Each October, rural community leaders and tourism professionals from Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee gather to share ideas, network, and learn about best practices to create opportunities for community and economic development. One of the constant themes is preserving what makes each of these communities its unique self. As Ed McMahon, Senior Resident of the Urban Land institute in Washington DC, has presented a powerful case for “Uniqueness” as well as cases for regionalism in rural communities. This idea of uniqueness is firmly rooted in the principles of geotourism.
This year, the AL-MS-TN Rural Tourism Conference was hosted in Natchez, Mississippi, a town with deep river roots, a strong sense of history, and shared pride in their heritage. ExploreTRV had a front seat to the conference that explored such topics as Keeping Your Downtown Vibrant, Tourism Trails Systems, and Culinary Tourism. The Conference provided an opportunity to ExploreTRV Board Director, Linda Lewanski to make a presentation for the Tennessee River Valley Geotourism project to the attendees. Linda also hosted a table to educate attendees about the project’s regional impact. The Board shares in Mr. McMahon’s sentiments that small communities need to work together and capitalize on the natural assets that so many rural counties share.
Next year’s event will be hosted in Sweetwater TN, a community steeped in Native American history and named by early settlers for the springs that are located there.
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