Park City Chamber announces 2023 Sustainable Tourism Grant recipients

The Park City Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau has announced the recipients of its first-ever Sustainable Tourism Grants. Candidates were awarded up to $30,000 each to fund sustainable tourism projects that will support the objectives outlined in the chamber’s Sustainable Tourism Plan.

The chamber said 42 organizations applied for the grants and a chamber committee made the determination of which would receive the money.

The selected to receive funding were Alf Engen Ski Museum, Arts Council of Park City & Summit County, Canyons Village Management Association, Deer Valley Resort, Friends of Ski Mountain Mining History, fulFilled, High Country Fly Fishing, Mountain Mediation Center, Mountain Trails Foundation, National Ability Center, North Summit Unite, Park City Conservation Association dba Recycle Utah, Park City Film, Park City Museum, Park Silly Sunday Market, PC Trails & Open Spaces, Prospector Square Property Owners Association, Summit Land Conservancy, Swaner Preserve and EcoCenter and The Housing Resource Center.

“The purpose of the grant program is to engage the entire community to help achieve the goals and objectives of the Sustainable Tourism Plan,” said Jennifer Wesselhoff, president and CEO of the Park City Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau. “In order for the plan to be successful, the entire community must embrace the efforts to balance a thriving economy while protecting our quality of life and protecting our environment. This grant is a great tool to help actively engage stakeholders in this robust 10-year plan.”

The Sustainable Tourism Grant program is only one component of the overall, long-range Sustainable Tour-ism Plan, an initiative intended to create a future where Park City considers community and environmental benefits with the same weight as economic benefits and demonstrates the chamber’s ongoing commitment to  manage tourism and foster conscious practices that preserve the natural environment and support local communities, Wesselhoff said.

“The selection process for the award was difficult as we had a large number of deserving organizations to choose from,” said Morgan Mingle, director of sustainable tourism at Park City Chamber and Visitors Bureau. “Each application showcased initiatives that demonstrate the positive transformation sustainable tourism can bring to not only Park City, but greater Summit County. I am looking forward to seeing the impact the selected concepts make on our community.”