Park City Chamber Joins the Global Sustainable Tourism Council
The Park City Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Bureau (PCCVB) has just been announced as the newest member of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC).. The addition comes after PCCVCB completed its draft of Utah’s first community-based sustainable tourism plan, which aims to become a premier US ski resort for green ski tourism. Joining the GSTC is helping to position PCCVB as a global leader in sustainable tourism, and its plan will be presented to Park City and Summit County Councils for approval in the fall of 2022.
“Our scenic beauty and recreational amenities, as well as our proximity to Salt Lake City and its expanded international airport, mean that tourism-related pressures, such as traffic and crowded venues, put pressure on our lifestyles and environment. After inviting GSTC to conduct an assessment last year, we embarked on a community-wide project to develop a Sustainable Tourism Plan. We are very excited to be joining GSTC in adoption and implementation, a logical and impactful next step that we believe will benefit Park City and Summit County.”
Park City is a key player in Utah’s efforts to host the 2030 or 2034 Winter Games and is a premier ski resort in the United States. Originally founded as a silver mining town in 1884, the town fell into disrepair after the mining collapse before reinventing itself as a ski town and becoming a year-round destination in the 1960s. It is home to two premier ski resorts, Deer Valley Resort and Park City Mountain Resort, the largest in the country with 7,300 square kilometers of skiable terrain. Having already hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics, PC has also become known as the home of the world famous Sundance Film Festival.
The partnership came at just the right time as a recent opinion poll revealed broad support for any Olympic bid and their sustainability credentials could well play a significant role. A recent poll by Deseret News and the University of Utah’s Hinckley Institute of Politics found that 79% of Utahns support hosting more Winter Games, only 16% oppose it, and 5% don’t know. Beehive State residents seem genuinely wanting another Olympics, as four-fifths of Utahns support Salt Lake City as a venue for the 2030 or 2034 Winter Olympics.
Park City takes great pride in being an eco-friendly travel destination. It is the first mountain city in North America to operate a fleet of zero-emission buses and has already reduced its carbon footprint by more than 70,000 tons since 2005. Additionally, the Park City government is aiming to be net carbon free and running on 100% renewable electricity for city operations by 2022, with hopes of making the entire community carbon neutral by 2030. Park City even goes a step further and is working to educate its visitors about energy efficiency, car-free travel, and responsible and respectful outdoor recreation, implementing the principles of Leave No Trace, safe encounters with wildlife, and proper litter management.
