Regional and Community Development
Tourism has vast potentials in all locales. The Experience Co-Evolution Group’s
approach is called the Regional Revitalization and Empowerment Strategy (RRES).
The term “revitalization” relates to communities, diversifying their economies
through creative and cooperative approaches, and “empowerment” relates to
individuals – strengthening and supporting individual achievement through
experiential education. The RRES encourages a grass-roots approach for
empowering regions and people to develop tourism and other complementary
industries (e.g. agriculture, arts and music, entrepreneurship). The
foundational principles build on creating new educational platforms emphasizing
environmental awareness and protection.
Accomplishing this multi-faceted approach involves educating people
about the criticality of the human-nature relationship, and the utilization of technologies
for beneficial purposes to expand cooperative and sustainable models for
community development.
The Regional Revitalization and Empowerment Strategy (RRES) is comprised of
three primary “Initiatives” 1) Education, 2) Branding/Marketing, and 3)
Developing New Technologies.
Initiative I – Education: Creating a
tourism, agricultural and community economic diversification institute—the “Rural
Innovation Institute” (RII) providing technical assistance for tourism,
value-added agricultural, energy, intentional communities and other endeavors.
The RII provides access to information and technical assistance, with an
entrepreneurial focus. The RII supports
holistic economic development strategies focused on tourism, innovation in
agriculture and small business development. Additionally, the RRI will aim to
create a network of on-site, hands-on training seminars for local “trainers” to
create a network of “tech-transfer associates” throughout regions. The
initiative will partner with regional organizations and businesses to develop
educational outreach programs.
Initiative II – Branding/Marketing:
“Experience Your Region” regional tourism destination branding (national and
internationally marketed) – the actual
“brand/trademark” will be developed from the initiatives, since individual
regions will create their own unique brands.
Regional branding is marketed both nationally and internationally as
“Experience Your Region”, as experiential tourism destination(s). The purpose
of this initiative is to expand experiential tourism in the region, based on
existing tourism attractions and those developing, in addition to the existing
and developing infrastructure.
Initiative III – Developing New
Technologies: Supporting both the Education and Marketing aspects of the RRES
are access portals for people and communities everywhere, and for domestic and
international travelers to find travel opportunities.
The purpose of these new technologies is to provide: 1) a complete “package” of
answers to questions that travelers might have, 2) customized information about
the places they are/will be traveling, and 3) support for rural communities and
small businesses to market themselves. Additional technologies support the
creation of a “virtual” university providing practical education tools,
including: tourism, creative and cooperative approaches, and entrepreneurship.