Scott Swanson
Tourism is an important economic booster for Linn County residents and successful efforts are being made to attract visitors, two members of the Visit Linn Coalition told local business people Tuesday, July 16, during a breakfast forum at the Sweet Home Police Department.
The coalition, a grassroots, all-volunteer group of people interested in seeing increased tourism in the county, is composed of chamber of commerce and tourist industry representatives, city officials and private and business representatives interested in the VLC’s mission.
Scott McDowell, city manager of Brownsville and chair of the coalition, recounted the history of the VLC, which was founded in 2008. Participants began by mapping the county’s attractions to visitors – “we said, ‘what are our assets in Linn County?’” he said, listing items such as the Oregon Jamboree, the Wah Chang balloon festival and Foster Lake. “What do people want to see in Linn County?” With that information, the group created a visitor’s map of the county that was funded by the Board of Commissioners.
Since then, it has increased in participation, he said, and has added a website, trailstolinn.com, created in conjunction with The New Era, which lists many of those assets in more detail for visitors.
“In my view, Sweet Home is the gateway to the Linn County playground, with Foster Lake and the forest and everything you have to offer,” McDowell said. “It’s absolutely fantastic.
“The website brings these assets out about Linn County that people might not even know. What’s neat about Linn County is there are a lot of exciting things to do right here.”
Jo Ann McQueary, one of the VLC’s founders, said it’s important for communities to realize that they can help each other.
“There are a lot of assets in our region,” she said. “We cannot exist in an isolation booth. What happens in Sweet Home is good for Brownsville and what happens in Brownsville is good for Lebanon. A lot is happening in each of those places that is going to really impact each of those places that we live.”
An example, she said, is a lodging-conference center being built across the highway from Lebanon Samaritan Community Hospital.
“That will change the overflow from events that happen at Oregon State University that now go to Salem and Eugene,” McQueary said. “How can that be bad for us?”
McDowell said that working together, especially with the county commissioners, the Ford Institute and local U.S. Forest Service officials has been “extremely vital to our success. It’s a lot of folks coming together.”
He said Willamette Country Music Festival officials have been increasing their participation as well.
“They spend $3 million a year marketing that,” he said. “We look at that as exposure for Linn County.”
Also speaking at the forum was Jimmie Lucht, director of the Albany Visitors Association, who presented “the numbers” on local tourism.
He said that nearly 29 million people per year visit Oregon as tourists, spending $9 billion and helping to create some 92,000 jobs and $800 million in tax revenues.
“Tourism is the No. 3 industry in the state,” Lucht said.
About 5 million come to the Willamette Valley, defined as the area from the south of Eugene to the south of Portland and from the crest of the Coastal Range to the crest of the Cascades.
About 53 percent visit the area to see friends and relatives – 10 percent higher than the rest of the state.
“We’re either more friendly or more prolific,” Lucht joked. Thirty percent of the visitors are “marketable,” meaning “I can run an ad in Sunset Magazine and affect whether they come here,” he said.
The largest number of visitors fall in the 45-64 age range, he said, and make $50,000 to $74,000 per year.
In addition to the No. 1 vacation activity – shopping, “they are looking for beaches and waterfront,” Lucht said. “You guys have beaches and waterfront here.”
Other popular “wants” are camping, shopping, visiting parks, fine dining, hiking, backpacking, swimming and wine-tasting.
“You have the only winery in Linn County,” Lucht said. “Trip Adviser recently announced that the Willamette Valley is the No. 3 place in America to visit wineries, right behind Napa and Sonoma.”
Chamber Manager Sherri Pagliari and McQueary reported that they’ve already distributed the first run of 3,000 copies of a “101 Things To Do in Sweet Home” rack card, published last month by the Sweet Home Area Revitalization Effort (SHARE) Tourism Committee. They announced that a second printing has been ordered – 5,000 copies, which will be available for anyone interested to distribute.
“We were completely out,”
Pagliari said. “They were well-received and people were anxious to get them.
“One hundred and one things to do in the area – it all fits with recreation activities and all the wonderful things that make us who we are.”
The cards are available at the chamber.
“Come in and see us,” Pagliari said.
McQueary told how she took some of the cards to a local gas station, where she spoke to a young man who turned out to be the manager.
“I said, ‘Here’s what we’re doing. We want your folks that work here to be able to answer questions, to be able to cross-sell.’ He said, ‘Wow, thank-you so much. We really want people to stay here and spend money.’ They get it.”