Tourism is one of Oregon’s largest economic sectors, and guided trips are an important part of the state’s outdoor recreation economy. Fishing guides, outfitters and tour operators help visitors experience Oregon’s natural areas while also influencing the lands and waters they use.
By helping guides and outfitters access training, marketing support and professional networks, Oregon Sea Grant and its partners are strengthening small tourism businesses across Oregon.
Meanwhile, natural resource managers and rural community leaders face pressures tied to jobs, wildfire, drought, safety, visitor impacts and public understanding of natural resource management.
Small guide businesses also face changing laws, licensing and liability requirements, along with the lingering effects of the COVID-19 era. Yet professional development can be hard to access because of cost and time.
Oregon Sea Grant, Oregon State University Extension, Travel Oregon and the Oregon Marine Board have worked together to help meet that need. Their partnership supports professional guides and outfitters with training, networking and information that can help businesses adapt and grow.
Oregon Sea Grant and Oregon State University Extension Service offer the Guide and Outfitter Recognized Professional course, a training and certification program known as GORP for professional guides and outfitters. The program helps guides strengthen their skills and stay current with industry trends and best practices.
The self-paced GORP program includes four online courses — Local, State, National and Global — that participants can complete on their own schedule, sometimes in just a few days. The flexible format helps working guides fit professional development into busy seasons.
In 2024, Travel Oregon launched a collaborative effort with Oregon Sea Grant by covering costs for guides participating in the Travel Oregon Why Guides Program. Travel Oregon also promoted Oregon Sea Grant’s guide training program to a statewide list of selected tour businesses.
Thirteen businesses took part in GORP training with all costs covered by Travel Oregon. That first-of-its-kind collaboration led to guides from all 13 businesses becoming GORP certified.
In 2024, the GORP course module called Global was fully reviewed and translated into Spanish. That content is being integrated into the online platform, expanding access for Spanish-speaking participants in Oregon and beyond.
Expanding workshops and outreach
Oregon Sea Grant continued responding to guide and outfitter needs in 2025 with in-person workshops that complemented the online training.
In May, the Oregon Sea Grant tourism program hosted a workshop in Newport in collaboration with the Oregon Coast Visitors Association and OSU Extension Communications and Marketing. The workshop included training on Facebook and Instagram marketing, an overview of GORP and enrollment information.
Participants also received coaching and the chance to record short promotional videos about themselves and their businesses. Those videos were later shared with participants for their own marketing use.
Although the workshop was designed for local guides, participants also traveled from communities including Silverton, Bend and Portland. They represented businesses on the Oregon Coast and across the state. Many participants were business owners, and some businesses with staff guides were already using GORP as a training tool for employees.
One participant, Scovare Expeditions, later offered to host a follow-up training event.
Creating connections across the industry
That follow-up event was held in September in Portland. Oregon Sea Grant and Travel Oregon hosted a training and gathering for professional guides to build awareness of industry organizations and programs, including GORP and the Why Guides Program.
The event also created space for guides to discuss their knowledge of guide associations and whether Oregon could benefit from a stronger, more active statewide organization. The idea grew out of earlier work by Miles Phillips, professor for sustainable tourism with Oregon Sea Grant Extension, who in 2023 worked with the Oregon Marine Board and Travel Oregon to form the Oregon Guide Working Group.
The group meets quarterly to share updates on guide-related programming, discuss challenges and identify opportunities for outdoor recreation guides, including fishing guides.
The September 2025 gathering drew 21 attendees. Many participants said they had not previously known about the Why Guides or GORP programs. After the event, they expressed interest in participating in both. Many also said they were unaware of existing guide associations but wanted an organization that could help voice concerns about permits, licenses, liability laws and insurance.
Participants also identified challenges to future organizing. Guides and tour companies work in many different sectors and face different issues. Seasonal demands can also make it difficult for people to attend workshops at the same time of year.
Even so, attendees expressed interest in continued conversations and similar programs in the future.
Public value
By helping guides and outfitters access training, marketing support and professional networks, Oregon Sea Grant and its partners are strengthening small tourism businesses across Oregon.
Better-prepared guides can improve visitor experiences, support rural economies and encourage responsible use of natural resources. Expanding access through online learning, Spanish-language content and in-person workshops also helps more people participate in Oregon’s outdoor recreation economy.