(Photo above (L-R) Nate Wyeth, Kevney Dugan, Valerie Warren, Tawna Fenske and Lisa Sidor with Doug La Placa holding award)
The staff at Bend, Oregon’s tourism organization, Visit Bend, have just returned from the 2015 Governor’s Conference and were toting some impressive hardware receiving the award for Oregon’s best tourism advertising campaign. Travel Oregon showed one of their winter TV commercials during the awards ceremony then presented the Visit Bend team with the trophy.
The clever and enticing winter commercials feature snow-filled outdoor activities including We Are Happy Now, Set Them Free, Winter Anti Corona and Kids Ski Free at Mt. Bachelor. Winter is a blessing. and even on the coldest days in Bend, Oregon there’s plenty of warmth to be found!
The commercials were created, designed and implemented by the team of professionals at Visit Bend and contracted partners in Visit Bend’s Creative Bullpen.
Bend’s tourism industry continued its historic growth pace through the 3rd quarter of Fiscal Year 2015. The industry is well on its way to a 4th consecutive record year. Listed below is an Executive Summary of Bend’s primary tourism metrics, reflecting data through February 2015.
• Transient Room Tax (TRT) collections through Q3 equaled $4,053,731. This is a +36 percent gross increase over the previous fiscal year (23 percent normalized to account for the 1 percent TRT rate increase that went into effect 6/1/14).
• Each of the past 12 months have set historic records for TRT collections in the City of Bend for that given month (normalized).
• Through Q3, TRT collections have contributed $2,553,851 to the City’s General Fund, $1,378,269 to Tourism Promotion and $121,612 to the Bend Police Department.
• Visits to visitbend.com posted at 32 percent YOY increase through Q3.
• Citywide lodging occupancy through Q2 was 69.2 percent. This is a 3 percent increase over the previous fiscal year, and the highest citywide lodging occupancy on record through Q2.
Both citywide average daily rate (ADR) and citywide revenue per available room (REVPAR) are also on record pace through Q2 (+5.2 percent YOY and +8.65 percent YOY respectively).
The mission of Visit Bend is to enhance the economic vitality of our community by promoting Bend as a year-round visitor and convention destination by maximizing collaborative partnerships, efficiently activating transient room tax revenue into effective sales and marketing programs, and cultivating a world-class visitor experience.
The Bend City Council created, empowered and funded Visit Bend (formerly the Bend Visitor & Convention Bureau) to develop and build Bend’s tourism industry. Visit Bend is an economic development organization whose primary function is to create an effective mix of marketing, sales, and service programs, which are designed to produce a positive economic impact of visitor and convention spending in Bend.
Developing and implementing these programs results in enhancing the City’s livability by providing year-round employment. Visit Bend sells the entire City and works in good partnership with all sectors of the Bend and Central Oregon visitor and convention industry. Visit Bend practices the highest principles of civic citizenship. It follows good business practices and policies set forth by the bylaws.
