Promoting Nature-Based Tourism for 25 Years
About Us
The South Carolina Nature-Based Tourism Association (SCNBTA) is a registered not for profit organization 501(c) 3 and was formed in 1994 to educate and promote its members and the nature-based tourism experience. The organization creates opportunities for networking and professional development that help members learn to build, manage, and market nature-based businesses and tourism. The organization endorses conservation of natural and cultural resources that make the nature-based tourism experience possible.
SCNBTA’s members cover every region of the state and just as many different activities from education to adventure, water to land, and wildlife observation to wildlife management. The organization focuses on cooperation rather than competition. Like any organization, value increases with involvement. As a strictly volunteer organization, we accomplish what we do through member and volunteer involvement.
Paying it Forward
Proceeds from the SCNBTA Annual Conference Silent Auction are used to fund up to four scholarships to send South Carolina youth to natural resource-based camps. In the past several years, SCNBTA has sent campers to Camp Wildwood.
Through daily instruction, hands-on experiences and group activities, campers experience and learn about:
- South Carolina’s wildlife and natural resources
- the wise use of our resources, and
- respect and protection of the environment
Many who go through the three-year program continue to study and work within the wildlife and natural resource industry upon graduation from high school and college. There are approximately 100 slots open for the first-year program each year. These slots are open to any rising 10th to 12th grade students with an interest in learning more about the Great Outdoors. The second- and third-year programs are limited to the top 20 campers from the pervious year. Professional staff and counselors invite those campers back, which they believe possess leadership, maturity, and a true passion for our natural resources.
Camp Wildwood is made possible because of support from the Garden Club of South Carolina, Hampton Wildlife Fund, and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.
If members are interested in supporting the scholarship but unable to attend the annual conference, scholarship donations can be made.
Should additional funds become available, the SCNBTA is considering expanding into other youth-based education activities where scholarships are needed to support the programs.