Cultural Heritage Tourism Consultant Specializing in Sustainable Tourism Development, Planning, Management & Marketing
Rita Robinette has a diverse background in market research, strategic planning, product development, and marketing. She specializes in helping communities PROTECT, CONNECT and PROMOTE their Cultural Heritage Resources. During her career, Rita has provided professional consulting, market research, and technical services to tourism destination organizations, Main Street associations, nonprofits, tourism-related small businesses, and government entities. She has extensive experience in the development of feasibility studies, marketing plans, websites, custom online applications, and the design of both print and digital promotional materials.
Specialties:
Cultural Heritage Tourism Assessment with Recommendations – Perform a preliminary tourism assessment of current/potential tourism assets and make recommendations for enhancing existing and developing new tourism destinations.
Cultural Heritage Sustainable Tourism Development Consulting & Strategic Planning – Guide your community or heritage area through the strategic planning process, facilitate the conceptualization of the local tourism partners’ and stakeholders’ vision; help define tourism goals and provide strategies and recommendations to achieve those goals.
Destination Tourism Marketing Strategies – Development of effective Marketing Strategies that are aimed at Getting the RIGHT Information to the RIGHT People at the RIGHT Time.
Website Design & Custom Web Application Development – Visionary web design and development of mobile responsive websites, WordPress and HTML 5 websites, and custom web applications. Other services include web hosting, SEO, Digital Marketing, and domain registration services. We help clients get the RIGHT information to the RIGHT people at the RIGHT time.
As an information architect, Rita supports the development of creative concepts by defining best practices for organization, management, and navigation of cultural heritage tourism information to bring it to the digital landscape. Her firm, Foresite Consulting, LLC, developed an online cultural heritage inventory management system that includes a series of web-based tools to help communities PRESERVE, MANAGE and PROMOTE their Natural, Cultural, and Historical Resources. In 2020, Rita was a key Hargrove International team member and the developer of the Appalachia NonProfit Resource Center providing free online access to curated resources and virtual training for nonprofit organizations during the COVID-19 crisis (https://appalachianrc.arc.gov/).
Ms. Robinette previously served as Director of Technology and Product Development for a regional economic development organization where she co-designed and managed an award-winning regional Internet portal presenting tourism resources in a 23-county region. During her career, Rita worked in the corporate environment, for a regional non-profit, and as an entrepreneur, having started two consulting firms with operations spanning more than 20 years. She has provided consulting and market research services to major corporations, government agencies, nonprofits, and a wide variety of small businesses. As lead consultant for her own firm, Rita assimilated county demographic and related data for the Tennessee Economic Development Center multimedia presentation system. She has developed a county-wide cultural heritage inventory management plan and co-authored a heritage tourism plan for a county within a National Heritage Area. She also has developed an online Artists and Craftspeople Directory for a tourism region.