Developing Alaska Rural Tourism (D.A.R.T.) represents an 18-month long partnership between various state and federal agencies, with the goal of assisting Alaska's rural regions in the development of the local visitor industry. The agencies involved in this project include the:

• Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development (Commerce)
• U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration
• Alaska Department of Fish and Game
• Alaska Regional Economic Development Organizations (ARDORs)

The timeline for the D.A.R.T. project extends from December 2004 to June 2006. Regions selected for assistance in the project have shown an interest in the development of tourism as a means of economic growth for their rural communities. A number of the regions targeted for technical assistance within the project have faced downturns in their natural resource-based economies (i.e. fishing, timber, mining, etc.) and would like to pursue opportunities to develop the visitor industry in their areas.

Goals of D.A.R.T.

• Establish and market products or activities that will generate economic activity from the visitor industry in the local and regional economies.
• Support product development through targeted visitor industry business skills training
• Encourage public-private partnerships to address visitor industry infrastructure needs
• Assist communities in identifying potential funding sources that would achieve long-term visitor industry development goals

Services Offered by D.A.R.T.

The D.A.R.T. project strives to provide assistance to communities, at their request, to develop local visitor industries. Some of the possible services available include:

• Website development
• Market research
• Regional marketing strategy development
• Targeted technical workshops (i.e. internet marketing, risk management, etc.)
• Customer service training