Tourism opportunities in Americas Great Outdoor Initiative

Conservation is big on the national policy agenda, and that may spell opportunity for rural tourism.

Last week, I listened in on the National Rural Assembly Webinar Series: Exploring Rural Policy Opportunities. Speaker Anita Brown-Graham, Director of the Institute for Emerging Issues at North Carolina State University, lead us through some of the opportunities for rural issues in the current policy environment.

America’s Great Outdoors Initiative calls for national cooperation around conservation. It involves the federal, state and local governments, land trusts, tribal leaders, and everyone else you can think of. In fact, it includes you: convention and visitors bureaus, small businesses, trails, local development groups, etc. All of us. This is a pretty big chance to bring your local people and your visitors together to protect the assets that bring you tourism in the first place.

The Initiative will support a 21st century conservation agenda that builds on successes in communities across the country, and will start a national dialogue about conservation that supports the efforts of private citizens and local communities. [Source: Department of Interior.]

I think you could take this idea, and use it as the driving force behind any number of projects to help conserve and protect our great outdoors. As a starting place, look at the Organizer’s Toolkit for Listening Sessions.

What are you doing to involve your visitors in protecting your places?