In this episode, I chat with Natalie Randall, Executive Director of the Utah Tourism Industry Association (UTIA). Natalie and I talk about her interesting background in tourism and economic development and what brought her to her current position. We talk about life in Monticello and the thousands of miles she drives across Utah focusing on the the work of tourism advocacy and education for UTIA. Natalie explains the Transient Room Tax and the debates over how it should be used, the Tourism Marketing Performance Fund, Foreign Independent Travelers, and the Red Emerald Initiative (an extension of Utah’s Mighty 5 campaign). We talk about the growth in rural tourism in Utah, rural tourism challenges and opportunities, rural main streets, and the loss of rural youth to Utah’s cities. Natalie explains how her rancher father-in-law serves as sounding board and reality check for rural issues. We talk about Natalie’s favorite stretch of Utah highway and end, as always, with the Road Trip Music Question.

If you want to find out more about me or the Rural Towns Project, please go to https://www.ruraltownsproject.com/

Podcast music: “A Happy Day” by codemusic, http://www.jamendo.com, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/