Folks in Surry County have an opportunity to participate in an ambitious regional tourism program that will be highlighted in Mount Airy next week.
It is being spearheaded by an entity known as UPLIFT, which has a goal of supporting tourism through community-driven efforts crossing county lines in rural North Carolina.
Two meetings on the program are scheduled next Wednesday in the new Arts Center of the Surry Arts Council at 215 Rockford St., which are being presented in partnership with local tourism official Jessica Roberts.
One is a leadership session to begin at 2 p.m., with a community meeting set for 5:30 p.m., each in the Betty Wright Room of The Arts Center.
“Both are the same except for the time difference,” UPLIFT Program Coordinator Jesarela Valle advised.
Experienced team involved
“UPLIFT” stands for Understanding, Planning, Link, Innovate, Finance and Tell.
The program is supported by the American Rescue Plan Act and represents one project of several designed to address the impact from COVID-19 on the hospitality, tourism and outdoor recreation industries, its officials say.
Their UPLIFT team includes representatives of Appalachian State University and N.C. State University with experience in regional tourism and economic development.
The program also works with the N.C. Department of Commerce’s Rural Economic Development Division, the N.C. Pandemic Recovery Office, the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina and the state Restaurant and Lodging Association.
Attendees at next week’s leadership program can learn about free resources available through Project UPLIFT “for all of Surry County,” according to Roberts, executive director of the Mount Airy Tourism Development Authority, who is urging interested persons to do so.
She pointed out that those who can’t make the 2 p.m. session geared toward the leadership segment have the same opportunity at 5:30.
”Tourism incubator” included
The stated goal of UPLIFT involves supporting local tourism leaders and practitioners in realizing a vision for that industry in their community, including natural, recreational, cultural, agricultural, culinary and other areas.
Valle, the UPLIFT program coordinator, added Thursday that it is designed to provide a suite of professional development, technical assistance, networking and people who can help counties implement their tourism goals.
“For example, UPLIFT has a team that can identify, connect, edit and support grant-application efforts to finance some of the plans of the county,” Valle explained.
“We also have training in subjects like marketing, trail development, agritourism, festivals and others for residents involved in tourism.”
UPLIFT further deploys a “tourism incubator” to help businesses, sites and attractions achieve individual organizational goals, and resources to help the county promote its tourism assets.
In discussing this week how Surry can benefit, Roberts specifically mentioned resources such as regional asset maps, work on regional itineraries and connecting tourism experiences across the counties.
“Tourism, recreational and many other types of hospitality businesses can come together to network and learn about resources through the Uplift tourism initiative that can assist these types of businesses.”
The UPLIFT program is implemented in a trio of phases over a period of three years.
Regional push a key
The fact that the UPLIFT effort crosses county boundaries is important, according to program officials, as opposed to each operating on its own.
“The simple answer here is to think of the last time you went on vacation,” Simon Jones, UPLIFT team leader, said in a statement.
“Did you plan your trip around which county you were traveling to or around the things to do, places to stay, where to eat, etc.?” Jones continued.
“More often than not these cross county borders and as travelers we don’t even know it (or care) — we approach tourism regionally because that’s how people travel.”
For purposes of the regional initiative, Surry is part of a four-county area that also includes Yadkin, Wilkes and Caldwell. But residents of counties bordering those are welcome to attend UPLIFT meetings being held in multiple locations.
In addition to next week’s stopover in Mount Airy, program officials have scheduled meetings in affected communities, including a regional gathering on itinerary building on May 2 in Yadkin County.
Four similar clusters of counties are located in central, southern and eastern areas of the state, according to an UPLIFT map at www.uplifttourism.com
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