Civic tourism conference promotes Fort Collins

12 Aug 2010 2037 | World Travel News

Tourism, more specifically "civic tourism," is something that must engage and incorporate the community, otherwise it will have a detrimental effect on the city, said Dan Shilling, author of "Civic Tourism: The Poetry and Politics of Place" Thursday morning at the Civic Tourism III Conference.
Shilling presented the keynote at the four-day event on “Tourism in Challenging Times.” The conference, which has drawn tourism leaders from around the country, spoke to an audience of around 50 people at the Fort Collins Marriott about the importance of civic tourism to a community."Can we create places where people want to live, not just drive-by tourism," said Shilling. "Can it (tourism) ruin a town? Yes. Does it have to? No."

Tourism can make or break a region's economy as evident by the recent political events with SB 1070 introducing controversial new immigration laws in Arizona and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, said Shilling, who reported Arizona has lost $3 million in canceled conventions in Phoenix alone and lost 30,000 jobs.

If done correctly, Shilling said tourism can enhance the community, preserve history and protect natural resources. He said visitors are not coming for sprawl, and far too many chambers are concerned with growth at all costs.

The conference wasn't held in Fort Collins by mere chance. Shilling said he often cited Fort Collins as a place that does tourism right when he tours the country. Jim Clark, president and CEO of the convention and visitors bureau, said the conference was hosted in Fort Collins, because participants are able to see some of Shilling's ideas and themes in action. Saturday, a group from the conference will tour Fort Collins on bicycles from the bike library as they explore Old Town and stop by Odell Brewing Co.

"For one thing I think if you look at what we call the product what we have here is not a manufactured out of the box product it is real," Clark said. "Some people don’t want tourism in our town, but I don’t think there are many." Philip Smartt, associate professor of natural resource management at the University of Tennessee Martin, is attending the conference and said he plans to construct a new class based on what he is learn-ing here.

"To me having tourism is not a dirty word," he said. "It does have a place in natural resource planning."

Smartt said Martin's view on tourism is that of many communities across the country, which is about how many people they can get to visit and not about utilizing the cultural amenities they have available. Smartt said he hopes to change that when he returns home by teaching them about civic tourism.

Sourced=coloradoan