The Walker College of Business is at the heart of a movement to develop community-based tourism in North Carolina that was recently featured in a news post from The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, a research center of the Smithsonian Institution.
The article announces that the Center is partnering with UPLIFT to offer workshops and mentorship to support and develop festivals and experiences for visitors and communities.
The UPLIFT North Carolina Program —UPLIFT stands for Understand, Plan, Link, Innovate, Finance and Tell — is co-led by Dr. Carol Kline, a professor in the Walker College's Department of Management and director of Appalachian State University's Hospitality & Tourism Management Program.
The Smithsonian partnership is one way Dr. Kline and her team are working to connect tourism sites, services and businesses regionally, across borders, to support local leaders and practitioners in realizing their vision for tourism in their communities.
“We are so excited to be working with the Center to bring their knowledge and experience to support rural North Carolina communities in their efforts to build vibrant local tourism economies based on their natural and cultural heritage,” said Simon Jones of NatureScapes, who also co-leads the UPLIFT program with Kline, North Carolina State University's Joseph D. Moore Distinguished Professor of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, Dr. Kofi Boone, and NatureScapes' Jesa Valla.
“We are so excited to be working with the [Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage] Center to bring their knowledge and experience to support rural North Carolina communities in their efforts to build vibrant local tourism economies based on their natural and cultural heritage."
Read the full post online, Center Partners with UPLIFT to Develop Community-Based Tourism in North Carolina.
The UPLIFT Program works with rural and under-resourced communities to support the tourism vision of local leaders. UPLIFT is funded by Federal award 04-79-07689 from Economic Development Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce as part of the American Rescue Plan Act. UPLIFT is working alongside communities to implement economic-building strategies for the recovery of North Carolina’s travel and tourism industries that suffered economic losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Learn more about UPLIFT and its program leads and team on the UPLIFT North Carolina webpage.
Image from UPLIFT Program
Smithsonian Institute