|
|
Vacationland
Resources Committee (VRC)
Our mission is to promote sustainable tourism*
practices in Down East Maine.
* The World
Tourism Organization describes sustainable tourism as "a model
form of economic development...[I}t is development
of the physical community, the social environment, and the economy which
meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs."
Newsletters
Our newsletters
are published three to four times each year. Click below for .pdfs of each of them.
January
2011 Newsletter
October 2010 Newsletter
April 2010 Newsletter
January 2010 Newsletter
October 2009 Newsletter
Washington County Nature Tourism Survey
Results
Few recent county-specific studies exist to guide the
decisions of local business owners, natural resource managers, and local
organizations working on sustainable tourism development. A 2009 University
of Maine at Machias research project, funded by the Center for Tourism
Research & Outreach (CenTRO) was designed to
provide Washington County tourism stakeholders with information about
travel patterns, the consistency between visitor expectations and their
satisfaction, and by identifying tourism promotion needs in the
region. For more information about the project, contact aednie@maine.edu.
Download 1 page
summary
Download
full report
Check out the "Discover
DownEast & Acadia" Map
Please note, this
is a very large (12MB) file and may take a long time to load. It
will print poster-size. Limited printed copies of the map are
available from the Washington County Council of Governments.
Please email Judy East if you
would like one.
Listen here
to VRC members Sherry Churchill, Fred Cook, and Natalie Springuel
discuss
nature-based tourism
with Ron Beard on
WERU's
"Talk of the
Towns"
broadcast on Sept.
25, 2009
Some of our
current projects include
(click on
icons for more information):
and the
Down East Nature Based
Tourism Initiative
*** DESTINY
2010***
The VRC has also written “A Resource Guide for Sustainable
Tourism in Down East Maine and Southwest New Brunswick”. Tourism
businesses and destinations have identified a need for better access to
resources for greening their operations and incorporating best practices in
various aspects of sustainable tourism. Responding to this need, the
VRC joined forces with Maine Sea Grant, The Sunrise County Economic
Council, DownEast & Acadia Regional Tourism
and the Washington County Council of Governments to write and submit a
grant to the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment to prepare the
guide.
Vacationland Resources Committee (VRC) is
a group of business, environmental and planning professionals, extension
agents, volunteers and tourism providers working together on sustainable
tourism projects in eastern Maine. VRC wrote the sustainable
tourism plan DESTINY
2010 (Down East Sustainable Tourism INitiative Year 2010)
for Maine's Hancock and Washington Counties, and has sponsored workshops
and conferences to encourage businesses to incorporate and highlight
sustainable practices.
Interested in being part of VRC? New
members are always welcome. Click here for
more information and send us an email!
|
VRC Members:
Barbara Arter, BSA Environmental Consulting
Sherry Churchill, Savory Bay Environmental Planning and Project Management
Stephanie Clement, Friends of Acadia
Harold Clossey, Sunrise County Economic Council
Fred Cook, DownEast & Acadia Regional Tourism
Judy East, Washington
County Council of Governments
Alvion Kimball, Bucksport Bay Area Chamber of Commerce
Barbara Maurer, Down East RC&D and DownEast
& Acadia Regional Tourism
Misha Mytar, Maine Department
of Conservation
Sarah Nugent, Down East
Business Alliance, Washington Hancock Community Agency
Jennifer Peters, Sunrise County Economic Council
Phil Savignano, Maine Office of Tourism
Meg Scheid, Saint Croix
Island International Historic Site
Natalie Springuel, VRC Chair, Maine Sea Grant
|
|
Some of Our Past Events
- Marketing Your DownEast
Tourism Business, November 13, 2008
- Sustainable and Experiential
Tourism Workshop, March 17, 2006
For
more information on the Vacationland Resources Committee contact:
Barbara
Maurer
Phone: (207) 546-2368
Down East
RC&D
FAX: (207) 546-3859
PO Box
210
e-mail: dercd@downeastrcd.com
Cherryfield,
ME 04622
Please take advantage of the e-mail link
above and write and tell us what you would like to see on this web page,
such as links to business training opportunities, links to
ecotourism projects around the world, locally written articles on what is
going on in Down East Maine, or suggestions of other projects you
would like to see the committee pursue.
Press
Release Archives:
|
|
