As the Park City Chamber/Bureau and Summit County approach the three-year mark of the 10-year Sustainable Tourism Plan, the entities are joining an international group aimed at forming a co-op of destination towns.
The Collective, a partnership of nearly 30 international communities that formed to exchange solutions for the strains and opportunities of tourism economies, has similar goals to the Sustainable Tourism Plan, which was created in 2022. The effort started as a way to balance the benefits of the Park City area’s visitor economy with the community’s quality of life and the health of the environment.
The Chamber/Bureau and Summit County joined The Collective in the fall.
The Sustainable Tourism Plan was built with input from local government, nonprofits, businesses and residents, and since its launch, collaboration has been central to its progress, according to Morgan Mingle, director of sustainable tourism for the Chamber/Bureau.
“This plan is ultimately a community plan, not just ours as an organization,” said Mingle. “Our partners at the county, nonprofits and local businesses know it and use it. They call us up to ask how their projects connect to it. That collaboration is what makes this work possible.”
Mingle said those local efforts show why sustainability work can’t happen in isolation.
“We work so well together. We collaborate so well together. And that’s what makes doing this kind of work easier,” she said.
Tourism is one of Park City’s biggest employers, but it brings strain as well — from the cost and availability of housing to crowded roads and the added wear on the mountain landscapes that have attracted people here for generations.
For Mingle, the work of sustainable tourism is about keeping those pieces in balance and making sure the economy continues to thrive without undermining the community or the environment.
“It’s about balance,” she said. “Yes, the tourism economy is important to us as a driver of our local economy and major employer. But if we don’t protect community character, quality of life for residents and workforce, and the health of the environment as part of this holistic system, then the system falls apart, and you’re going to have a destination that’s not sustainable.”
Since the Sustainable Tourism Plan’s adoption, the Chamber/Bureau has connected with other communities at conferences and through informal conversations, said Mingle.
Joining The Collective formalizes those connections into an ongoing dialogue — and it comes at an essential moment, one third of the way into the Sustainable Tourism Plan, when many of the straightforward steps are complete and the more difficult challenges lie ahead.
“It feels like now was the right time to join in a more official capacity,” she said. “This provides some structure for us to have regular check-ins and touch points to really think about the work that we’re doing from different perspectives, and already it’s invited so many thoughtful conversations into the work that we’re doing on a day-to-day basis.”
The local plan remains the foundation, but global connections give Park City more tools as it faces harder questions in the years ahead, said Mingle.
“In the first years of a strategic plan, you do the things you already know how to do well,” Mingle said. “Now we’re facing harder things to tackle. Having this collective of people to reinforce or talk through our ideas, it’s really nice in this phase of the Sustainable Tourism Plan.”
Mingle said local officials are already learning from what other destinations in the alliance are trying, with members offering both inspiration and practical insight for Park City’s path forward.
For example, Queenstown, New Zealand, is taking bold steps to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Meanwhile, Copenhagen, Denmark, has launched “CopenPay,” a program that rewards visitors for making sustainable choices like riding the bus or picking up litter. And in Bend, Oregon, officials are using research to better understand how residents feel about tourism and adjust their approach accordingly.
“Sometimes they help confirm we’re on the right track, and sometimes they challenge us to think differently,” she said.
While Park City’s stewardship and sustainable tourism goals remain centered on the local community, joining The Collective is intended to reinforce those efforts by adding new ideas and support from peers facing similar challenges.
Park City and Summit County’s Sustainable Tourism Plan draws on over 80 local initiatives, including year-round free public transit, the country’s first public e-bike share program and waste-diversion projects.
Other projects in the plan focus on housing access, equity in the visitor economy and “regenerative” visitor experiences — efforts to ensure that travel leaves the community stronger than it was.
Launched as a community-wide rebrand in 2024, the Mountainkind campaign aims to frame sustainability as part of the community’s identity. It invites both visitors and residents to treat the town with the same care they would their own home — whether that means riding the bus instead of driving, choosing local businesses or being mindful on the trails.
The Sustainable Tourism Plan is also carried out through the Sustainable Tourism Grant program, which directs funding into local projects that move its objectives forward, from protecting natural areas and expanding sustainable recreation to strengthening arts and culture, improving equity in the visitor economy and reducing environmental impacts.
The grant has awarded $750,000 to local organizations since 2024.
“The Sustainable Tourism Plan builds off the same framework that The Collective uses to think through topics to consider and discuss, so it really all directly feeds into that plan,” said Mingle. “I think we’re just so well-positioned as a community to pull this off because we are so collaborative.”