The workshop provided strategic information about the new grant application process for federal scenic byway dollars with advice on how to describe a byways project so it has the better chance for funding. The workshop also described the advertising campaign that the Minnesota Office of Tourism is creating to promote scenic byways in Minnesota. Too often state and national governments are not aware of how their policies affect tourism development. Tourism policy can be categorized as being either passive or active. Passive policy occurs when tourism is not the focus of the legislation but is affected by it.
Active policy is policy directed to influence tourism.
Most national tourism organizations are implementing body and do not take an active role in the development of policy in either the active or passive forms. Although there are mandates to deal with social and environmental issues, they focus almost exclusively on marketing. In the age of globalization , partnerships, and strategic alliances, public sector organizations are increasingly cooperating with private sector interests. Almost all of this cooperation is in the area of marketing, promotion and development. It is expected that the private sector will assume even greater control over a destination area's tourism product in the future.