March 19, 2008        1:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Utilizing Nature for Good Business

Ecotourism has been defined as tourism to places having unspoiled natural resources, with minimal impact on the environment being a primary concern. North Dakota’s beautiful prairie provides the perfect location for a start up business utilizing nature and the March Strom Entrepreneurial Leadership Series event will give you tips on how to start or enhance your own ecotourism business.

Keynote Speaker

Jeremy Garrett, keynote speaker, is the founder and principal of NaTour Communications, a private consulting firm started in 2002 focused on the planning, development, and implementation of nature and eco-tourism products. Demographics have shown that the same people interested in ecotourism are also interested in cultural/historical tourism and visiting smaller communities. This group of people engaged in “experiential travel” visit regions where they can experience all three – like in North Dakota. Combining an academic background in wildlife ecology and communications, Garrett strongly believes in providing local areas with the knowledge and skills needed to effectively market their region and natural attributes.

NaTour Communications offers a host of services to promote natural destinations including target marketing and destination representation; website design, hosting and management; special events planning and promotion; wildlife and interpretive trail design and marketing at the local, regional, and state levels; publication development; public relations and lobbying campaigns; and effective training to staff and volunteers. For more information on Jeremy Garrett and NaTour Communications, visit www.natour.us.

Workshop Sessions

Following the keynote presentation, participants will have the opportunity to attend one of three sessions focused on ecotourism and experiential travel.

When registering, please select which session you are interested in attending.

• Ecotourism and Legal Considerations - Attorney Derrick Braaten will explain environmental and agricultural laws that may affect ecotourism.
   
• Marketing Ecotourism in SW ND - Jeremy Garrett will speak about marketing an experiential travel business. A local ecotourism business owner will tell about the challenges and rewards of starting a nature-based business.
   
• Been There, Started That: perspective from an ecotourism business owner.