• Survey of Rural Challenges
  • Small Town Speaker Becky McCray
  • Shop Local video
  • SaveYour.Town

Small Biz Survival

The small town and rural business resource

A row of small town shops
  • Front Page
  • Latest stories
  • About
  • Guided Tour
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • RSS

Take your locals on a local tour

By Becky McCray

Last week, two local tours caught my eye. No, not local as in “my town,” local as in “taking your local people to see what’s local.”

Hamilton County, Indiana, was taking their tourism staff out for a tour:

Some of our staff is touring the county today to get acquainted w/ Hamilton Co.’s history! What are your fave historical attractions here?

— Hamilton County CVB (@8GreatTowns) June 6, 2013

For tourism staff, imagine how much more they can say about local attractions when they’ve just been there. Imagine how much better they can do in social media interactions with the history fresh on their minds.

And Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada (where I spoke in January), was taking their entire economic development team around: Planners, Building Inspectors, EDOs, Heritage & Culture, Bylaw. 

Tour guide Chris Baird leads us across #norfolkcounty today checking out latest development twitter.com/investnorfolk/…— NorfolkCounty EcDev (@investnorfolk) June 6, 2013


I suggested they follow up with a tour for their local media, educators, business owners, or bankers. They play a big part in economic development, too.

Remember:

  • Locals suffer from “never been there” syndrome. They may live right next to an attraction, but they’ve never been there.
  • Things change. Who ever told you small towns never change was lying. Small towns change, and pace of change is faster than ever. I’ll bet even you would be surprised what’s changed in your small town in just the past five years.

What locals will you take on your next local tour?

New to SmallBizSurvival.com? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Get our updates.

  • About the Author
  • Latest Posts

About Becky McCray

Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.
  • How small town businesses can market to remote workers and turn them into new customers - May 15, 2023
  • Survey of Rural Challenges 2023 results - May 8, 2023
  • Rural and small town ideas from the OU Placemaking Conference IQC 2023 - April 5, 2023
  • Rural tourism trends say small towns are still cool - March 27, 2023
  • Move Your Money and Bank Local - March 22, 2023
  • Using a building as a warehouse or storage in a small town? Put up a sign - March 13, 2023
  • How to get customers in the door of small town and rural retail stores - February 19, 2023
  • Check your small business website for outdated pandemic changes, missing info - January 31, 2023
  • Rural Tourism Trend: electric vehicle chargers can drive visitors - January 15, 2023
  • 2023 trends for rural and small town businesses - December 26, 2022

June 11, 2013 Filed Under: economic development, tourism

Wondering what is and is not allowed in the comments?
Or how to get a nifty photo beside your name?
Check our commenting policy.
Use your real name, not a business name.


Don't see the comment form?
Comments are automatically closed on older posts, but you can send me your comment via this contact form and I'll add it manually for you. Thanks!

Howdy!

Glad you dropped in to the rural and small town business blog, established in 2006.

We want you to feel at home, so please take our guided tour.

Meet our authors on the About page.

Have something to say? You can give us a holler on the contact form.

If you would like permission to re-use an article you've read here, please make a Reprint Request.

Want to search our past articles? Catch up with the latest stories? Browse through the categories? All the good stuff is on the Front Page.

Partners

We partner with campaigns and organizations that we think best benefit rural small businesses. Logo with "Shop Indie Local" Move Your Money, bank local, invest local Multicolor logo with text that says "Global Entrepreneurship Week" Save Your Town logotype

Best of Small Biz Survival

A shopkeeper and a customer share a laugh in a small store packed full of interesting home wares.

How to get customers in the door of small town and rural retail stores

Rural Tourism Trend: electric vehicle chargers can drive visitors

Wide view of a prairie landscape with a walk-through gate in a fence

Tourism: Make the most of scant remains and “not much to see” sites with a look-through sign

Holyoke Hummus Company cart

How one food business keeps adapting, from table to cart to truck, to restaurant and back again

Make extra money from extra workspace: co-working and 3rd workplaces in small towns

Newspaper story headline says, "Made in Dorrigo Markets a bustling success"

Boost your maker economy with a “Made in” day

More of the best of Small Biz Survival

Copyright © 2023 Becky McCray
Front Page · Log in