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Agritourism offers new opportunities
Look closely at the wide open spaces of western Nebraska. What do you see? If you answered sandhills, sagebrush and beautiful sunsets, you're only partially right. There's more out west ... much more. It's called opportunity, and it abounds in the rural lifestyle which home folks take for granted.
Among those recognizing that fact is Nebraska's Third District Congressman, Tom Osborne, who Thursday hosted an agritourism conference at the Haythorn Land & Cattle Co. ranch south of Arthur.
"Lifestyle is a big deal, and we take it for granted and don't market it," Osborne told Chris Clayton, a staff writer for the Omaha World-Herald. However, slowly but surely, more and more people in western Nebraska are seeing the possibilities.
Here in Southwest Nebraska, for example, two tourism projects are now taking shape. One is Wine Group International, a venture which will focus on luxury wine group tours and and unique wine events. After months of planning by Robert and Suzanne Holland of Benkelman, the idea is about to become a reality. The first event will be a dessert wine tasting, scheduled June 11 at the Dusty Farmer Restaurant in St. Francis, Kan.
Then, on July 11-14, the Hollands will host the Firecracker Golf and Wine Tour. The tour group will visit three PGA golf courses in western Nebraska, including Heritage Hills in McCook. A highlight of that tour will be a gourmet supper, scheduled to take place July 11 at the Bieroc Cafe in McCook.
More ventures are on the horizon for Wine Group International, including participation in the Art Car Tour on U.S. Highway 6 in August.
Another tourism enterprise preparing to make its debut is "Gold Green Grain Expeditions LLC." Conceived by Roy Cushing of Imperial, the Three-G group will conduct guided bus tours of Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota and Nebraska.
A photographer and former over-the-road truck driver, Cushing said he became impressed with the grandeur of the Golden Plains and is now arranging to share it with tour groups starting in Denver and circling through the four-state region. "We will explore the history, nature and resources" of the area, he said.
Other tourism programs are already in existence in Southwest Nebraska, including guided fishing outings, hunting experiences hosted by farm families and premiere bed-and-breakfast stays. But, as Congressman Osborne points out, there is still great potential for tourism development. We need to take another look at the wide open spaces of western Nebraska. When we do, we will see that tourism can produce a new kind of gold for the already Golden Plains.