Navigating the World of Tourism Speak

Does “tourism-speak” baffle you? You’re not alone, and we’re here to help you navigating the world of tourism speak.

Does the jargon of tourism make your head spin? Do you hear acronyms and other foreign-sounding words on a day-to-day basis? You’re not alone. Even we at the WCVA have to pull out the handy dictionary from time to time.

We can help you sort out tourism’s own language, which will help when dealing with tour operators, destination marketing organizations, travel agents and other travel and tourism professionals.

Check out this glossary of tourism terms (PDF),  developed by the Oregon Tour & Travel Alliance, an organization whose mission is to increase the packaged travel business throughout the state, and written by Cynthia Billette, CTP.

So, the next time a tour operator or wholesaler asks how many pax are on a preformed group tour, and what is the confidential tariff for the group, you will know exactly what they mean!

Glossary courtesy of the Oregon Tour & Travel Alliance (OTTA) and Heather Anderson, tourism sales manager for the WCVA.

The WCVA’s E-Newsletters and You

The WCVA’s E-Newsletters help keep you, as valued stakeholders, informed of what’s happening in tourism and in Oregon’s Washington County.

As a destination marketing organization, the Washington County Visitors Association knows that communication is key to keeping the WCVA and Oregon’s Washington County top of mind for Stakeholders, industry partners and consumers.

One way we do this is through the distribution of electronic newsletters, delivered directly to the e-mail inboxes of stakeholder and industry partners, as well as consumers who have opted-in to receive information from us.

“Washington County at Work” is distributed on or around the third Thursday of even-numbered months. Written for WCVA stakeholders and industry partners, the newsletter provides information about the WCVA and how we market Washington County to the public, tools to help stakeholders market their businesses, listings of upcoming events, and other relevant information.

Read the August/September 2011 issue of Washington County at Work.

“Washington County Explorer” is distributed on or around the third Thursday of odd-numbered months. Written for consumers and distributed to consumers and stakeholders/industry partners, this bimonthly newsletters provides seasonal information about what’s happening in Oregon’s Washington County. With a mix of information to fulfill both short- and long-range travel planning, the Washington County Explorer focuses on the three main consumer tourism attractors: wine, nature (outdoor recreation)  and shopping, as well as agritourism, events, sports and golf.

Read the July/August 2011 issue of Washington County Explorer.

Tourism Matters to Washington County

More than 2.6 million travelers visited Washington County in 2010, spending more than $450 million. Read more about why “Tourism Matters.”

According to the “2010 Washington County Travel Impacts,” prepared by Dean Runyan Associates, more than 2.6 million travelers visited Washington County in 2010, and visitor spending in Washington County reached $470 million, surpassing the record level of $454 million in 2008.

This is great news, considering that Washington County saw a decrease in visitation and tourism-related spending in 2009 and 2010. Thank you, Stakeholders, for helping make Washington County a great place to visit!

For more information:

• Tourism Matters Press release
• Dean Runyan Associates’ 2010 Washington County Travel Impacts report
• WCVA’s Annual Report (Fiscal Year 2010-11)
• The Oregonian article about the increases in business travel and tourism in Washington County

WCVA Welcomes New Employees

The WCVA has added two new staff members to its roster: Melissa Hay, online and interactive coordinator, and Raiza Dottin, administrative assistant.

Melissa joined the WCVA in July to take on the WCVA’s web-related tasks. This part-time position was retooled after the departure of the interactive marketing manager last year. An Oregon native, Melissa is a graduate of the University of Oregon, and worked for high-profile companies such as Logitech and WebMD.

Raiza joined the WCVA in August as a full-time administrative assistant. She will support the operations, stakeholder, marketing and sales departments. A native of New York, Raiza recently moved to Oregon from Arizona. She is a graduate of Arizona State University, where she also worked as a receptionist in the Physics department.

Welcome aboard!

WCVA Seeking Bids from Website Design Vendors

The WCVA currently is accepting bids for the redesign of its website. The request for proposal, which outlines the scope of the project is available on our industry website.

The WCVA’s current website, while pleasing to the eye, is not adaptable to the ever-changing world of online marketing. The new site will not only allow us to continue to develop our online and interactive marketing initiatives, it will present the destination and each of our stakeholders in the best light possible.

We thank all of our stakeholders for being patient with us and our website, and we look forward to bringing you a new, attractive and user-friendly website soon.

2010 Washington County Travel Impact Study Released

The 2010 Washington County Travel Impacts Study was released by Dean Runyan Associates, a local research firm that specializes in recreation, travel, education and economic development, and provides services to tourism and economic development businesses throughout the western U.S.

The Washington County Travel Impacts study documents the economic significance of the travel industry in Washington County and a handful of cities within the county, and provides an estimate of visitor volume and average visitor spending.

Among the highlights:

• Travelers spent $513 million in Washington County in 2010; $417 million was contributed by out-of-area visitors
• Overnight visitation to Washington County increased 12.3 percent over 2009
• Visitors to Washington County contributed $21.8 million to our state and local tax coffers

Read the entire report, which includes breakouts for the cities of Beaverton, Forest Grove, Hillsboro and Tigard. (Best results: View report using Internet Explorer.)

Washington County in the News

Washington County took center stage in the May 2011 issue of Canadian Traveller.  In addition to the WCVA’s full-page ad, the issue included an article about outdoor recreation in Oregon, with Washington County as the lead destination.

The article, “Nature Reigns Supreme: From Urban Parks to Wilderness Rivers, Get Outdoors in Oregon and Alaska,” by Merle Rosenstein, was a result of the WCVA’s media blitz in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, last June. The WCVA’s director of marketing and communications, Sylke Neal-Finnegan, met with the publication’s editor during her visit to Vancouver.

Earlier this year, she was contacted by the writer for additional information about Washington County’s outdoor recreation opportunities, many of which made it into the article.

Canadian Traveller is distributed to more than 13,000 travel agents throughout Canada.  The estimated media value to Washington County of the article is $7,170.