Download the 2023 Annual Report: Community Sentiment of Tourism.

The Sustainable Tourism Lab was developed to protect tourism destinations for future generations of residents and visitors. 

The Lab provides data and services to help tourism organizations around the country balance visitor and community needs. It aims to adopt a multidisciplinary approach to pursue sustainable solutions to common tourism industry problems.

To improve the tourism industry through a collaborative, stakeholder-driven process, the lab works to research and design sustainable solutions to the industry’s most pressing problems.

Community Sentiment of Tourism

OSU researchers, along with partner institutions from across the US, Asia/Pacific, and Central America are quantifying how local residents perceive tourism.

Learn More

Food Waste Technology

Business, Engineering and Computer Science faculty and students have built a prototype to quantify and reduce post-consumer food waste.


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Building A Sustainable Workforce

There are jobs that will always have low retention rates and that technology is not currently available to automate. For those jobs, the answer is rapid, cost-effective and impactful retraining.

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ANNUAL REPORT

COMMUNITY SENTIMENT OF TOURISM

Investigating the relationships between tourism and community needs in orderto provide decision-makers with objective information forinformed decisions.
Download Now

2023

Our Research in the News

The Astorian: Seaside Part of Tourism Research

Seaside is one of over 40 cities worldwide taking part in project. By Abby Sourwine Seaside Signal Aug 7, 2023 View article here Oregon State UniversityRead More »
Posted byosu adminAugust 22, 2023 Posted inRecent News

NBC News: No free parking or hot tub ragers: Tourist destinations tighten their rules

Tourist destinations tighten their rules No free parking or hot tub ragers: Tourist destinations tighten their rules​ March 31, 2023, 6:00 AM PDTBy Harriet BaskasViewRead More »
Posted byosu adminAugust 11, 2023 Posted inRecent News

OPB Think Out Loud Interview: Sustainable Tourism Lab measures how residents weigh pros, cons of tourism in their communities

Sustainable Tourism Lab OPB Think Out Load Interview: Sustainable Tourism Lab measures how residents weigh pros, cons of tourism in their communities By Gemma DiCarloRead More »
Posted byosu adminAugust 11, 2023 Posted inRecent News

Projects

Building A Sustainable Workforce

The labor shortage in the hospitality industry is significant and is impacting the industry’s ability to grow and serve customers. In 2016, OSU’s hospitality management degree faculty andRead More »
Posted byosu adminAugust 10, 2023 Posted inBuilding A Sustainable Workforce, project updates

Community Sentiment of Tourism

How Does the Community View Tourism? With the goal of understanding more about how local communities perceive the tourism industry, researchers from the hospitality management programRead More »
Posted byosu adminAugust 10, 2023 Posted inFood Waste Technology, project updates

Food Monitoring

Food Monitoring Food is a Data Problem The OSU Sustainable Tourism Lab, along with partners in the College of Engineering and Computer Science are using machineRead More »
Posted byosu adminAugust 29, 2023 Posted inProjects

Blogs

Tourism Lab Introduction

Lab Introduction: Too little tourism? Too much Tourism! Join us as our students explore how tourism is affecting your town!  Greetings and welcome to theRead More »
Posted byosu adminAugust 21, 2023 Posted inproject updates, Resident Survey

On The Road Again!

Pura Vida! Costa Rica Research Day One: Truly filled with pure life, Costa Rica is not only amazing for its views but also forRead More »
Posted byosu adminAugust 18, 2023 Posted inResident Survey

Music and Mountains

Music and Mountains: Our trip was coming to a close as we made one last drive along the beautiful cliffs of Costa Rica andRead More »
Posted byosu adminAugust 17, 2023 Posted inResident Survey