"Borrego Experience" Preps for Launch
Press Release, June 20, 2019: The Borrego Experience Geotourism program, a partnership program led by the Borrego Village Association (BVA), is creating an interactive website featuring unique and authentic visitor experiences in Borrego Springs and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. The BorregoExperience.com website will highlight the Borrego community and the Park’s world-class natural, cultural, and historic sites, attractions, and tourism businesses through an interactive website expected to launch in Fall 2019. Borrego Springs offers modern travelers a way to explore the unique nature and history of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (the Park) and experience world class adventure.
“The best travel advice comes from people who live here,” says Jim Dion, BVA Executive Director. From 2005 to 2015, Dion was with the National Geographic Society. He led the development of an international program to increase knowledge about sustainable tourism and destination stewardship. “We are inviting residents, community organizations, tourism stakeholders, and local businesses to help identify the places and experiences that capture the unique character and beauty of Borrego Springs and the Park,” Dion says. “The Program invites people who care to visit here and help us support what makes Borrego Valley so special.”
A community-based nomination process will be used to create the interactive website, including links to other informative web pages, all covering Borrego Springs and the surrounding Park. Local residents are invited to nominate unique landmarks, attractions, activities, businesses, and events that define the Borrego Experience – and its distinctive appeal. Participation in the project is free, and there is no cost to be featured on the website. There are also examples on the website to guide the nomination/submission process.
“The Park encompasses one of the west’s most important desert ecosystems because of its abundance of cultural and natural resources” says Bri Fordem, Executive Director of the Anza-Borrego Foundation. She adds the Program’s goal is to engage a larger community of tourism Stakeholders, especially local business, that can be linked to, and benefit from, tourism to Borrego Springs and the Park.
Also weighing in is one of Borrego’s most active community leaders, Jim Wermers, BVA Vice president and owner of both The Mall and the Center Market/Performing Arts Center complex. “The BVA is pleased to have the opportunity to spotlight our community and the Park, and, in doing so, support and sustain it as one of the most significant tourism destinations in the United States.” The website, adds Wermers, will highlight the villages abundant cultural, agricultural, and historical attributes from the unique vantage point of those who live here.
To browse and/or get started on your nomination process, go to the website at BorregoExperience.com. And be sure and mark your calendar for the upcoming Public Forums: Wednesday, July 17th and Wednesday, July 24th 3:00pm-4:30pm, in the Borrego Springs Library Conference Room.
This project is made possible by a Neighborhood Reinvestment Program grant from the County of San Diego, Board of Supervisors