CC Minutes - 03/11/09 Work Session

Home Browse Search

C. WORK SESSION: Tourism Update Assistant City Manager Sarah Medary introduced Keri Westlund, who represented Travel Lane County (TLC), formerly the Convention and Visitors Association of Lane County Oregon (CVALCO). Ms. Westlund passed out copies of the new visitor guide. She thanked the council for making time for them. She introduced Kim McClatchie, Lisa Laughton, and Sally McAleer, who had helped with the branding process. She noted that the Eugene Olympic Trials in 2008 were up for a prestigious sporting event award for sustainability. She could not imagine another event which would have “moved the needle” for sustainability as much as the trials had. She expressed appreciation to the council for its support of the trials. Ms. Westlund recapped the history of CVALCO, now TLC. She stated that the organization was charged with marketing all of Lane County. She explained that the name had been changed because the acronym CVALCO was not intuitive. Ms. Westlund provided a Powerpoint presentation entitled Lane County Brand Strategy, hard copies of which were provided to the council. She stated that the brand platform was See All of Oregon in Lane County. A survey had been conducted and had found that Eugene was better known than Lane County. She presented the new logo, created by Oslund Design, noting that it included boarding sports, bicycling, boating, fishing and the mountains. Mayor Piercy thanked the group for being responsive. She recalled that one of her past complaints was that one could arrive at Mahlon Sweet Airport and not know they were in Eugene. Ms. Westlund responded that there was now a monitor in the airport showing events in the County. Mr. Pryor called the work “fabulous.” He said the list of key activities people liked to participate in that TLC had come up with trumped all prior lists. He noted the emphasis on authenticity in the presentation. He averred that authenticity was hugely important to people at present. He stated that branding needed to have infrastructure supporting it to work, and needed the resources to follow through with its ideas. Ms. Taylor agreed that the coast was the biggest attraction to Lane County. She reiterated her unhappiness with the charge people had to pay to park at some county park sites. Ms. Westlund replied that a lot of the sites were federally owned. She also had mixed feelings about the fees. She recognized that in some ways it was the only way the local waysides could get revenue. Mr. Clark echoed Mr. Pryor’s comments. He understood the value of this work and appreciated the approach they had taken. He especially liked the “tag.” In response to a question from Mr. Clark, Ms. Westlund clarified that the coast was considered the biggest draw to the State of Oregon and not just to Lane County. Ms. Westlund stated that when one looked at the ratios of room tax generation, Eugene captured approx- imately 51 percent of the room tax revenues in the county. She stated that the coast, while generating approximately 10 percent of the room tax revenue, captured about 25 percent of spending. She said some in-county trips accounted for this difference, because many local people engaged in recreational activities at the coast. MINUTES—Eugene City Council March 11, 2009 Page 8 Work Session