Scott Swanson
Of The New Era
If you’re a tourist looking for something to do in Oregon, Michelle Godfrey says, look no further than http://www.traveloregon.com.
Godfrey, public relations manager for TravelOregon, a public agency funded by the state’s lodging tax, spoke to the Breakfast Club on Aug. 31 at the Senior Center. The breakfast, sponsored by Sweet Home Economic Development Group on the last Thursday of each month, gives local business people and interested members of the public a chance to hear from speakers who represent a wide range of business interests.
SHEDG President Ron Moore said he sees tourism as vital to Sweet Home’s future, given its proximity to the river, the lakes and the mountains.
“Close to the number one growth industry for Sweet Home is tourism,” Moore said. “There is a lot of tourism activity, potentially, here and we need to tap into that. As business owners, we need to learn about tourism.”
TravelOregon’s purpose is to bring travelers to the state and, Godfrey said, one of the major ways it does that is through its award-winning Web site.
“This Web site is intended to help our regional partners develop their tourism,” she said.
The site, begun in 1997 as a simple on-line brochure, has developed through the years into a multifaceted collection of pages that promote various regions of Oregon complete with detailed information and leads on lodging, recreation and other activities – and lots of photos.
“Web sites these days need to be multimedia-rich to grab people’s attention,” Godfrey said. “We wanted to focus on Oregon’s outdoor activities, events and attractions. We wanted to bring the fun back to vacation planning.”
She said the site architecture is designed to maximize its visibility on search engines, so that if one enters key words such as “Oregon” and “travel,” the site is one of the first listed.
The site allows prospective visitors to browse for specific activities, communities and lodging by inputting criteria such as, for instance, Wi-Fi access and pet-friendly hotels. It offers trip itineraries, opportunities for travelers to weigh in with their opinions of their Oregon experience, and a “shopping cart”-type method of collecting information and making choices on lodging and other activities advertised on the site. Users can also send their itineraries directly from the site to family and friends.
Godfrey said that recent improvements to the site have resulted in 25 percent more Web traffic and a 30 percent increase in time spent on the traveloregon.com.
She also noted that there is no cost to have community events listed on the site, “though we don’t encourage family picnics,” she joked.
In addition to the Web site, Travel Oregon also puts out Oregon Bounty, a slick guide to specific dining activities around the state with an emphasis on participation.
The program focuses on wineries, breweries, cheese makers, the beef industry, pears and hazelnuts, but includes other culinary activities as well.
An example is an offering in Eugene in which visitors can shop with a gourmet chef at the farmers market, then watch the chef prepare a meal that the participants can then enjoy. Or, at the Rogue Creamery in Southern Oregon, visitors can be a cheese maker for a day.
“People want to go places where other people can’t go,” Godfrey said. “People want to get more for their dollar. This is a way to show the quality Oregon exudes.”
She said in addition to the Web site and Oregon Bounty, the agency advertises heavily in major newspapers in states bordering Oregon, in magazines and on cable TV, such as on the Golf Channel.
“The key to getting out-of-state travelers is the experience they can have in Oregon,” she said.
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Next month’s Breakfast Club speaker will be Victoria Fridley of the Oregon SMART (Start Making A Reader Today) program. The meeting will be at 6:30 a.m. on Sept. 28 at the Senior Center. RSVP by Sept. 18 to Carli at 367-6150 or by e-mailing [email protected].