"Beyond the City Lights" is the theme for this year's regional Rural Tourism Conferences being held across Ontario. Rural tourism is a growing industry with a lot of enthusiastic and creative businesses interested in partnering to make tourism an exciting option for rural Ontario.

What does Rural Tourism mean to you? Hopefully, it generates visions of the following, plus much more: country roads; agricultural fairs and festivals; garden, studio, antiques tours; road side markets; garden centres; forests and woodlots; small towns; historic sites; walking trails; swimming areas; trailer, cottage, resort, conservation areas; wineries; fishing, hunting; golf courses, spas; scenic attractions; museums, galleries, theatres; country homes, barns, mills; cultural centres; Pick Your Own.

"Beyond the City Lights" presents a series of workshops that will help champion the Rural Tourism industry and provide valuable information and ideas for both current and prospective tourism operators. The focus will be on small scale and cooperative ventures, with information and success stories that will help the audience see new ways to enhance business success and community tourism development. The cost is $55 plus GST for the one day conference which includes lunch and refreshments. Free parking is available.

The Local Conference will be held on Friday, March 1st 2002 At Ben Franklin Place in Ottawa (formerly Nepean City Hall) 101 Centrepointe Drive.

Come and network, learn and share rural tourism experiences. To register contact OATI at 1-800-668-6284. For more information visit http://www.oati.com/news/ citylights.htm. This workshop is sponsored locally by the City of Ottawa and The Ottawa Tourism and Convention Authority.