TOUGH QUESTIONS: What does a heritage tourism coordinator do?
El Paso County has a full-time employee dedicated to promoting heritage tourism. So, what exactly does the job entail? El Paso County has a full-time employee dedicated to promoting heritage tourism, Dr. Cynthia Renteria, who is leading the county's effort to promote the rich history of places like the Mission Valley. Earlier in 2024, El Paso County Commissioners voted to spend up to $500,000 on the marketing campaign. Renteria's role involves projects related to historic preservation and heritage tourism planning, projects and policy. She also mentioned the need to market the Mission Trail to outside, as broadly as possible, and to locals. The county has a strategic plan for heritage tourism and historic preservation.
Publicados : 10 meses atrás por https://www.facebook.com/cbs4local, John Purvis no Travel
El Paso County has a full-time employee dedicated to promoting heritage tourism. So, what exactly does the job entail?
"What I am looking at is projects that deal with historic preservation and heritage tourism planning, projects and policy," was the answer El Paso County Heritage Tourism Coordinator, Dr. Cynthia Renteria, gave CBS4's John Purvis.
Renteria is a historian who's now leading the county's effort to promote the rich history of places like the Mission Valley.
Earlier in 2024, El Paso County Commissioners voted to spend up to $500,000 on the marketing campaign.
"We have a scope of work that'll be put out to competitive bid pretty soon," said Renteria, "And it's a comprehensive approach that includes cultural ambassadors, or heritage tourism ambassadors, that includes marketing, that includes technical assistance, that includes bloggers, vloggers, tourist magazine writers."
Purvis asked, "Is the key to attracting people getting the word out, just letting them know about the history?"
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Renteria replied, "Absolutely. I think we need to market the Mission Trail to outside, as broadly as possible, but to locals as well."
Renteria said the county has a strategic plan for heritage tourism and historic preservation.
But what makes her job complex is dealing with so much history in the Borderland which reaches much further back than when Juan De Onate first arrived in 1598.
For example, some of the pictographs visitors can see at Hueco Tanks State Park in East El Paso County may date back more than 5,000 years.
"So, El Paso's an incredibly historic place, right?" Renteria said, "It is on the border, you know, in the middle of two countries, basically three states. We have so many layers of history that tell the history before the Spanish era, during the Spanish colonial era and beyond."
Renteria added that El Paso is still making history today because of the current political and cultural debates surrounding immigration and border security that continue making headlines in both the U.S. and Mexico.
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