$100 million recommended for Maine's rural tourism

Maine Public Radio airs Adams-Catlin Professor of Economics David Vail who authored a report on behalf of the Maine Center for Economic Policy recommending the state invest $100 million in tourism efforts for Maine's rural areas.

Lessons from Rural India

"Does the road less travelled appeal to you? If yes, then you're on the right track" so goes the opening statement to Explore Rural India. The Wall Street Journal gives a good account on what Rural Tourism means to Indians.

Behind eight swaying curtains lies India's online rural showcase to the world: An image gallery, brochures, visitor appreciation, a visual gallery, events, a slideshow, rural sites, and visitor feedback. Behind the image gallery curtain, for example, India is classed by colour to highlight its many cultures and features: Pure White, Green Tea, Mustard Yellow, Water Colour, Deep Purple, Stone Grey, Mystic Maroon and Technicolour. One can search rural India by destination, by map, and by circuits (routes). The Product Showroom displays local arts and crafts with contact information to the artisan.

A click on Kumbalanghii, for example, takes us to a place of indigenous fishing, crab farming, prawn culture, coir making and boat building. Bunavasi takes us to a most ancient spiritual centre of India. 28 such sites are presented.

Small-Town-Big-Idea-Man LaVerne Erickson wins Alberta Tourism Award

Alberta Tourism Awards Committee has announced small town tourism visionary, LaVerne Erickson, winner of the 2010 Alto Ambassador Award for his outstanding contributions to Alberta’s tourism industry. They state "Erickson has demonstrated how big ideas can make small towns in rural Alberta huge tourism destinations".

LaVerne Erickson founded the Rosebud Theatre in Rosebud Alberta (now Alberta's largest professional rural theatre) and the Chemainus Festival Theatre in Chemainus, Vancouver Island, and the Canadian Badlands Performing Arts Summer School in Drumheller, Alberta.


“Like a true visionary, his energy, passion, cooperative spirit and innovative ideas create synergies that would not otherwise materialize,” notes Bob Davis, Executive Director of the Rosebud Theatre. “LaVerne can see, feel and believe what might be possible. His favorite saying is ‘A rising tide lifts all ships’ – a phrase that inspires people to this day to continue the work he helped start.”

Community-based Rural Tourism in Costa Rica

ACTUAR, the Costa Rican Association of Community-based Rural Tourism, supports sustainable tourism and the rural lifestyle of Costa Rican families. You can experience the authentic rural lifestyle and indigenous culture while getting involved in local conservation efforts. ACTUAR arose in 2001 from the first Ecotourism Gathering, organized by United Nation’s Small Grants Program. ACTUAR is a member of The International Ecotourism Society and the Rainforest Alliance.

ACTUAR's goal is to show the real Costa Rica, an experience that's not pre-packaged with set photo opportunities. They want one that's run by local citizen organizations.

Over 90 Nebraska Maps feed U of Nebraska's Rural Initiative

 94 maps are available as a rural resource to residents of Nebraska via the University of Nebraska's Rural Initiative, including terrain, bedrock geology, demographics, surface and groundwater, crops, infrastructure, trails, canoeing, pasture-fed meat producers, GIS and others.

These maps form one of the four pillars for rural resources in the State: website search of rural resources, rural development programs, internet access, and Nebraska maps.

The Wineries Map, for example, displays 12 existing wineries, and lists 8 soon-to-be-open wineries, their location and web/email contact link. There is a renaissance in the Nebraskan wine industry. The Nebraska Trails Map shows all historic and recreational trails in the State. The Scott Lookout Trail, for example, lists the management, length, usage and surface type of the trail. Other maps of interest to the rural tourist include: Christmas Tree Growers Map, the Nebraska Speed Limits Map,  and the Nebraska Game and Parks GIS Land Atlas.

These maps can be accessed via Nebraska Rural Living, "the brainchild of two sisters who returned to their small town rural roots". Their mission is to market the rural lifestyle, spotlight the successful rural entrepreneur, highlight amenities, and provide links to rural resources in Nebraska.

"During our years living out of Nebraska, we read dismal articles describing the out-migration of rural Nebraskans, the declining farm economy, and drought. However when we visited back home, we noticed prosperous entrepreneurial businesses, safe streets, a nurturing quality of life for families, excellent schools and affordable housing. We also noticed communities seemed to be well governed, by citizens who cared."

Rural RoundUp returns to Winnemucca

Winnemucca (cowboy country) celebrated Nevada's 20th annual Rural RoundUp 24-26th March 2010 and hosted the State's Rural Tourism Conference. Nevada Lt. Gov. Brian K. Krolicki says it's "one time each year [rural tourism stakeholders] can learn new tactics to market their areas or events". The event is marketed to an international audience.

Speaker Roger Brooks, with Destination Development held an educational session on “The New Age of Rural Tourism”. He spoke about attracting new business, new residents and increased tourism spending, about what rural communities have done, and are doing, to put themselves "on the map" and on the road to long term success.

Travel advertising specialist with Google, Ryan Denny, spoke about the "Top 10 Wins" on on-line advertising, measuring success, and your Website.

Publication Link: Effects of Population Migration on Rural Tourism

Effects of population migration on rural tourism The recent non-metropolitan turnaround in the USA has resulted in population migration from large cities to small towns and countryside. The marketing opportunity presented to rural tourism comes with significant challenges for its sustainability. The focus of literature on rural tourism sustainability has been more on the environmental and socio-cultural protection of the intrinsic qualities in the countryside, but less on the economic viability and marketing feasibility of rural tourism.

Agri-Tourism Vision 2020

The Indian State of Maharashtra, India, recently unveiled its 10-year Agri-Tourism Vision 2020, according to TravelBizMonitor.com.

The main goal is to allow farmers to retain their farm and stay on the farm; that, in a speech at the Maharashtra State Agri & Rural Tourism Co-operation Federation (MART) national convention on Agri-Tourism, by managing director Pandurang Taware.

Other points in Vision 2010 include:

• Government should have a separate policy for Agri-Tourism. Financial institutions like public and private sector banks should support farmers by lending money to invest for farming.
• The primary objective of Agri-Tourism is to sell farm products produced by farmers and not the development of hospitality infrastructure.
• Tourism stake holders like tour operators and travel agents should support this segment (Agri-Tourism) by selling these destinations.
• Government should look after capacity building of farmers and promotion of Agri-Tourism, both domestically and internationally. Government of India should include Agri-Tourism in their marketing initiatives on the lines of promotion of other tourism segments.
• Basic infrastructure such as roads, drainage, toilet facilities, have to be maintained and developed at Agri-Tourism destinations.
• Income generates from Agri-Tourism has to be treated as agricultural income.

"The soul of India lies in villages", states Pradeep Kumar Jain, Minister of State for Rural Development, Government of India.

"Over 97 per cent of the city crowd were ready to travel over 300 km to experience the rustic beauty of village life,” said Taware, in a report by The Punekar.

Eagles are main attraction in AgriTourist events

Photographers flock to watch eagles in an agricultural setting.

The village of Sheffield Mills, Nova Scotia, Canada, hosted its 19th Annual Eagle Watch event this winter, 2010. Also, Carson Valley, Nevada, USA, held its 8th Annual Eagles and Agriculture Event this past winter. These events bring economic activity into rural areas.

Post any other eagle or bird watching events that attract tourists to rural, agricultural settings.

Diversity is key to rural tourism in Punjab, India

Tribune Photo taken by Kulbir Beera

Gurcharan Singh Mann is an exceptional, quality farmer in Tungwali village, Bathinda District, Punjabi region of India. His farm has been selected under the Punjab Rural Tourism Plan, because of its diversified farming and related ventures, reports Chandigarh Tribune of India and the Global Sikh News.

Mann believes that diversification is lucrative and is key to attracting visitors and business partners. Aside from, or instead of, cotton and paddy, he's into fish, honey, orchards (banana, jamun, amla, ber, guava, pomegranate, apples, aloe vera), mixed timber and other crops (including turmeric and red chilly for Agmark), bio-gas, mushrooms. He has converted over 40 acres of former sand dunes into a destination spot.

Punjab Agricultural University awarded Mann the Parvasi Bharti Award in 2005 for diversification. Mann believes one needs to adapt and to adopt.

Follow the Quilt Trail in Northeast Tennessee

Six counties in Northeast Tennessee, including Greene, Carter, Johnson, Sullivan, Unicoi and Washington Counties have joined together to create the "Quilt Trail" reports the Greenville Sun. The Appalachian Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Council's Quilt Trail is shown inside a colourful brochure on a map. Along the trail are barns and other structures with replicas of large quilts. The brochure shows photos of each quilt square and, for the more "technologically-savvy tourist, the brochure includes Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates for the quilt locations."

In interviews with the coordinator of the Appalachian RC&D and Director of Tourism for the Green County Partnership, the Greenville Sun reports that "the Quilt Trail helps tourists enjoy country scenery while protecting family farms by boosting agri-tourism" and ""With the increasing popularity of outdoor recreation and agri-tourism, the Quilt Trail is but another tool that tourism can use to promote our area as a vacation destination as well as promote agri-tourism businesses.