RURAL TOURISM NETWORK
SHARED INFRASTRUCTURE
Made for rural and small-town destinations.
Rural Tourism Network pools research, strategy, and technology across rural destinations, so places with one-person teams and tight budgets get the data, tools, and reach of somewhere ten times their size.
In our 2025 national survey, rural destinations reported budgets under a million dollars and one- or two-person teams, while visitation keeps climbing. The work is growing faster than the capacity to do it.
Building the data, technology, and reach to compete against far bigger destinations is more than any single small place can do alone.
That's the gap we want to close.
Rural tourism runs on local champions who are at full capacity.
THE PROBLEM
68
DMOs in the 2025 Report
16
states represented
69%
cite limited capacity as top challenge
79%
report growing visitation
WHAT WE DO
Build it. Share it.
1. RESEARCH
Know where you stand
The State of Rural Tourism report and free diagnostics show what rural destinations need and benchmark against peers.
2. DESIGN
Strategy that fits
Regional strategy and collaboration scaled to your budget and your team, not a big-city playbook handed down.
3. RUN IT
Share the platform
Shared discovery platforms, like Upstate, put your region in front of travelers under your own brand, with data every member owns.
What our work looks like
Flagship Platform
A discovery brand focused on rural New York State that engages travelers across their journey with data and marketing opportunities for DMOs and businesses. The Finger Lakes pilot is live.
Upstate
Original Research
The first national look at rural DMOs includes 68 organizations across 16 states. The 2026 survey is underway. Plus a survey of 176 New York City residents measuring how many nearby travelers actually know what's a few hours upstate, demonstrating the awareness gap Upstate closes.
Industry Surveys
Regional Planning
Rural destinations plan stronger together than alone. We lead strategic plans built around entire regions: trails, byways, and multi-county partnerships—rather than siloed plans that stop at the county line.
Strategic tourism
UPSTATE MEMBERSHIP
Join for free. Grow with your neighbors.
DESTINATION MARKETING ORGANIZATIONS
Free to start
Listings on the discovery platform
Cross-county discovery & regional reach
Regional analytics access
Co-branded editorial content
TOURISM BUSINESSES & OPERATORS
Free to start
Verified business listing
Editorial feature eligibility
Pass check-in inclusion
Visitor data reports
- Take the 2026 Survey
- Take the 2026 Survey
The 2026 State of Rural Tourism Survey is live.
Open to rural tourism organizations, business owners, and residents. Takes about 6–9 minutes.