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Article: Geotourism: the new industry buzzword: 'sense of place' crucial to luring the new breed of geotourists.(real estate and construction)(Whatcom County)
- Article from:
- Bellingham Business Journal
- Article date:
- May 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Sun News, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Whatcom County does not have a SeaWorld, a Mount Rushmore or a Statue of Liberty. It has no major theme park and cannot boast the largest mall in North America, nor is it home to a deceased celebrity's mansion.
It does, however, have a sense of place.
Members of the local tourism industry are seeing that sense of place attract visitors to the area in the form of geotourism, a term coined by the National Travel Industry.
Geotourism is defined as tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of the place being visited--its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents. Likewise, a geotourist is ...