If there’s one thing that business owners large and small can agree on, it’s that tourism is good for the economy. In fact, according to this year’s Annual Tourism Report from the Vancouver USA Regional Tourism Office, visitors to Clark County spent $364.3 million at local businesses in 2009. Statewide, in 2010, travelers spent more than $15 billion, according to a recently released Washington State Travel Impacts Study.
Economics in mind, tourism organizations from around the state have created a program called Share Your Washington. The program, which launched earlier this month, aims to educate Washingtonians about the economic impact of tourism and encourages residents to invite friends and family to visit by going to www.shareyourwashington.com and sending out free electronic postcards. Each postcard includes special deals and discounts for the visitor, such as shopping discounts or special rates at local hotels.
In addition to the electronic postcards, the Share Your Washington website features a two-minute video that showcases how tourism matters to local and state economies.
“[Share Your Washington] is a grassroots campaign based on the economics of tourism and how it’s not just about dollars. It has the secondary effect of supporting jobs and businesses in the community,” said Kim Bennett, president and CEO of the Vancouver USA Regional Tourism Office and member of the Washington State Tourism Commission. “If we can all invite one person to visit a place in Washington or visit Vancouver, all of that has such a huge impact of really getting people to understand what a beautiful place our state is.”
With state legislation pulling funding from tourism, Bennett said the Share Your Washington program was nearly derailed. However, motivated by the upcoming summer travel season, organizers were able to push it through.
Bennett said tourism is just too big of an economic boon to loose sight of.
“Tourism is Washington’s fourth-largest export-oriented industry and Vancouver’s economy depends on travelers to support local jobs and businesses,” said Bennett. "The Share Your Washington program allows residents to make a difference by supporting Vancouver’s local tourism economy.”
