JoAnne Smith took one look around Central City and realized the town of about 3,000 people had a lot to offer; all it needed was tourists. A winery, first-class veterans’ monument and a thrift store popular enough to have people line up a block deep on "new product Wednesday." 

After spending most of their lives in southeast Kansas, her husband had a job offer that brought them to Nebraska. They could live anywhere they wanted between Columbus and Kearney, Smith said. They found Central City one day while driving. 

"We were driving through, and we saw the population sign, 2934 people," she said. "But then our heads were kind of on a swivel. I was like, “There's a winery and a new library. There's a historic theater." 

For a town the size of Central City, the Smiths were impressed. Before leaving town, she had their realtor on the phone. 

Less than two years later, as the local chamber of commerce's vice president, Smith hosted a media day, inviting writers and travel bloggers from across Nebraska and Iowa to spend a day soaking in the attractions. 

Almost a dozen media personnel toured the town, from a locally-owned greenhouse to Preferred Popcorn, one of the nation's largest popcorn producers. 

Central City is one of hundreds of smaller Nebraska communities seeking to tap tourism as an economic opportunity. 

Rural Nebraska - 90 counties outside Douglas, Lancaster and Sarpy - accounted for $1.2 billion in direct visitor spending in 2025, including $12 million in lodging taxes, according to Northwest Nebraska Tourism. 

As Nebraskans and out-of-state visitors traverse the state's highways and backroads searching for unique attractions, such as Chimney Rock, Carhenge and Taylor's Villagers (Life-sized cutouts painted in black and white), towns like Bridgeport, Tekamah and Valentine invite them to stop and check out historic sites, boutiques and a restaurant or two. 

Cindy Chatt and her team at Burt County Economic Development joined forces with Rural Prosperity Nebraska to host a tourism-centric economic development conference in Tekamah in early May. Nearly 100 representatives from rural Nebraska learned about ideas on how to market their towns to visitors.

Tekamah may be best-known for Master's Hand boutique, famous for its "best in the world" cinnamon rolls and handmade chocolates, but the town’s restaurant scene is strong with Tipsy Pig and Chatterbox Brews. In nearby Decatur, Pop-n-Docs is known for its cheese balls and onion rings, along with outdoor music on weekends. 

Oakland's Swedish Heritage Center celebrates the town's Scandinavian history and its title as Nebraska's Swedish Capital. The historical museum hosts a free lunch on the first Sunday of each month. 

Tourism plays a big role in attracting new residents, Chatt said. 

"We started a tourism website and really started to build our presence online to get people to visit Burt County," she said. "We need to bring people to town, because the more people you bring to town, the more they're going to discover they like it, the better chance there will be to maybe move to the area down the road. With any of these rural areas, unless you give them a reason, like brag about yourself, they might not know you're here." 

Building tourism across the state helps tap a rural community's potential, said Lilly Uhlmann, who coordinates the Nebraska Passport for Nebraska Tourism. 

The Nebraska Passport is an award-winning program in its 17th year of promoting mostly rural attractions. Participants receive a physical passport book with 70 participating attractions, or they can download an app on their mobile phone. People acquire stamps for visiting locations on the passport, and can receive prizes. 

In 2025, participants recorded 147,700 physical or digital stamps, Uhlmann said. More than 45,000 passport books were distributed. 

More than 300 attractions, including museums, restaurants, boutiques, coffee shops and parks, annually apply for a spot on the passport, Uhlmann said. The annual passport consists of 70 stops, seven each for 10 categories. 

"We want people to be visiting these places and enjoying them, and supporting local, going to those museums, maybe visiting places they've never heard of or been before," she said. "I think that's where it kind of ties into the rural areas. Out of those 70 stops, yes, we have stops in Lincoln, yes, we have stops in Omaha. We really want to represent the whole state, so we'll have stops in those places where maybe they don't have the capabilities of Lincoln or Omaha, but they still have great places to visit, and we want to highlight those. So, we've tried to really represent everywhere." 

The payoff can be major for a rural community, Uhlmann said. Each attraction on the Nebraska Passport can typically expect to see 2,000-4,500 visitors, she said. 

"If you're a small town, that maybe you weren't seeing too many folks come through, and then you're getting an influx, and it's not only just to your location," Uhlmann said. "If you're a coffee shop, but you have a cute store next door, it's also encouraging those visitors, 'While you're here in our town, explore, shop other places.' Go visit the museum. Go visit the park nearby. Maybe they've never been to that town, and now they know about it, and so they want to come, and then they go to other places. So, we kind of try to treat our stops like local ambassadors." 

Nebraska Tourism, also known as Visit Nebraska, isn't the only outlet promoting the state. 

WanderNebraska encourages people to visit more than 500 museums across the state. 

"We have sites from all over the state, Native American sites, Czech sites, Swedish sites, Hispanic sites," said Leslie Fattig, executive director of the Nebraska State Historical Society Foundation, which oversees the WanderNebraska program. 

In 2025, WanderNebraska recorded 4,500 registered stops. Based on an average family size of four, it likely totaled 18,000 visitors, Fattig said. 

The Nebraska Department of Tourism estimated the visits to the rural attractions had an economic impact of about $337,000, she said. 

Officials expect 2026 to be better, contributing about $600,000 to the economy, Fattig said. 

With about 250 museums and historical attractions participating in this year's passport, WanderNebraska differs slightly from the Nebraska Passport, she said. 

"Some people, like our older folks, just like to go and wander," Fattig said. "You know, they're not interested in prizes or anything." 

Among WanderNebraska's popular destinations is Chimney Rock National Historic Site. Visitors can walk a gravel-covered trail as part of a 120-acre site, taking them within 900 feet of the historical landmark, Fattig said.

As people approach Chimney Rock, it's easy to think of its significance, she said. 

"That was once hunting country," Fattig said. "The tribes would go through. There wasn't yet white people going through there on the Oregon Trail. It was a vast hunting area." 

As rural tourism continues to grow, attractions can gain popularity, in the end helping their community by visiting other local establishments, Uhlmann said. 

"Once a stop has been on the passport, it's fairly common for people to revisit," Uhlmann said. "So then people year after year revisit these places, which is really great."

Tim Trudell is a freelance writer and online content creator. His work has appeared in Flatwater Free Press, Next Avenue, Indian Country Today, Nebraska Life, Nebraska Magazine, Council Bluffs Daily Non-Pareil and Douglas County Post Gazette, among others. He is a citizen of the Santee Dakota Nation.