News

Spokane area shines on world’s stage- Attracting international travelers could offer an economic boost

Martin Schafer was hard at work Wednesday.

Clad in sandals, shorts, life preserver and baseball cap, he was in a raft teeter-tottering through modest rapids on the Spokane River.

Bert Caldwell
The Spokesman-Review

He watched a pair of feuding ospreys. Heard the local marmots described as "ground rodents." Got a little wet. And, once ashore at Riverside State Park, partook of salmon as Francis Cullooyah, the Kalispel Tribe’s cultural director, briefly recounted the history of the Inland Northwest’s many Indian tribes.

It was a fine, sunny day, and Schafer was several thousand miles from his home outside Amsterdam, Netherlands. He and four other Dutch travel writers were guests of the Washington State Tourism Office. They had already visited the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture. After lunch they would go horseback riding. And a progressive dinner would take the party from The Davenport Hotel to The Steam Plant, Ankeny’s and Spencer’s.

Thursday, after a catered breakfast at the Riverfront Park Carrousel, they stopped by Cat Tails Zoological Park. Then they were off to Republic, Winthrop and Seattle.

Based on that itinerary, it’s appropriate that Schafer writes for Sp!ts, a play on Dutch for "rush hour." Sp!ts, one of many free newspapers distributed at subways, bus stations, and other mass transit sites around Europe, has a daily circulation of more than one million.

Schafer takes three or four trips each year, mostly around Europe. He had never been to the United States before.

"This is my office, actually," Schafer cheerfully responded when asked where he is based.

He said Europeans are looking for vacations that are less about place and more about activity. They are also trying to escape generic tourist destinations that have been overrun by … tourists.

Irene Boonekamp, another first-time visitor to the U.S., writes for the Amsterdam newspaper Dagblad. For many Europeans, she said, New York City is the America they think they know.

"I think the trip we make is about real life, not about tourism," she said.

For Spokane, of course, it is about tourism. Travelers, including conventioneers, injected $497 million into the county economy. Travel-related employment exceeds 8,000.

The Spokane Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau dedicates about $15,000 of its $1.3 million annual budget to attracting international travelers, President John Brewer said.

That money is leveraged by working with airlines, which comp or discount tickets; the state, and Rocky Mountain International, the Cheyenne, Wyo.-based promoter of travel for Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and South Dakota. Local restaurants and hotels also provide free or discounted meals and accommodations.

The stay by the Dutch, for example, cost the CVB less than $500 out-of-pocket.

Their tour was a result of contacts made at the March ITB travel trade show in Berlin, the world’s largest. The bureau’s director of tourism, Jeanna Shelley, handled the state of Washington’s booth at the show for six days, talking up Spokane all the while.

That cost the bureau another $1,200 but, Brewer noted, visits by Germans to the CVB Web site tripled while Shelley was in Berlin.

He said the bureau expects about four group tours this year — an Italian troupe was in town two weeks ago — as well as visits by individual writers and travel agents.

"We run ’em ragged when they’re here," Brewer said.

Measuring the return on the time and money invested is difficult, Brewer and Shelley said.

Hotels do not like to share information about international travelers for fear others may pick off that business, Shelley said. The bureau also works with clipping services to determine just how much — and what — the writers write about the area.

Brewer said Schafer was so enthused he was already discussing how he might free-lance to other publications articles Sp!ts has no room for.

Brewer said the bureau will try to exploit the enthusiasm of Schafer and the others, particularly as coastal areas reduce their promotional efforts.

The new alliance with Rocky Mountain International will boost that effort, he said, because Spokane International Airport will be one of just three — Denver and Minneapolis are the others — recommended gateways to the Northern Rockies.

That will give Spokane the chance to make a good first impression, as it surely did Wednesday on Boonekamp, who marveled at the river and the trees.

"America is a different kind of life," she said. "I like it."

Business columnist Bert Caldwell can be reached at (509) 459-5450 or by e-mail at [email protected]

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.asp?date=062203&ID=s1370575&cat=section.business

Sorry, we couldn't find any posts. Please try a different search.

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.