Developing Organizational Capacity and Collaboration

Breaking It Down | Action Plan | What’s Next | Case Studies

Taking a Systems Approach To Unlocking the Potential of Trail Tourism

Communities often assume that once a trail is built, tourism and economic benefits will automatically follow. However, without a coordinated system of partners, clearly assigned roles and active management of the trail economy, much of the potential value can be unrealized.

Research on successful trail economies consistently shows that outcomes are not driven by the trail alone, but by how well the surrounding system is organized. Key factors include strong connections to downtowns and destinations, the presence of businesses and amenities, coordinated marketing, and linkages across communities, which require partnership and ongoing management, reinforcing the need for a defined trail tourism operating system.

When considering organizational capacity in the context of trail tourism, it’s about far more than staffing and resources. In this context, capacity addresses the need for a clear operating model for trail tourism; defined ownership of critical functions, such as marketing, business development, maintenance and funding; the ability to coordinate across sectors and jurisdictions; and systems to capture, measure and reinvest economic activity. This makes the difference between a “nice trail” and a productive trail economy.

Breaking It Down

The management, funding, branding and maintenance of a trail often span multiple jurisdictions and ownership of operations by several organizations. These may include but are not limited to local and regional government, economic development organizations, trail groups, transit authorities, tourism organizations and state agencies.

Most trail organizations rely on limited staff, volunteers, part-time coordinators or municipal employees who serve in many roles. When they work together, trail professionals along with tourism offices, parks departments, economic development groups, public works and public safety, transportation planners, landowners, Tribal partners, and volunteer organizations can unlock new funding, broaden their marketing reach and create seamless visitor experiences.

In practice, many of the most common barriers to trail tourism, such as disconnected business districts, lack of services and weak visitor awareness, are not infrastructure failures, but coordination failures. Research on trail economies highlights that physical proximity alone is not enough; trails must be connected physically, visually and programmatically to nearby communities and businesses to generate economic impact. High-performing regions treat trail tourism as a shared economic development initiative, not a siloed parks or transportation project.

Additional needs must be considered in low-resourced, low-capacity communities.Particularly in rural regions, fragmented coordination is often compounded by limited staff, volunteer burnout and a lack of dedicated funding. In these situations, success depends less on building new organizations and more on strategically leveraging existing ones, such as chambers of commerce, Main Street programs, and regional or rural development hubs, while supplementing local capacity with external service-based workforce programs. At the same time, rural regions often have high levels of social capital and entrepreneurial activity, critical assets that can be leveraged to strengthen capacity and support a trail tourism economy.

According to Factors to a Successful Trail Economy (Camp and Petyk), creating a cohesive and successful trail experience requires communication with other trail-related businesses. But research shows that many businesses in small and rural communities want greater access to training, peer learning and coordination regarding trails, but do not always know where to find it. In one survey, 81% of businesses without access to training indicated they would like it, highlighting a clear opportunity for trail communities to play a convening role.

Communities across the country are increasingly using programs like AmeriCorps VISTA, Conservation Corps and the International Economic Development Council Economic Recovery Corps to fill critical capacity gaps. These programs can provide dedicated, on-the-ground support for functions such as trail coordination, business engagement, data collection and grant development, often at a fraction of the cost of full-time staff.

Rather than viewing limited capacity as a barrier, successful communities treat it as a design constraint, building lean operations where local partners provide leadership and continuity, and external programs provide targeted support to move projects forward. This approach allows communities to begin making progress quickly while laying the groundwork for longer-term staffing and investment.

Making It Actionable 

The following outlines a plan of action for developing the organizational capacity and collaboration needed for an effective trail tourism operating system.

1. Establish a Clear Governance and Operating Model (Not Just a Working Group)

Many communities form “working groups” that meet regularly but lack decision-making authority, accountability or defined outputs. This is insufficient for building a trail economy.

Instead, define a functional operating model that makes clear named leads for each core function; expectations and deliverables of group participants; formal and informal decision-making structures; and mechanisms for accountability.

Trail tourism requires coordination across four primary systems:

It is important to consider how each of these systems is developed and deployed, and the role that key parter partner organizations, government agencies and stakeholder serve in supporting trail tourism. The table below is a tool for you to map your strategy for building capacity and collaboration.

2. Move from Coordination to Co-Production (Joint Ownership of Outcomes)

Basic coordination like meetings and updates is not enough to develop a function trail tourism operating system. High-capacity systems move toward co-production, where partners jointly design and deliver outcomes. Examples of what this might look like include:

• Joint marketing or storytelling campaigns (DMO, businesses, Main Street organizations)
• Co-created events (trail organizations, chambers of commerce, business districts)
• Shared funding strategies (local government, EDO regional partners)
• Aligned business recruitment strategies (EDO, Main Street. developers)

3. Treat Business Development as a Core Trail Function (Not a Byproduct)

One of the most consistent gaps in trail tourism is the assumption that community participation, increased visitation and resulting revenue growth will simply emerge, when in reality, it requires intentional planning and strategic collaboration. Many of the most cited “success factors” for trail economies—such as coordinated marketing, event programming and seamless visitor experience—can only be achieved through cooperation among partners, not independent action. What’s more, these are the outcomes that will inspire future business development.

Challenges in leveraging trails for economic development are amplified by a range of factors. Many businesses do not recognize the trail as an economic asset. Few businesses or local governments track trail-related revenue. Most need guidance to adapt their offerings. Many want training, peer learning and clearer insight into trail user needs.

In partnership with West Virginia University, RTC led a study that found that businesses often had not considered trail-specific marketing or services until they were personally engaged. Many expressed interest in collaboration once prompted. Clustering and intentional mix of businesses significantly increase trail-tourism impact. This means business development must be actively managed as a strategy to reach its full potential.

Activating the trail economy is often among the highest-return-capacity investments available in many communities. To do this effectively, consider the roles of key stakeholders and actions that should be considered.

Key roles:

• Economic Development Organizations / Rural Hubs: Recruit and support businesses.
• Chambers of Commerce: Organize and educate businesses.
• Main Street Organizations: Connect trail users to downtown districts.
• Trail Professionals: provide data and advocate for the opportunity

Critical actions:

• Conduct regular business outreach and education.
• Share trail user data and spending estimates.
• Conduct local business surveys.
• Identify gaps in the business mix (lodging, food, services).
• Support clustering of trail-oriented businesses.

As you explore how best to organize businesses as a core trail function, consider these sample organizing models from Missouri’s Katy Trail and South Carolina’s Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail.

Trail-oriented development is an important complement to a trail town strategy and beyond. Several resources can support your pursuit of trail-oriented development:

• The Urban Land Institute: Active Transportation and Real Estate
• RTC Webinar: Trail-Oriented Development: How Trails Create Connected Communities
• Houston-Galveston Area Council’s Trail-Oriented Development Primer
• Central Ohio Trail Town Framework Expansion

4. Build a Data-to-Decision Pipeline

Advanced trail tourism systems use data not just to report activity, but also to guide investment, partnership strategy and destination management. The strongest models combine multiple types of data to move from simple head counts to a fuller picture of visitor value and market opportunity.

A mature system connects trail counts, trail-originated spending and strategy. Here is a break down of the core elements that underscore a mature trail tourism operating system.

Trail Counts → Demand

Use trail counters and visitation data to understand volume, seasonality and where use is concentrated. In the C&O Canal study, National Park Service (NPS) visitation data was paired with geo-location data to estimate total visitor volume and identify where visitors were coming from. That made it possible to distinguish overall use from tourism-driven visitation and to understand monthly demand patterns.

User Profiles → Behavior

Visitor surveys help explain who is using the trail, how far they traveled, whether they stayed overnight, what other places they visited and what motivated the trip. The C&O Canal analysis combined intercept surveys, online surveys, geo-location data, and NPS statistics to understand visitor origin, travel behavior and movement across communities. The study found that trail visitors traveled an average of 354 miles, visited an average of 3.6 Maryland towns and 3.2 counties, and often visited multiple communities during a single trip.

Spending Estimates → Economic Value

To translate visitation into economic development terms, connect visitor profile data to spending and impact analysis. The C&O Canal study used IMPLAN modeling and for impact purposes counted only “true visitors,” people who traveled more than 50 miles one way or stayed overnight, and then narrowed further to “main purpose” visitors whose primary reason for being in the area was the park. That approach helps communities avoid overstating impact and gives policymakers more credible numbers. In that case, qualifying visitors generated more than $309 million in spending, supported 3,902 jobs, and produced $235.5 million in economic impact across the region.

Business Data Collection → Opportunity Gaps

Spending data becomes much more useful when it is broken down by category and shared with local businesses and economic development partners. The C&O Canal study showed that lodging was the largest spending category, accounting for 33% of trip budgets on average, followed by food and beverage and transportation. Main-purpose visitors spent about $105 per day and $335 per trip. That level of detail can help communities identify where to recruit or support businesses such as lodging, food, shuttle services, outfitters or trail-friendly retail, and where existing offerings may be leaving spending on the table.

The next step is to pair visitor and spending data with direct business input. Business surveys are not just a diagnostic tool; they are an opportunity to gather inputs that can help you build capacity. Regular surveys or interviews with local businesses can reveal where operators see unmet demand, seasonal fluctuations, staffing constants, product gaps or missed opportunities to better serve trail users. Equally important, the process of collecting data often drives behavior change, sparking new ideas among businesses and partners.

Communities that do this well regularly share data with partners and businesses, use data to justify funding and policy changes, and adjust strategy based on real trends.

5. Align Capital, Policy and Partnerships to Support the Trail Economy

Trail tourism becomes most powerful when it is embedded in economic development strategies, regional growth frameworks and downtown and rural revitalization efforts. The most advanced trail tourism operating systems go beyond coordination and actively shape policy and the flow of capital to enhance regional goals. Examples include:

• Using tools like Tax Increment Financing (TIF) or similar mechanisms to reinvest growth. Learn more at the Federal Highway Administration’s report, “Value Capture: Capitalizing on the Value Created by Transportation” by the Federal Highway Administration
• Supporting access to capital through CDFIs, small business loans and grants. Learn more how to structure partnerships with CDFIs and identify financing pathways for trail-oriented businesses in the Genesis Community Loan Fund’s CDFI 101 Toolkit.
• Aligning zoning and land use to encourage trail-oriented development. Learn more using this “Trail Oriented Development Playbook” as a practical guide outlining zoning strategies, design standards and incentives to align land use, housing and economic activity around trail corridors to support walkable, connected communities and leveraging the trail to spur development.
• Reducing barriers for small and local businesses. Explore strategies for keeping small businesses in place as development occurs in this toolkit by the University of Maryland’s Small Business Anti-Displacement Network and in this step-by-step checklist designed to help communities attract and retain the right mix of downtown retailers by leveraging market data, preparing sites and incentives, and coordinating outreach with property owners, brokers and local stakeholders.

6. Plan for Long-Term Sustainability

Building a trail is just the beginning, but sustaining a thriving trail tourism ecosystem requires long-term planning for staffing, volunteers, funding and organizational resilience. Many trail organizations struggle because their systems rely heavily on a few dedicated individuals. When those people move on, burn out or shift roles, momentum can stall and critical knowledge can be lost. Long-term sustainability means creating structures that can weather turnover, funding gaps and changing community priorities. 

Sustainability also means anticipating how visitor needs will evolve. As trail tourism grows, expectations for amenities, programming, marketing and maintenance increase. Without a clear plan, communities can find themselves scrambling to keep up with demand or missing key opportunities. 

Strategies for building long-term sustainability include: 

• Diversifying your volunteer base by recruiting youth, families, affinity groups and corporate volunteer teams. A broader pool keeps programs resilient and reduces burnout. 
• Developing multiyear funding strategies, including a mix of grants, sponsorships, tourism dollars, annual fundraising and long-term endowments. 
• Documenting processes and institutional knowledge so operations do not depend on a single person. 
• Creating leadership pathways for volunteers and community members to take on more responsibility over time. 
• Celebrating success and telling the story of local champions and their impact to keep public enthusiasm and political support strong. 
• Reviewing and updating your partnership structure every one to two years to ensure alignment and shared accountability. 
• Integrating trail work into broader community plans—economic development plans, parks plans, tourism strategies—so the trail remains a priority even as leadership changes. 

When leadership roles, processes and funding streams are clear and shared, the trail and the tourism benefits it generates can grow without overwhelming any single person or organization. 

What’s Next?  

The following are suggested next steps organized by trail tourism readiness level. Use the “Trail Tourism Readiness Assessment Tool” to identify the phase that best fits your community.

In-Development

Conditions: The prospective trail or network is led by one or two champions or advocates, with limited formal structure, minimal coordination, and early-stage engagement from partners and institutions.

Focus: Establish early coordination, define roles, and build a foundation for partnership so the trail is developed alongside a clear strategy for economic impact and long-term sustainability.

Next Steps:

1. Build awareness and early community support: Engage local leaders, businesses and residents through outreach, meetings and storytelling to build buy-in, reduce resistance, and position the trail as a shared community and economic asset.
2. Begin tracking trail use data: Start collecting baseline data such as counts, user observations or simple surveys to understand demand, support funding applications, and inform future planning and investment decisions.
3. Engage chambers of commerce, Main Street and economic development early: Bring business and economic partners into planning discussions from the beginning to build awareness, shape strategy and ensure the trail is positioned as an economic opportunity.
4. Define economic goals alongside trail development: Establish clear goals for visitation, business growth and community benefit so trail planning aligns with economic outcomes and creates a shared vision among partners and stakeholders.

Local Favorite

Conditions: The trail has limited dedicated staff and strong local support but lacks capacity for consistent programming, coordinated marketing, or formal partnerships across organizations and sectors.

Focus: Establish a clear organizational structure, define roles and build strong collaboration among key partners to create a foundation for coordinated programming, promotion and future growth.

Next Steps:

1. Formalize roles across organizations (city, trail group, DMO): Clarify responsibilities across core partners, including operations, marketing and business engagement, to reduce duplication, improve accountability and ensure all key trail tourism functions are covered.
2. Host a partnership summit to align on goals: Convene key stakeholders to define shared priorities, identify opportunities and build relationships, creating early alignment and momentum for coordinated trail tourism efforts across organizations.
3. Identify early business engagement opportunities: Start engaging local businesses to assess needs, share trail user insights and identify quick wins such as extended hours, basic amenities or trail-friendly services that enhance visitor experience.
4. Create a shared events and marketing calendar: Develop a simple, shared calendar of events, promotions and programming to improve coordination, avoid conflicts and increase visibility of trail-related activities across the community.

Regional Destination

Conditions: Trail/trail network has core leadership, is integrated with regional tourism efforts and is able to host programs/events. Trail leaders are working with local tourism boards/officials.

Focus: Build on existing momentum to refine systems, strengthen coordination across communities, and scale economic impact through more intentional alignment of partners, data and business development strategies.

Next Steps:

1. Formalize a regional coordination structure: Establish a defined regional leadership group or coalition with clear roles, decision-making processes and regular coordination to align priorities, share resources and guide networkwide implementation.
2. Align business development strategy across communities: Coordinate business recruitment, support and marketing across communities to reduce duplication, fill service gaps and create a cohesive trail economy that functions as a unified destination.
3. Implement consistent data collection and sharing: Standardize trail counts, visitor surveys and business data collection across the network, and create shared systems to analyze trends, guide investment decisions and communicate economic impact.
4. Secure shared or dedicated staff roles: Identify funding to support shared or dedicated staff responsible for coordinating partners, managing programs, supporting businesses and advancing regional priorities across the full trail network.

National Destination

Conditions: The trail/trail network has dedicated staff capacity, engaged community partners and active volunteer support to deliver signature events and consistent programming. Destination marketing organizations actively promote the trail as part of regional campaigns. Trail leaders coordinate with neighboring trail communities along the corridor and align with broader regional efforts on marketing, programming and visitor experience.

Focus: Institutionalize and expand the system.

Next Steps:

1. Formalize governance and funding structures: Establish a formal backbone organization with decision-making authority, multiyear budgets and diversified funding streams including public funding, philanthropy, sponsorships, and mechanisms for capturing value generated by the trail to ensure long-term sustainability.
2. Deploy advanced data and impact modeling: Implement ongoing systems that track visitation, spending and business performance. Use tools like IMPLAN and mobility data to analyze and understand trail use and guide investment, refine marketing, and support funding and policy decisions.
3. Mentor neighboring communities to support network expansion: Provide technical assistance, peer learning and shared tools to neighboring communities. Build a broader regional or multistate identity that connects destinations into a cohesive trail tourism network equipped for future growth.
4. Invest in dedicated trail tourism staff: Secure funding for full-time staff responsible for coordinating partners, managing programs, supporting businesses and driving implementation to ensure the trail economy is actively managed, not passively supported.
5. Integrate trail tourism into regional economic strategy: Embed trail priorities into economic development, transportation and tourism plans. Align investments with workforce development, small-business growth and downtown revitalization to position trails as drivers of regional competitiveness.
6. Deliver premium visitor experiences and brand identity: Develop signature trail features, multiday itineraries and consistent branding across the network. Position the trail as a destination experience that attracts visitors and encourages longer stays and higher spending.

Case Studies

Collaborating With Key Stakeholders for Long-Term Success of the Durham Greenway, North Carolina  

The City of Durham committed significant public funding for the Durham Greenway through annual budget allocations and multimillion dollar voter-approved bond issues. This dedication of public resources helps secure a long-term funding mechanism for operations and upkeep.  

The stakeholder coordination required to secure this support involved a complex mix of local government departments, advocates and policymakers, demonstrating the need for strong, broad organizational capacity. Responsibilities for trail development and implementation are spread broadly across multiple departments and partners. This complex coordination includes leveraging expertise and time from the city’s Street Services Department, Transportation Department, and Parks and Recreation Department.  

The long-term planning and implementation require the sustained effort of a broad set of partners, preventing the burden from falling on just one or two champions. Consider this approach to extend the capabilities and share responsibilities across your trail system.