The Edmonton Regional Tourism Group (ERTG), of which Strathcona County is a strong partner, is proud to announce the approval of their Rural Alberta Development Fund application for $1.23 million.
The ERTG was originally formed in 1999 involving 23 municipalities surrounding Greater Edmonton.  Its purpose is to promote rural tourism day trip activities outside metro Edmonton. 
The group was established to provide low cost (or no cost) opportunities for small rural operators to achieve market readiness and promote products and/or services.  Operators include greenhouses, U-picks, bed & breakfasts, farm tours, rural events, rural cultural and historic venues, aboriginal and French tourism and rural businesses of all types.
The ERTG’s Rural Alberta Development Funded project is an innovative public/private sector partnership with a three-year strategy that will:

• build and sustain rural tourism and rural growth;
• form leadership in rural diversification with a pilot project to define rural ag-tourism as a permitted land use with Sturgeon County (the lead in this pilot project)
• enhance learning and skill development opportunities for rural tourism organizations with a Rural Tourism Certification program, a grass roots collaboration in public/private sector partnerships
• enhance community capacity to provide rural families, cultural, and historic organizations with new skills, networks, collaborative marketing strategies, and rural tourism business incubators to connect to the metro marketplace of Edmonton.

This project will result in an improvement to the quality of rural life by adding vitality to our rural agricultural community; creating opportunity for young farmers to be profitable on the farm; economic growth with new tourism dollars injected into our communities; and positive health outcomes promoting healthy living and eating. 
The Edmonton Regional Tourism Group continues to create critical, strategic and financial partnerships through public and private sectors with municipal, provincial, and federal links. Operator driven initiatives and pilot projects, such as the Country Soul Stroll and the Visit the Country Guide, have inspired our rural operators, producing tangible results – increased profitability and new tourism dollars into their communities.
We are bridging the urban-rural disconnect by bringing farm and city folk together with educational/ experiential tourism. We are connecting children with farms, and engaging seniors. We are networking consumers with producers and encouraging top-level chefs to specialize in regional cuisine.