Realigning Highways, Tourism and the Environment tour offered by Chamber

Tourism, transportation and the environment will be among the topics explored during the Pathways to Prosperity Trek being produced by TahoeChamber in partnership with the North Lake Tahoe Chamber of Commerce and the Tahoe Prosperity Center. Basin business and civic leaders will travel by bus to Monterey Bay, Livermore and Sacramento in an effort to learn how other communities have succeeded in their quest for prosperity and environmental sustainability.

The communities to be visited have faced similar challenges to those in the Tahoe Basin, including moving a highway, sub-standard wages, high unemployment, environmental challenges and diverse populations with disparate interests. The Trek will take place June 5, 6 and 7th.

The first evening will be spent in Monterey at the Intercontinental Clement Hotel right on the waterfront adjoining the Aquarium. The afternoon session will be spent in dialogue with transportation specialists and civic leaders. Dinner is planned in a most unique environment with several guests from Monterey joining us.

We will kick off Wednesday with the Monterey’s, City Manager Fred Meurer for a lively breakfast discussion. A panel of senior Aquarium and tourism officials will then share their stories in describing how the Aquarium came to be and how the community has integrated stewardship and the environment into a tourism experience. Participants can expect to hear about the journey, challenges and successes. The group will travel to Moss Landing for lunch on the coast and a visit to the Research Institute to learn how the institute complements tourism and provides high salary jobs.

The final destination on Wednesday is Livermore where we’ll meander the downtown area to visit with local shop and restaurant owners. We’ll ask to hear the impacts of their highway re-routing on individual businesses as well as for the community as a whole. The group will dine in a restaurant that was impacted by their highway re-route. While in Livermore the group will also have an opportunity to engage in conversation with several civic leaders and ask them the hard questions on why they moved their highway and how they got it done, and most importantly – did it work?

On our way back to Tahoe we’ll stop in Sacramento to meet with government and media officials.

Space is limited. Reserve your space at tahoechamber.org or call 775-588-1728. The cost for this trip is $650 per person and a deposit and registration are due by May 24th with final payment due May 31st. For those willing to share a room there is a $100 reduction in cost.