Tourism

Programs designed to strengthen local economies through tourism to benefit the community and its environments as a whole. Programs are focused on involving local communities, creating supportive tourism infrastructure, developing sustainable tourism opportunities (tourism revolving around a community’s way of life, environment, culture, and/or traditions), marketing, accommodations, and planning for, managing and evaluating community-level changes that support economic growth and productivity.

Audiences include local elected officials, community organizations, business organizations, business owners, and nonprofits engaged in community change projects designed to strengthen local economies. Locations may include small, rural and/or gateway communities.

Example program topics: tourism development; tourism planning; agritourism; outdoor recreation; hospitality; cultural-heritage tourism

CREATE BRIDGES – Celebrating Retail, Accommodations, Tourism, and Entertainment by Building Rural Innovations and Developing Growth Economies

Topic: Business Development, Community Planning, Resilience, and Sustainability, Community-Based Economic Development, Tourism | Phase: Initiating & Scoping, Organizing, Assessing, Visioning & Planning, Implementing | Resource Use: , | Resource Format: Presentation, Process Guide, Program

CREATE BRIDGES is a program designed for multi-county regions to raise awareness of the role retail, accommodations, tourism, and entertainment businesses play in the local economy; determine challenges and opportunities related to those businesses; and develop and implement strategies strengthening those sectors. CREATE BRIDGES was developed through a collaborative partnership…