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PHOTO BY JOHN LARSON

WELCOME. Tacoma Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau has ambitious plans to draw more tourists to Museum of Glass and other attractions in the area.

Tourism bureau unveils plans to boost visitors

By John Larson

Tacoma Regional Convention and Visitor Bureau has ambitious plans to boost its funding for marketing and bring more tourists to the area. Details are in the business plan for 2009 through 2015 it just unveiled.

The organization has a new mission statement: “To executive initiatives that deliver tourism to Pierce County.” It also has a new vision: “To be the recognized leader in effective destination marketing.”

The bureau has laid out some ambitious goals. It hopes to see hotel room bookings increase from 15,000 in 2009 to 25,000 in 2010, while the economic impact of tourism will increase from $4.7 million to $7.9 million.

The bureau attracts tourists through its marketing and sales efforts, which cost money. The old saying “it takes money to make money” rings true for such organizations. Thus, achieving financial stability through secure funding sources is one of the more important objectives in the plan.

It receives about 75 percent of its funding from a portion of the hotel/motel taxes from the cities of Puyallup, Lakewood, Gig Harbor and Fife, as well as unincorporated areas of the county. Tacoma used to provide lodging tax money directly to the bureau, but now directs all of it to the new convention center. The remainder of the bureau’s budget comes from membership dues, sponsorships and various partnerships.

Executive Director Tammy Blount wants to see a tourism promotion area created in Pierce County. This is a funding mechanism fairly new to this state, one that has been used to generate additional money for visitor bureaus in Spokane, Yakima and Tri-Cities. She is working with Pierce County Lodging Association, a hotel industry group, to create such a district here. Under this voluntary system, hotels with 40 or more rooms would divert additional money to the bureau.

Increasing membership and sponsorship, and landing more grants, are part of the overall strategy.

The bureau needs to be more accountable for the money it pulls in and the results they get from it, Blount said. It has to prove it can bring in more visitors and provide more data on their spending patterns.

Blount was hired earlier this year. Soon after she arrived, she and members of the bureau’s board had a retreat at Crystal Mountain. The new business plan got its start there, and evolved through input from several hundred area residents.

Regionalism is another key factor. In the past the bureau developed marketing plans for each city that funds it. “In past, we tried too hard to be all things for all people,” Blount said. Now promoting the region as a whole drives its efforts. “What is good for the region is good for everyone.”

Tapping into the 2010 Winter Olympics in British Columbia may not involve those hitting the games. Blount does not think it is likely huge numbers of the fans will fly into Sea-Tac, divert to the south and see the sights in Tacoma. She does picture Canadians who will rent out their homes to Olympics tourists needing someplace to go for two weeks – and where better than Pierce County? The bureau will invest considerable resources in B.C. before the Olympics and reach out for media coverage. “Media relations will play a key role in how we capitalize on the Olympics,” Blount remarked.

The U.S. Open, scheduled to take place at Chambers Creek in University Place in 2015, as well as the U.S. Amateur Open in 2010, are other big events on the horizon. “There are awesome opportunities. The world is looking at us right now,” Blount commented.

She is intrigued by possibilities in the new media landscape, including social networking on the Internet. Blount sees political campaigns energizing the grassroots this way, and she thinks similar tactics can boost tourism. “We are just developing our strategy,” she said. “We have not quite found a way to capitalize on it.”

By next year she expects a social networking component to the bureau’s website, which could include blogs from local residents about the places and attractions they enjoy.

“Who better to tell that story than the people who live here? Part of what makes a place a great destination is being a great place to live.”

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