakeholders. Consensus was developed in the first part of the study by using a perceptual mapping study. This procedure allows for systematic input of information on specific areas of focus and broad policy formulation. The second phase of the study used the results from the perceptual mapping to further build consensus and explore possibilities of developing potential ideas for development. The third phase of the study proposed aplanning model based upon the consensus from various stakeholders.

This ongoing project presented a tourism planning model for the communities in Ohio. The results could involve the preservation and survival of (1) the local business enterprise; (2) the natural and built environment, particular, the brown fields used for industrial development; (3) the local culture; (4) small communities and their local decision making power; and (5) relationship of mass tourism to all the above.

The publications include the following content: (1) the industrial heritage tourism model; (2) the consensus building among different stakeholders for tourism policy making; and (3) the significant contribution for the State of Ohio. We acknowledged the Sea Grant funding in the publication.