The goal of UPLIFT NC is to boost tourism to rural and under-resourced North Carolina communities. We do this by providing tourism practitioners and local leaders with the knowledge and resources to strengthen and connect tourism sites, services and businesses in targeted regions within the State. This includes natural, recreational, cultural, agricultural, culinary, built as well as other tourism experiences and services.

The UPLIFT NC program has six building blocks that together are the foundation for comprehensive and successful tourism in a region. Each building block includes practical solutions that help address a specific tourism need. Every location has different needs, and the community within a region guides where UPLIFT can provide the greatest value to support their tourism needs. 

The UPLIFT NC building blocks include Understanding (tourism knowledge and context), Planning (participatory planning to know what a community wants to achieve with tourism and how to get there), Link (build local networks as well as connect tourism experiences and their stories), Innovate (enhance the tourism experiences offered), Finance (connecting with and accessing resources) and Tell (tell the story of the region to attract visitors)