On April 25th, Alexis Foster proudly represented the Cavaliere Critical Conservation Lab on a field trip organized by Dr. Christina Cavaliere and Kathryn Metzeger [Program Manager, CSU Tourism & Conservation Graduate Programs]. Dr. Cavaliere represents CSU on the Colorado Tourism Office Destination Stewardship Council, where she interacts with Colorado tourism stakeholders to support sustainable tourism management in the state. In this instance, Visit Longmont serves as a wonderful destination management organization to provide experiential learning for our students in the Master of Tourism Management program. The students in Dr. Cavaliere’s NRRT 609 Tourism and Conservation course started the field trip by attending a guided tour at Jack’s Solar Garden, where they learned about agrovolterics and the connection to tourism. Next, the group enjoyed a lunch break at the Parkway Food Hall, bringing culinary tourism into the experience. Then, a conversation with Ryan Kazee from Angles Sport Ski Board and Fly Shop brought local tourism business perspectives to our learning goals for the day. Finally, a discussion with Sarah Leonard, the Chief Destination Stewardship Officer at Visit Longmont, was held with the students about how the DMO is approaching and implementing elements of the new Colorado Destination Stewardship Strategic Plan. A heartfelt thank you to Dr. Cavaliere, Kathryn, and all the dedicated community leaders for organizing such an impactful field trip. Overall, the students had a great time exploring sustainable tourism management in the field and were inspired by all the learning experiences and conversations. CSU would specifically like to thank Visit Longmont and Sarah Leonard for their kind support in sponsoring the student visit! Please see the video below for a recap of the student experiential learning in the field:
Cavaliere Critical Conservation Lab