Wildfire Messaging: Prepare Oregon's Visitors and Residents

Dry conditions are already present in many areas and Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) wants to remind visitors to enjoy their campfires responsibly.

Share the following tips on your channels for visitors and residents to follow:

Know before you go: research conditions for the area surrounding your campground. Fire restrictions may be in place at the park, county, state or federal level.
Maintain campfire flames at knee height, or roughly two feet high. This helps prevent ash or embers from becoming airborne, especially during the dry summer months. If you see the wind stirring up embers from your fire, play it safe and extinguish it.
Only build campfires in the existing fire ring in your campsite. Fire ring locations are carefully considered and park rangers clear vegetation around rings to create a safe buffer zone.

See more fire safety tips here in the Oregon Wildfire Information toolkit.

Governor's Conference on Tourism

The 2019 Oregon Governor’s Conference on Tourism wrapped up last month in Eugene and we want to hear from conference attendees about their experience. Your feedback will help guide us as we move forward with planning upcoming conferences: the new Rural Tourism Conference, April 26-28, 2020 in Central Oregon and the next Governor’s Conference, April 11-13, 2021 in Portland.

Please tell us what you thought of this year’s conference by taking this survey by June 14. All survey participants will be entered to win a 2021 conference registration.

10-Year Anniversary of the Oregon Scenic Bikeways

On May 3, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department hosted a public event to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the first scenic bikeway to be designated in the country: the Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway. Travel Oregon and Oregon Parks and Recreation Department commemorated this milestone by releasing a 10-year anniversary version of the Oregon Scenic Bikeway map of the 17 bikeways. This summer we welcome you to participate in one of the many group rides along the bikeways across the state.

Learn more about these rides at TravelOregon.com.

Competitive Small Grant Applications Accepted Until June 19

The Klamath Trails Alliance was awarded a Competitive Small Grant in 2018 to construct 1.5 miles of hand-built trail called “Queen of the Lake." The trail originates at the Spence Mountain Trailhead on Highway 140 and runs parallel to Howard Bay and Upper Klamath Lake. Learn more about the progress of the project in Lee Juillerat’s Herald and News article.

Do you have a new project that you’re ready to get off the ground in the next year? Travel Oregon’s Competitive Small Grants Program is currently accepting applications. Download the Competitive Small Grants Guidelines for specific eligibility requirements and to view the application questions. In order to receive access to the online grant application, applicants must submit a project idea form that will be sent directly to their Regional Destination Management Organization (RDMO). Once the form is submitted, applicants will be provided with a confirmation email, which will include a link and access code to the grant application.

The grant application deadline is 5 p.m. on Wednesday, June 19, 2019.

Upcoming IPW Tradeshow

Travel Oregon staff and 15 delegates will attend IPW in Anaheim, June 1-5. Delegates include an RDMO representative from each of Oregon’s seven regions and other industry partners. The Oregon delegation will meet with more than 250 trade buyers and international media during the week.

Be sure to connect with your RDMO to update them on what’s new from your destination or business so you are top of mind during business appointments. Leads from IPW appointments will be shared at the end of June.

That's a Wrap: National Travel and Tourism Week

May 5-11 we celebrated National Travel and Tourism Week (NTTW) by sharing Oregon's new economic impact numbers with media across the state. See some of the highlights below:

OPB, More Than 29 Million Overnight Visitors Came To Oregon Last Year
Bend Bulletin, Oregon’s visitor numbers grow
The World, Travel Oregon releases positive tourism numbers for 2018
KLCC, Lane County Sees Record Revenues From Tourism

And if you missed it, watch the video celebrating why travel matters in Oregon and share it with your community.

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Contact Travel Oregon at: 503-967-1560 or by email Industry@TravelOregon.com
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