IN THIS ISSUE:
Outlook on Tourism
News & Initiatives
Tourism Day in Seattle
Summer Travel Forecast
Tourism Team News
SCVB Member Events
Member Opportunities
New SCVB Members

TOURISM HAS ITS DAY
Hundreds Rally, Raise a Flag, Award Tourism Ambassador of the Year and Urge Governor to Veto Harmful Portions of the State Budget

Seattle's Tourism Day began with a flag-raising ceremony on top of the Space Needle. Pictured left to right: Ronald Sevart, President & CEO of Space Needle LLC; Tom Norwalk, SCVB President & CEO; and Bradley K. Walker, Managing Director of Leisure and Group Travel Marketing for Alaska Airlines, Washington State Tourism Commissioner and SCVB Board Chair.

On May 12, more than 300 hundred Seattle area tourism industry professionals gathered for a rally in Westlake Park to celebrate "Tourism Day in Seattle," as proclaimed by Mayor Nickels, and National Travel and Tourism Week.

Local and national media covered Seattle’s rally, which was one of the largest among those in 40 other U.S. cities. The day also marked the first anniversary of the Why Tourism Matters community outreach campaign, which was inaugurated in Seattle, spread across Washington State and has inspired national tourism advocacy efforts in a year that desperately needs them. The theme of this year's National Travel and Tourism Week was "Travel Matters."

Seattle tourism and economic development leaders also used the rally as a platform to urge Governor Gregoire to veto certain sections and appropriations of the Washington State 2009-2011 Biennial Budget that, if passed, would severely harm the state tourism industry. The budget called for a 67 percent reduction in funding of the state tourism program and the Washington State Tourism Commission, which would make Washington’s tourism program one of the poorest in the nation.

TOURISM AMBASSADOR OF THE YEAR AWARD
Call for 2010 Nominations

We are all "Tourism Ambassadors." The term coined by the Why Tourism Matters community outreach campaign, and its underlying "face" of frontline tourism professionals concept that has been replicated at the national tourism and travel advocacy level, now has a namesake award. The Seattle Tourism Ambassador of the Year Award, will be presented annually by Seattle’s Convention and Visitors Bureau on behalf of the local tourism industry. The award will honor tourism professionals in Seattle and King County who exhibit exceptional service to visitors and to the tourism industry.

The inaugural award was presented at the May 12 Tourism Day in Seattle rally in Westlake Park. Justin Hall, a popular, long-time fishmonger at Pike Place Fish Market, was named the 2009 Seattle Tourism Ambassador of the Year. Hall, who has served during the past year as one of the featured "Tourism Ambassadors" for the Why Tourism Matters campaign, has become locally famous. Photos, video and interviews featuring Hall have appeared in newspaper and magazine ads, editorial stories, on web sites, posters and even in store windows in downtown Seattle.

"I want to be a tourist, so I just imagine that I’m them," said Hall when he accepted the award earlier this month. "I just treat people like they want to be treated. Tourism is not a thing. It’s the way you live. It’s about picking up garbage on the streets so your city looks great. It’s about helping that person who looks lost. It’s about being a good person."

Editor’s Note: Nomination forms for the 2010 Seattle Tourism Ambassador of the Year Award will be available for download from www.whytourismmatters.com beginning in July. The award will be presented during National Travel and Tourism Week in May 2010.

FROM WASHINGTON TO WASHINGTON: TOURISM MATTERS

"We are committed to removing barriers to the growth of tourism exports."
Gary Locke, U.S. Secretary of Commerce
Speaking last week at the U.S.Travel Association's International Pow Wow, the world's largest convention of international travel professionals.

On May 20, the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation approved the Travel Promotion Act of 2009. The bipartisan legislation will create a public-private partnership with a budget of up to $200 million annually to attract international travelers to the United States by better communicating America's security policies and competing for visitors. According to an analysis by Oxford Economics, the program could drive $4 billion annually in new spending by international travelers to the United States. Overseas visitors spend an average of $4,500 per person, per trip in the United States. International travel to the U.S. declined by 10 percent in the first quarter of 2009 according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

"Our businesses rely on a vibrant tourism industry to support family-wage jobs and keep our economy moving. And even with all the Pacific Northwest has to offer, no region's tourism industry is immune to this recession. That's why we need to take steps to support our tourism industry – from small town inn owners to big city restaurants. Because tourism matters to Seattle and to every Washington state community."
Washington State Senator Patty Murray

ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION
Issue 8: May 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.