North Carolina will receive a $6.4-million investment to launch a new economic recovery program that is focused on tourism, a report said.
The Supporting and Strengthening Resiliency in North Carolina’s Travel, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation Sectors Initiative will aid in developing and implementing strategies to revive the state’s travel and tourism sectors that struggled with economic loss due to the pandemic.
“The travel, tourism, and outdoor recreation industries are major contributors to North Carolina’s economy, bringing people here from all over the world and making our state a great place to live and work,” said Governor Roy Cooper. “Investing in the resilience and growth of this sector is the right thing to do for our entire economy.”
Robeson County’s Accomodation and Food Service sector comprises 9.27% of employment, as per the NC Department of Commerce. Retail Trade accounts for 13.33% of the jobs available across the county. Meanwhile, the Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation sector provides only .28% of the total employment within the county.
Through the United States Economic Development Administration Tourism Grant, this latest project will provide a wide array of programs and services to help in the growth of the state’s tourism, travel, and outdoor recreation industries—even the gear manufacturing sector—while boosting the resilience of the state.
The program will capitalize on North Carolina’s natural, cultural, and other tourism assets. It will also expand the outdoor recreation industry in North Carolina in under-served rural communities which includes communities that are part of the N.C. Main Street program.
In addition to strategic economic development planning services to support for workforce development, the initiative will develop strategies to encourage travel and tourism that are in line with CDC guidelines.
In order to advance rebuilding and recovery of the tourism, outdoor recreation, and travel sectors, the initiative will tackle the following:
- Workforce training that improves the skills and job opportunities for industry workers
- Economic development planning and coordination that is responsive to the state’s post-pandemic recovery
- Technical programs that assist the regional economies in its pandemic recovery
“North Carolina’s hospitality sector is dependent on a strong economic recovery,” said N.C. Commerce Secretary Machelle Baker Sanders. “With the right partnerships, North Carolina will create a more resilient economy for these industries and the thousands of small businesses and workers that rely on visitor spending.”
The N.C. Department of Commerce’s Rural Economic Development Division, the N.C. Pandemic Recovery Office, Appalachian State University, the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, and the N.C. Restaurant and Lodging Association will work together on the initiative and support the following program components:
- Appalachian State University | UPLIFT NC Program (Understand, Plan, Link, Innovate, Finance and Tell): UPLIFT NC will work with rural and under-resourced communities to strengthen and connect tourism sites, services, and businesses.
- North Carolina Department of Commerce | Outdoor Recreation Economy Strategic Planning and Asset Development Program: This program will develop asset-based economic development strategies to identify growth opportunities in the outdoor recreation sector.
- North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association Foundation | Tourism and Hospitality Workforce Development Program: This niche workforce program will deliver a robust offering of tourism and hospitality training and certification courses to new and existing employees in the hospitality industry.
- North Carolina’s Outdoor Recreation Industry Office | Statewide Outdoor Recreation Industry Network Program: The program will develop a network that will foster the outdoor recreation industry statewide by promoting, connecting, and supporting businesses within this sector, with a specific focus on increasing outdoor recreation gear manufacturing within the state.
- North Carolina Department of Commerce | N.C. Main to Main Trail Program: The trail is a community economic development initiative that will leverage the state’s natural assets with the historic downtown districts that provide goods, services, and amenities to attract and enhance the visitor experience and regional connectivity.
The North Carolina tourism industry contributed over $29 billion to the state’s economy in 2019, and 11% of its workforce.
Although visitor spending fell by 32% after the outbreak, N.C. State Parks‘ visitors increased by 1.2 million compared to 2019.
This story originally appeared on The Robesonian.