Outdoor NC
North Carolina is beautiful, from the 6,000-foot peaks on the western border to the 100-foot sand dunes on the East Coast. It’s no wonder millions of people visit our state every year. To help communities mitigate the impact of all that attention, Visit NC launched destination stewardship programming under the Outdoor NC brand. This programming balances the quality of experiences for visitors with the well-being of residents while conserving natural and cultural assets. The Outdoor NC stewardship programming provides participants with turnkey resources to raise awareness, activate projects and celebrate positive outcomes.
Outdoor NC consists of four partner programs. If you would like to learn more about any of the new Outdoor NC programs, contact Amanda Baker at 919-447-7765.
Outdoor NC Partner Alliance
The Outdoor NC Alliance Partner Program harnesses best in class programming and offers access to destination stewardship resources for businesses, organizations and tourism management stakeholders. Partners will receive the Outdoor NC toolkit, which includes rights to the use of 7 Outdoor NC Leave No Trace Principles, and marketing and educational materials such as brand assets, social media content, and training resources. The program offers tiered partnerships starting at $300, providing valuable tools for promoting responsible travel.
Outdoor NC Trail Town Designation
The Trail Town Stewardship Designation Program equips NC tourism partners with knowledge and tools to foster responsible travel, accessible outdoor recreation and sustainable tourism. The result is helping our partners preserve nature, contribute to resident well-being, and improve visitor experience for all.
Outdoor NC Guide Program
Outfitters and guides play a critical role in the tourism industry and have a profound impact on visitors’ experience in the state. Guides and outfitters are in a unique position to be leaders in protecting our natural spaces by being leaders in stewardship and educating and inspiring visitors to do the same. By participating in the Outdoor NC Guide program, they will become a trusted partner leading to more recognition and promotion on a statewide level.
Outdoor NC Accessibility Toolkit
The Outdoor NC Accessible Outdoor program aims to increase information transparency so individuals can make informed decisions about exploring NC's outdoor spaces based on their abilities. The program includes a suite of tools which are free to partners and stakeholders throughout the state.
This full suite of tools includes guidance and resources to help make North Carolina’s destinations and outdoor spaces more accessible. It contains an ADA asset inventory sheet, accessible outdoor communication guidance, recorded webinars, and more.
Education/Resources
Accessible Outdoors Communications Guidance
Statewide Trail Assessment
Hannah Caitlyn Guschel, a second-year Occupational Therapy doctoral student at West Virginia University, collaborated with Visit NC on a Capstone Experience to improve travel for people with disabilities in North Carolina and make the state's sites and experiences more accessible to everyone with a focus on our Outdoor spaces.
To use this information in a press release or reference it, the official name of the study is “Visit North Carolina: Trail Accessibility” and the credit line should read:
This study was prepared for Visit North Carolina by Hannah Caitlyn Guschel, a West Virginia University (WVU) Occupational Therapy doctoral student, and collaborators Amanda Baker and Marlise Taylor at Visit North Carolina (NC).