Discover Lewis County Director Tamara Hayes discusses the future of tourism in the era of COVID-19.
President of Lewis County Community Trails Chris Brewer discusses the organization’s application for a lodging tax grant.
Onalaska Alliance president Cathy Murphy makes a case for county funding to be used to advertise Onalasa’s annual Harvest Festival.
Diana Morgan, a Lodging Tax Advisory Committee member, evaluates applications for county funding during an Oct. 29 meeting.
Lewis County organizations made their case Thursday for the county’s lodging tax grants — money given out to promote tourism and rake in revenue. The Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) heard from 14 different applicants, all vying for a chunk of the $472,000 pot. Despite the pandemic restricting businesses, the county only saw lodging tax revenue decrease by a few thousand dollars this year.
Places like Packwood actually saw a bump in tourism as Washingtonians fled cities that were hit hard by the pandemic earlier in the year.
“We didn’t really see a slowdown,” LTAC member and co-owner of Packwood Station Dean Croshaw said. “People wanted to get out of urban areas as soon as COVID broke out, and a lot of the Airbnbs were continuing to rent throughout, which a lot of people weren’t thrilled about, but it helps raise the lodging tax, and that’s a positive for us.”
Now, as the county decides who will get the funds, it also has to figure out how to promote tourism in the era of COVID-19. Public Health Director J.P. Anderson warned this week that COVID-19 surges in neighboring counties can naturally spill across county lines — transmission that could be exacerbated by outsiders visiting the region.
Organizers for some events, like the Southwest Washington Fair, are planning for a normal, non-pandemic 2021, while others, like the annual biking event Ride the Willapa, are planning on restricting crowd size and activities.
For “Discover Lewis County,” a huge tourism-driver that submitted separate applications for four different proposed projects, tourism in the era of COVID-19 means marketing Lewis County to tourists already in the Pacific Northwest instead of potential tourists across the country.
“I would love to get back to big airport campaigns … but that’s not where we’re going to be marketing next year,” Director Tamara Hayes said. “We just don’t think that’s a realistic marketing campaign for a pandemic.”
Instead, Discover Lewis County, which also receives state-wide grants and partners with larger entities, is applying for a grant to fund the “Lewis County tourism enhancement project” aimed largely at individuals who already reside within the county. The project would cover large murals and displays on a digital billboard between Chehalis and Centralia, where local events would be promoted.
Hayes also presented a proposal to develop a strategic plan for county-wide tourism, saying it could help the organization rake in state or federal grants by showing a more cohesive plan. Other proposals included marketing toward road-trippers and RV campers across the Pacific Northwest.
Smaller groups, including ARTrails and the county’s Community Trails Association also presented their proposals, making the case that marketing funds could ultimately increase the amount of people staying the night and spending money in Lewis County. Chairperson of the Onalaska Association, Cathy Murphy, discussed her own group’s grant application, which would cover a new video advertisement for the town’s annual Harvest Festival.
“We really feel that people in urban areas want this experience … to come to Lewis County, experience what we have and showcase our rural, agricultural, and even our timber lifestyle,” Murphy said.
LTAC will meet next week to deliberate on applications and report back to county commissioners, who make the ultimate decision on grant allocation. The county will likely make a decision in late December.
