One of the biggest objections to tourism is that residents don't want their small town to be "Aspenized" or "Bransonized." They are afraid of becoming discovered, which could lead to big development, increased land values and cost of living, and loss of the small town way of life they love. In the past five years tourism has seen some big changes. Large numbers of travelers have lost interest in cookie cutter restaurants, lodging and attractions. Instead, they want local food, local attractions and connection to the lifestyles of local people. This has lead to huge new trends - the Slow Food Movement, Authentic Tourism, Geotourism, Agritourism, Heritage Tourism and more.

 

Geotourism is all about preserving local culture. Heritage tourism is getting visitors onto the backroads looking for historic churches, quilt barns and traditional crafts. Authentic tourism attracts visitors who like to see things just the way they are. The Slow Food Movement is getting people off the Interstate and into small town restaurants, where local cafes serve up their own specialties. There is a ready market of interested visitors for small towns that are prepared to grow a tourism sector.

 

Preparing for tourism requires that a rural community take a critical look at itself.

 

It isn't necessary to hold big scoping sessions and do SWAT analysis to get started moving slowly to incorporate tourism into your economic mix. Look at your region with a tourism lens. Do you already have visitors coming to fish, hunt, river raft, and hike? Without that tourism lens, it is easy to miss the value and opportunity of the traffic that outdoor recreation is already generating. In the little farming community of Tulelake, California, thousands of visitors drive through the town on their way to bird watching and hunting in the national wildlife refuges. One resident opened a bed and breakfast, and offered birding driving tours, capturing enough of these travelers to make a good living. Another entrepreneurial resident who sells auto supplies and sporting goods put in an espresso bar. Tulelake is slowly capturing the opportunity created by their location near an existing outdoor recreation destination.

 

Rural tourism is vastly different from urban tourism.

 

Rural tourism is about small locally owned businesses that support families. Rural tourism is about community and economic development. The reality for small towns and rural regions is that there is no money for business attraction.

 

The good news is that by building a tourism sector, a town is also implementing a business attraction strategy. Most business owners in small towns, who aren't born there, are first attracted to the community as a visitor. Check this out by asking business owners in any successful small town with an active tourism economy. These successful towns focused on strategies for welcoming new businesses and making it easy to open up shop and the tourism industry took care of the marketing.

 

Agritourism is providing small family farmers another income stream, by capitalizing on their way of life as a product. U-pick opportunities, farm tours, dude ranch type programs, and community supported agriculture bring urban dwellers that live a few hours away onto farms to learn more about where their food comes from and to buy local.
Also from the Center for Rural Affairs:
There is a developing broad agreement among researchers, policy advocates and others that the traditional economic development models of industrial and business recruitment simply do not meet the needs of rural communities.
Entrepreneurship has been lifted up as an economic development model that will better serve rural people and rural places. For example, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City states that, "Rural policymakers, who once followed traditional strategies of recruiting manufacturers that export low-value products, have realized that entrepreneurs can generate new economic value for their communities. Entrepreneurs add jobs, raise incomes, create wealth, improve the quality of life of citizens and help rural communities operate in the global economy." Federal rural policy must begin to recognize the importance of entrepreneurship as a rural development strategy and provide the resources necessary for rural people and rural communities to leverage the spirit, creativity and opportunities entrepreneurship creates.
Asset- and wealth-building strategies are equally important. Greater income alone cannot lead to economic well-being for individuals and families; asset- and wealth-building through home ownership, business ownership or enhanced education lead to important long-term psychological and social effects that cannot be achieved by simply increasing income. While income is an important factor, income can be achieved nearly anywhere in varying degrees. Assets, like businesses, bond one to a place and help to build sustainable communities. A commitment to rural asset- and wealth-building strategies like microenterprise development can lead to a stronger individuals, families and communities.
Agriculturally-based entrepreneurship and innovation must also continue to play a vital role in rural development policy and can be easily linked to microenterprise development. Recent efforts on "regional flavor" and agri-tourism demonstrate the connection in rural areas. Agriculturally-based entrepreneurship can contribute to the creation of jobs and businesses in rural communities and to the alleviation of poverty in the same communities. Programs that promote a new generation of farmers and ranchers and which provide incentives for entry into agriculture also benefit the development of rural communities and their institutions. Beginning farmer and rancher programs also provide opportunities for the advancement of agriculturally-based enterprises among a new generation of rural entrepreneurs.

 

Many rural communities have self-employment and small business ownership rates many times greater than urban areas. Small businesses are also the job creators in much of rural America. In the Great Plains region, for example, nearly 70 percent of recent job growth came from non-farm proprietorships. To allow for continued creation and expansion of rural businesses and employment opportunities, resources to rural small business development must be enhanced. Hmmmm....food for thought........