By Tedra Meyer – editor@tcajob.com
The Seattle Times called Kris Watkins last month to find out more about the area’s many golfing options. This is just one example, said the CEO of the Tri-Cities Visitor & Convention Bureau, of how the agency’s recent marketing efforts are working.
A recent television ad campaign touting the Tri-Cities’ “water, weather and wine” aired in the Puget Sound region from Feb 15 to April 30. The bureau’s first-ever TV advertising, it succeeded at drawing more people to its website- and ultimately, Watkins said, to the Tri-Cities, where tourists spend $316.4 million annually, according to the latest figures from the Washington State County Travel Impacts report.
“I believe you need to grow you’re market within the state, then go regional and then international,” Watkins said. Though tracking tourists and their activities is one of the more difficult jobs around, there are some key indicators that suggest the Tri-Cities is becoming a more popular destination for both the weekend getaway and jetsetter types. The hotel-motel tax distribution for Kennewick, Pasco and Richland for 2007 was over $881,000 about a 15 percent increase from 2006, according to TCVCB numbers. Estimates for visitor spending in Benton and Franklin counties grew from $296.6 million in 2005 to $316.4 million in 2006.
Many of the Tri-Cities new visitors came as part of convention or sports groups – one of the TCVCB’s sales force’s main focuses in recent years. In 2007, 172 convention, sports or group activities brought more than 115,000 people to the area. And they spent an estimated $20.1 million, according to the TCVCB. The bureau already has more than 174 future events scheduled for this year and beyond.
Last year, participants in the Wal-Mart FLW Series National Guard Western Division Bass Tournament came to the Tri-Cities, used the area’s rivers and stayed in its hotels, This was a major coup for the local tourism industry because the series was broadcast to more than 81 million US households and 350 million outside the country, according to the TCVCB – and presumable showed millions a place they had never heard about. And this event will be returning this September, said Kimberly Shugart, vice president of operations for the TCVCB.
The agency also secured the Pacific Northwest Golfers’ Association of America tournament, which will bring more than 400 people to town in mid-September. “This is normally a shoulder time, but September is promising to be a very, very busy time for the region,” Said Janice Heitschmidt, director of sport sales.
Getting each of these events to the area is a highly competitive process that involves a lot of time and legwork on the part of the bureau’s staff. Even some of the youth sporting events require annual bidding and negotiating, Heitschmidt said.
She is currently advocating for the U.S. LaCrosse U-15 National Youth Festival, to be held in June 2009 and 2010. If the Tri-Cities scores this one, it will have beaten much more convenient locations on the East Coast, where the sport is more popular, she explained. Plus, it would bring an infusion of more than $700,000 each year to the local economy, she estimated.
We have been able to take the sports business and build and build,” Watkins said. “Now it’s a very successful part of our tourism portfolio.” Another of the Bureau’s multi year efforts is coming to fruition. The Sacajawea Heritage Trail is nearly complete–just one small patch of levy in Pasco is left to make a cohesive, paved, 23-mile trail around the three cities. “You are here” signs have been installed by the various municipalities, Shugart said.
“The kiosks are built at this point. City crews will be installing them in the next 30 to 60 days,” she said. These signs were paid for by the following sponsors: Bechtel, CH2M Hill Hanford Group Inc., Port of Kennewick, Port of Benton and Franklin PUD.
This trail was a huge accomplishment because it involved numerous governmental bodies, and Watkins said the fact that all the pieces came together at around the same time is a sign of good planning and cooperation.
Appropriate planning for use and accessibility to the local river shores is crucial, she said. It is for this reason that the Tri-Cities Rivershore Enhancement Council is hiring. The Waterfront Center, a Washington, D.C.-based consultancy, to complete a new study this fall on the Tri-Cities. TWC completed a previous study in 1998, and Watkins said the local municipalities fulfilled most of its recommendations. “Our river shores were our most underutilized resource. We did almost everything on the list the first time. We did everything but a water taxi, and we still think we will have one of those someday,” she said. “By the end of 2008, we will have another checklist of things to do.”
Another example of proactive, smart planning is the recently completed Red Mountain master plan, she said. Also on the horizon is the Confluence Project, for which Gov. Gregoire recently approved $500,000. The money will be used for internationally renowned artist Maya Lin’s “story circles” in Sacajawea State Park in Pasco. The time-frame for completion of this project is not set at this time, Shugart said.
“I really do believe we have the potential to become a major destination,” Watkins said. “We’re planning for the future, planning for tourists ….. There was a time when, if any story came out about the Tri-Cities, it was about Hanford. We’ve reversed that.”