Federal dollars to draw more tourists to most popular national park
WHO: National Park Service
WHAT: A team of Virginia Tech researchers have been selected to research and develop a new tourism strategy to attract more people to the Rocky Knob area of the Blue Ridge Parkway in southwestern Virginia.
HOW: The team received a $266,000 grant from the National Park Service and Blue Ridge Heritage Inc, a nonprofit created to spur economic development in the Rocky Knob region. The strategy is to be completed in 18 months.
WHY: The 500-mile long Blue Ridge Parkway is America’s most frequently visited national park, drawing more than 17.35 million visitors in 2007, according to the NPS. Shouldn’t the governments, schools and businesses that will benefit from increased tourism pay for developing the new strategy?
