IN THIS ISSUE:
Outlook on Tourism
News & Initiatives
Olympia Update
Meetings Mean Business
Leisure Travel Matters
Tourism Team News
SCVB Member Events
Featured Promotional Opportunities
New SCVB Members

TOURISM INDUSTRY CALLS TO ACTION

With less than two weeks left in the 2009 session, full-time legislative floor action and closed-door negotiations continue between the Washington State House and Senate to come to agreement on a final capitol budget.

Meanwhile, tourism industry members across Washington continue an aggressive letter-writing campaign targeted to key House and Senate leaders and budget organizers. The campaign promotes three pro-tourism actions on the part of the Washington State Legislature:

• Include a provision in the capitol budget to fund design work and retain the land option for expansion of the WSCTC
• Maintain the existing tax structure that supports the Washington State Convention & Trade Center (WSCTC); refrain from additional transfer of monies from the WSCTC account
• Reject SB 6118, which would destroy the possibility of WSCTC expansion, force the nation's highest occupancy taxes upon Seattle hotels, severely undermine the region's competitive marketing position and impair repayment of existing debt and negatively impact the state's credit
• Maintain funding for the 2009-2011 Washington State Tourism budget, which will in turn stimulate direct travel spending, state and local taxes, jobs and job earnings and generate money to fund other programs

Editor's Note: If you care about the issues above, consider writing to the legislature. You can learn more about bills under consideration or search for your home district at http://www.leg.wa.gov/legislature. To learn more about tourism industry responses to these critical issues or obtain e-mail addresses for key legislative decision-makers, contact newsletter@visitseattle.org.

The U.S. Travel Association has aggressively battled the negative rhetoric about corporate meetings and CEO "boondoggles" by advertising in national publications, meeting with government leaders and coordinating a Meetings Mean Business advocacy campaign that culminates with rallies in Seattle and many other cities on May 12.

Seattle Expects Record Convention-Generated Hotel Stays Through July
During the soft leisure travel market, meetings and conventions are putting visitors in Seattle's hotels, restaurants, shops and attractions. Room nights generated by business on the books at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center March 1 through July 31 are up 25 percent over the same period last year. A number of sizable associations will meet in Seattle during this period and projected attendance is pacing well or, in some cases, ahead of projections. One of the Seattle's largest conventions in the past five years will arrive later this month. The American Academy of Neurology will bring more than 11,000 attendees to the city for its annual meeting April 23 through May 2. The meeting is expected to contribute more than $25 million in economic impact to the region.

SCVB Convention Sales Trip Calendar

*Partner space is still available for these SCVB Convention Sales trips.
Contact Brianna Mark at bmark@visitseattle.org for more information.

How's Business?
SCVB member businesses respond to the down economy with upbeat business strategies and creative tactics:

Darrell Bryan, President and CEO
Victoria Clipper
"Challenges bring about opportunity if you think creatively. We have a cooperative advertising campaign with Tourism Victoria that doubles the exposure either of us would have had independently. We're also working cooperatively with our hotel partners to pass on value to our customers. Many have offered second night stays at half off or the third night free. That encourages mini-vacations and spreads out travel dates so not everyone is locked into weekend trips, and allows us more time to sell additional shoreside tours. We've also begun packaging product with Costco Travel which allows us to reach 38 million Costco customers and will hopefully result in new business for us and the hotels we have brought into the program."

Paul Ishii, General Manager
Mayflower Park Hotel
"We've had good success with some creative packaging for the Seattle Opera's Ring Cycle as well as romance-themed packages. We've also learned that even in challenging economic times, our customers and employees still desire the same things - value, fairness, flexibility, smiles and a positive attitude that things will get better. Listen to your guests and employees and deliver the new value-oriented product, and do it quick."

Angela Chen, Owner
Savor Seattle Food Tours
"As culinary tourism grows, so too has demand for our culinary tours. This summer, we're introducing a new Coffee Bites & Sights Tour and an Off the Beaten Path Tour of the Pike Place Market. Our current tour stops report repeat visit rates by tour participants of 40-70 percent, so we're hoping that the new tours also benefit Seattle food businesses."

Doug Logan, General Manager
Sazerac restaurant
"We really wanted to help our customers through this tough economic time, as well as breathe some vitality into the restaurant. So, in January we introduced a new $2 Happy Hour menu, 4-8 p.m., six days a week, and the response has been beyond our wildest expectations. Our growth is up 300 percent and our customer base has grown tremendously. Even better, our staff has been able to keep their full hours - not always possible in this current economic climate. We are proud to be able to offer this value to our valued guests."

Editor's Note: Share your tips, tactics and testimonials with fellow members in future issues of Seattle's Metronatural News during 2009. Send to: newsletter@visitseattle.org.

The Dawn of a New Tourism Phenomenon: Twilight Tours
The stunning mountains, pristine ocean beaches and temperate rain forests of Washington's far northwest corner have always drawn tourists. But, these days, a good number are visiting for the vampires. Twilight, the vampire-love story feature film and best-selling book series set in and around the town of Forks, is luring tourists from the U.K., France, Germany and Japan.

Tour product featuring Washington state's Olympic Peninsula and Seattle is being rushed into production to accommodate demand from travelers interested in Twilight. Consumer and travel trade inquiries are growing at Seattle/Washington overseas marketing offices contracted by the Washington State Tourism, the Port of Seattle and Seattle's Convention and Visitors Bureau.

In Japan, where the film opened April 4, promotional events featuring the films stars have drawn thousands screaming teenage girls and, in many cases, their mothers. The book series, originally transcribed in the Japanese-language manga cartoon format is also selling well; the titles Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse currently top the best seller list on Amazon.com.jp, and many bookstores feature special Twilight sections.

Stateside, Clipper Vacations, the state's largest tour operator, is now offering a self-guided Twilight Tour.

The Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau is actively leveraging the Twilight phenomenon to boost regional tourism, as is the Forks Chamber of Commerce which has produced a Twilight Map for visitors.

To learn more about the Twilight Tourism phenomenon, contact one of SCVBs overseas marketing directors:

Michael Kurtz
Director, Tourism Development, Asia and Latin America
(206) 461-5817 | mkurtz@visitseattle.org

Brad Jones
CTP Director, Tourism Development, UK, Europe and Australia
(206) 461-5816 | bjones@visitseattle.org

New Destination Heritage Guides Launch
Last month, 4Culture, King County's cultural services agency, unveiled three new travel guides featuring more than 70 historic sites throughout the county. The colorful guides are respectively themed to significant aspects of King County's history: maritime; agriculture; and industry. They feature historic landmarks, museums, festivals and scenic drives. Designed for self-guided tours for the county's visitors and residents, the guides promote ease of travel with site addresses and maps throughout, as well as GPS coordinates. Five featured sites per guide offer audio clips that are accessible by phone. The guides are produced in partnership with the King County Historic Preservation program. Printable pdf-format guides, audio clips and more information can be downloaded at www.destinationheritage.org. The guides are also available at the Seattle's Visitor Center and Concierge Services.

The new county heritage guides complement the current series of Seattle-based heritage guides produced by SCVB's Cultural Tourism department with funding support from 4Culture and the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. The Seattle Cultural Guide series includes titles themed to Asian, African American and Native American heritage. The guides are free of charge and can be mailed to travelers upon request; they're also downloadable from the SCVB web site and are available at Seattle's Visitor Center & Concierge Services and several other Seattle area locations. For more information, updates or to download a guide, visit www.visitseattle.org/cultural.

For information, contact Tracey Wickersham, SCVB Director of Cultural Tourism, at (206) 461-5812 or twickersham@visitseattle.org.

ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION
Issue 7: April 2009

Also available online: visitseattle.org/news

Seattle Metronatural News is a quarterly tourism industry newsletter that is edited and published by Seattle's Convention and Visitors Bureau.