The meeting was in-person and live-streamed on Travel Oregon’s Industry YouTube Channel.
Oregon Summit on Wildfire Recovery
Communities in Lane, Linn, Lincoln, Jackson, Clackamas, Klamath, Marion, and Douglas counties were devastated by the Labor Day wildfires of 2020. They all face years of recovery work. As we begin the fourth year of recovery from these wildfires, leaders, managers, and policymakers from across the state are gathering for this wildfire recovery summit to assess progress and learn from each other. Each affected community has approached recovery differently with varying levels of success, creating fertile ground for learning and significant opportunities to share lessons learned and improve efficiency swiftly by adjusting current practices.
Attending the Summit requires a no-cost registration. Attendance will be capped at 175 people, so please register early to secure your seat.
Summit Highlights:
- Presentation and discussion regarding Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding.
- In depth discussion about how agencies and non-profits can work better together.
- Case studies to learn about what’s working in multiple jurisdictions.
- Informal time to meet others working on recovery across the state.
- Focus on opportunities for state and local policy changes to support recovery.
The summit is hosted by Lane County and University of Oregon School of Planning, Public Policy and Management.
Direct questions to recoverysummitreg@uoregon.edu.
Mid-Willamette Valley Tourism Summit
This annual conference brings together community, industry partners and thought-leaders from across the Mid-Willamette Valley for a half-day immersion into all things tourism!
This year’s event will feature a State of the Industry lunch, networking breaks and expert-led educational sessions. Be on the look-out for the upcoming announcement of our exciting keynote presentation hosted by a leader in the far-reaching and quickly evolving field of artificial intelligence.
Travel Salem is excited to announce the addition of the Restaurant & Culinary Community Panel Discussion featuring local industry leaders: Christopher Holland of TAPROOT, Cecilia Ritter James of Wild Pear Restaurant & Catering and Dino Venti of Venti’s Restaurants.
Additional information is available here.
Registration has been extended to Nov. 7.
Oregon Dark Sky Tourism Learning Community Meeting
Building on the momentum of dark sky visitor experience development efforts across the state, Travel Oregon is kicking off a Dark Sky Tourism Learning Community to facilitate education and foster alignment across the tourism industry and key stakeholders. The Learning Community is open to anyone interested in preserving Oregon’s dark skies, developing and promoting dark sky visitor experiences, and staying connected with dark sky initiatives and stakeholders across the state. Travel Oregon is committed to convening the Dark Sky Learning Community 3-4 times per year.
Looking for more information on dark sky tourism? Visit industry.traveloregon.com/darkskies to access industry resources or request a personal consultation with a dark sky expert.
OTIS Training (Nov. 2023)
The Oregon Tourism Information System, or OTIS, is a collaborative platform used for sharing and maintaining Oregon’s tourism assets.
OTIS is the central hub for maintaining points of interest like attractions, trails, parks, events and deals. OTIS is powered by open-source software and allows tourism partners to push their updates to the database and pull them into their website leveraging the OTIS API (free).
OTIS trainings and user accounts are open to representatives of local and regional destination management organizations (DMOs) and certain statewide trade groups like the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association and the Oregon Wine Board.
Interested in learning more? Send your questions to otis@traveloregon.com.
Google Business Profile Fundamentals (Nov. 2023)
A Google Business Profile (GBP) is the single most important tool for your business online. A complete Google Business profile is 70% more likely to bring a customer to your business and, with minimal time investment, you can maximize your visibility.
Kim Palmer of Miles Partnership demonstrates the Five Fundamentals for using GBP to manage your online presence across Google’s ecosystem.
For more information about Google Business Profiles, Locl and/or OTIS, visit the Business Listings Toolkit.
Oregon Wine Symposium
The Oregon Wine Symposium 2024 Trade Show will take place February 13-14. This in-person gathering offers attendees an opportunity to connect with exhibitors in an exciting, unique environment. You won’t want to miss this event! Whether you offer farming equipment, small or large tanks, creative labels, financing or management services, there is no better way to connect with Oregon wineries and vineyards than to be a part of this event.
The trade show floor will also offer Mini Sessions, coffee stations, local community engagement groups, as well as be the stage for our evening happy hour soiree.
Claim your spot on our trade show floor today! Booths cost $1,600 and are 10ftx10ft. Each booth comes with a table, two chairs, linens and plenty of networking opportunities. OWA service members can take advantage of $200 off their purchase. Not sure if you are a service member? Reach out to us before your purchase.
Click here to register for your booth.
Contact Jessica Blauert for more information.
View our Trade Show Sponsorship Overview here.
Mt. Hood and Columbia River Gorge Tourism Partner Engagement
Participate in an exciting in-person event, the Mt. Hood and Columbia River Gorge Tourism Partner Engagement Meeting! This is the first in-person regional gathering since COVID and it will be packed full of new insights and research about the region, regional updates, and opportunities and resources available to you and your organization.
Whether you work for a hotel, tour operator, land manager, or any other tourism-related business/organization/non-profit in the Mt. Hood and the Columbia River Gorge region, this meeting is for you.
Locl Fundamentals (Jan. 10)
Monitoring and managing your Google Business Profile (GBP) is one of the best ways to improve your visibility and conversion. Responding to reviews and other activities like uploading photos and posting updates can drive more exposure and customers to your business.
To help make managing your GBP easier, Travel Oregon partnered with Portland-based company Locl to provide you (free!) access to a suite of GBP optimization tools. Locl helps businesses manage profile updates, create events and offers, engage with customer reviews, monitor business performance and act on insights – all in one place and for every location.
Join Tommy Chipman of Locl and learn how to use Locl’s optimization suite to maximize your GBP and drive business.
Session Outcomes:
• Understand what a Google Business Profile (GBP) is and why it is important.
• Understand what Locl is and why it is important.
• Learn how to use your GBP profile to access to Locl for free.
• Learn how to take advantage of Locl’s optimization suite to improve GBP listings, monitor business performance and act on insights.
• Learn what features Locl offers that GBP doesn’t have.
Photo by Brian Kimmel.
March 2024 Oregon Tourism Commission Meeting
The March 11 meeting was in person and live-streamed on Travel Oregon’s Industry YouTube channel.
- Access the agenda here.
- Review the Strategic Plan Progress Report.
- Review the meeting minutes here.
Additional Meeting Materials + Presentations
- Local Welcome
- International Tourism Update & Forecast
- Travel Oregon with Travel Oregon Campaign Update
- Competitive Grants Update
- RARE AmeriCorps Partnerships
- Preview of 2024 Oregon Governor’s Conference on Tourism
If you have any questions or comments about the meeting, email industry@traveloregon.com.