In June 2022, Travel Oregon adopted a new 10-Year Strategic Vision. To bring this vision to life, Travel Oregon, and the state’s seven Regional Destination Management Organizations (RDMOs) will develop strategic plans that respond to the emerging needs of the tourism industry.

Travel Oregon recently launched a stakeholder survey and wants to hear directly from those who work in or interact with Oregon’s tourism industry.

Information collected through the survey will help Travel Oregon and regional partners determine strategic direction, make funding and programmatic decisions in marketing, grants, tourism-related infrastructure, visitor management and more. Survey results will be shared on Travel Oregon’s industry site and through this newsletter in March 2023.

Please take the survey and share with your networks. 

Do you know an individual or organization who did work in 2022 to strengthen the Oregon tourism industry? Nominate them for a Travel & Tourism Industry Achievement Award that will be announced as part of the opening event at the 2023 Governor’s Conference on Tourism.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to recognize your peers and colleagues. Nominations are due February 17.

If you haven't registered for the Governor's Conference, you can register here. 

Governor Kotek recently released her priorities which focus on education and childcare, housing and homelessness, and mental health and recovery. Travel Oregon staff have begun outreach and relationship building with Governor Kotek and her staff and will continue to keep issues that may affect the travel and tourism industry at the forefront of those discussions.

Governor Kotek is also committed to continue the work of making sure that Governor-appointed board and commission memberships (Executive Appointments) are reflective of the communities of our state. This is accomplished by reaching out to, recruiting, and appointing a diverse range of folks. Board service is a great way for Oregonians to engage with their government; to build a diverse pipeline of leaders; and for our state government to be informed by and benefit from the lived experiences of many types of people. The Governor’s office recognizes the importance of recruiting and appointing members who have lived and/or professional experience in these areas so they can bring their specific expertise to the important work that boards are doing.

Please note, applicants who submitted an application prior to 2022 will need to be resubmitted again through the new Workday platform.

To learn more about, or apply to serve on a State of Oregon board or Commission, including the Oregon Tourism Commission, read more here and on Travel Oregon’s industry site.

This spring, Travel Oregon will grant over $435,000 in Oregon Trails Funds to increase capacity of trail organizations to support Oregon stewardship projects (regenerate, restore, maintain, develop) on new or existing U.S. Forest Service trails, and/or provide volunteer and trail ambassador programming to help provide enjoyable trail experiences for a diversity of visitors and recreation users. Interested trail organizations will need to complete a Project Readiness Assessment by end of March to be considered. Please find more details here.  

With funding provided through sales of the Oregon Wine Country license plate, Travel Oregon administers a program to make grant awards available to “tourism promotion agencies” for projects that promote wine and culinary tourism.

In preparation for the application process opening Feb. 13, you’re encouraged to review the 2023-2024 Oregon Wine Country License Plates Matching Grant application documents and review the FAQs.

Travel Oregon will host two virtual Q+A lunch hour events via Zoom on Feb. 13 and Feb. 23 to answer questions surrounding the guidelines or application process.

Please direct questions to grants@traveloregon.com.