Tourism is the second largest industry in Wyoming, generating over $4 billion in 2021. In addition, tourism is the largest single employment sector in Wyoming, employing over 30,000. In 2018, the University of Wyoming started the Outdoor Recreation and Tourism Management degree as a partnership with the Haub School and the College of Business. The degree program now boasts over 80 students enrolled. However, more industry support and engagement was identified as a gap through the Strategic Accelerated Review Process (below) under the direction of President Seidel.
Through the 2020 UW Strategic Accelerated Review Process the Haub School, in partnership with the College of Business and the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, proposed the establishment of the WORTH Center. In 2021, President Seidel officially added WORTH as one of two other new strategic initiatives: The Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI) and the School of Computing (SoC). In January of 2022, WORTH received funding from the Wyoming Innovation Partnership (WIP), phase I funding. In March of 2022, the WORTH Initiative officially kicked-off.
The mission of the WORTH Initiative is to support, expand, and diversify Wyoming’s economy through outdoor recreation, tourism, and hospitality industries. The WORTH Initiative achieves its mission by:
