Outdoor Economics Working Group

Short Term

1. Advocate for and develop funding mechanisms for outdoor recreation, river, trails development and maintenance on a local and regional scale

2. Increase the reach and effectiveness of marketing efforts, measured by the number of people following social media platforms, visiting tourism and watchable wildlife websites, and receiving newsletters

3. Marketing to encourage longer duration visits by tourists, leading them to contribute more in revenue while encouraging recreational dispersal to lessen the impacts at popular sites

Mid Term

1. Engage local stakeholders to promote the Verde Valley, especially local business and recreational user groups, and to share their stories and content on the geotourism marketing channels

2. Develop educational materials on recreating responsibly and safely and respecting habitat in collaboration with other Verde Front working groups

3. Localize existing data and identify additional data sources to track recreational use and establish a baseline for visitation to better understand capacity

4. Support research on economic impacts of recreation on the river and trails in the Verde Valley

Long Term

1. Ensure consistent messaging across platforms/websites

2. Coordinate with River Recreation and Trails Working Groups to improve connectivity across the region with public transit, bicycling infrastructure, and trail connections

3. Share research and resources with visitors and residents showing the economic benefits of sustainable recreation on the Verde River, surrounding trails, and watchable wildlife sites

4. Support VVREO’s vision and its guiding principles as outlined in its 2018 Verde Valley Economic Development Strategic Plan 

5. Leverage resources of partners including both untapped and existing funding streams 

6. Develop private sector funding similar to the “One for the Verde” program to leverage business investment in outdoor recreation that also helps sustain their own success

• Developed and successfully launched a National Geographic-partnered website and the Sedona Verde Valley website with their tourism council.

• Established a long-term business and marketing plan using a shared-funding model with the Sedona-Verde Valley Tourism Council

• Worked with the Arizona Office of Tourism to provide funding to their sustainability model

• Integrated “One for the Verde,” a funding mechanism for stream and river improvement projects, and the Red Rock Trail Fund, to support trail development and maintenance, within the Sedona Verde Valley Tourism Council efforts.

• Northern Arizona University conducted a tourism survey to provide regional information for future tourism council efforts.