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Our Focus

Our Focus

The Mahoosuc Region is already a successful tourism destination and has supported a tourism economy for over 150 years. The future trajectory of the tourism economy will have significant impacts on the community feel and fabric.

The Mahoosuc Sustainable Tourism Committee started in early 2020, after we participated in the Maine Community Destination Academy (CDA) process.

This CDA was hosted by Maine Office of Tourism and Northern Forest Center as a new approach to training and capacity building in rural tourism destination areas. During the CDA, the group explored the balance between growing visitation and managing impact, looking out over the next 10 years.
From this work, we decided to focus on a sustainable tourism approach. The sustainable tourism approach helps us find the right balance between economic impact and community impact.

Sustainable tourism approach focuses on five key dimensions, which includes:

  • Integrated with our local communities in a way that is respectful and functional
  • Provides visitors authentic, place-based, educational experiences
  • Creates lasting financial and social benefits for locals
  • Supported by public policies with organizational support and funding
  • Contributes to the health and vibrancy of our natural environment