Such organizations are located in a distressed county or distressed area as per the Appalachian Regional Commission.
Stakeholders can Adopt an organization (government, for profit, nonprofit).
Environment. Many organizations are creating nature based tourism businesses. We hope to be a positive influence and mediator with sponsored stakeholders. In short, ecotourism does not mean being outside, but instead a niche market that should be well guarded
Economy. Due to past leaders failing to diversity the economy over a staggering 75+ year period, much of our 5 state service area has spent the last 5-25 years investing in ways to stimulate their economies with tourism growth. Currently, ASTC believes that many of the distressed counties are still crawling out this economic depression.
However, it should be noted that many localities have put in years of work and should be applauded for their accomplishments.
Society. At first glance, this may seem like ASTC is trying to get counties to be held back so that others can catch up. Some may argue that this goes against our core value of fairness. However, ASTC is simply calling upon philanthropic motives to help organizations catch up.
The tourism regions of KY, VA, and WV, do no not need to catch up with NC and much of TN, but find ways to work together and complement each other.
If interested, please see our Adopt an Organization Program information page to see what counties apply, and how to get started
Please provide us with feedback on this program or any recommendations.