Our last day out for Youth Leadership Highlands was Ag and Tourism day on the north side of the county and one of my personal favorites! At the beginning of our trip we talked to Casey Hartt, the director of tourism in Highlands County, and we learned so much about the many events and places that draw people to our county. Some including the Sebring Soda Shop and Highlands Hammock State Park, which has a very interesting history. We got to see all sorts of cool things, such

Tourism was by far one of my favorite days. We started off at the Chamber of Commerce where we learned about the importance tourism has in our county. Then we continued on to the Highlands Hammock State Park and we toured the very scenic trails. SFSC Performing Arts Center was one thing that stuck with me. Performing arts takes up a much larger portion of tourism than I previously thought. People from all over Florida travel here to watch performances of Broadway plays. We at

On tourism day, we were given the privilege of hearing from many of the people and places around our county that attract tourists. From analytics to attractions, we learned about how tourism helps our county, and what places are hits amongst our visitors. We got to go to places like Highlands Hammock, the Performance Arts Center at the SFSC, the Sebring Soda Shop, the Jacaranda Hotel, and more. We were able to learn about how these places attract tourists, what they do and th