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Oregon Welcome Center Celebrates 15th Anniversary at PDX To celebrate 15 fantastic years of welcoming PDX passengers to Oregon, the welcome center staff is hosting 15th-anniversary festivities on February 14, 2024 (Oregon's 165th birthday!). Join us for Sasquatch photo ops and opportunities to win exclusive Oregon-made prizes!
Where: 7000 NE Airport Way, Portland, OR 97218
- Oregon Welcome Center on Baggage Claim level of PDX, across from carousel #5
- Oregon Visitor Information area in the Rental Car Center, accessible via the south tunnel
When: Feb. 14, 2024
Time: 11 a.m.- 3 p.m.
Since its establishment in 2009, the Travel Oregon Welcome Center at the Portland International Airport (PDX) has been a pivotal destination for over half a million visitors, delivering a warm welcome and reliable information about Oregon's diverse attractions and activities. Our dedicated and knowledgeable staff takes pride in delivering award-winning customer service, ensuring visitors receive personalized recommendations tailored to their interests. All welcome centers, including PDX, carry a wide array of high-quality printed guides, brochures, and maps offering comprehensive information on Oregon's scenic landscapes, cultural highlights, outdoor adventures, and lesser-known treasures in every region.
Recent enhancements to the welcome center's accessibility features comprise sensory kits tailored for travelers with sensory challenges, a hearing loop to assist those with hearing impairments, and an expanded range of in-language guides in Japanese, German, French, and Korean. Furthermore, Travel Oregon has extended visitor information services to a satellite location in PDX's new Rental Car Center building, complete with custom-made interpretive brochure racks.
The center's success is only possible with the support of the Port of Portland, our brochure program advertisers and vendors like Certified Folder Display, Inc.
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Oregon Governor's Conference on TourismThe 2024 Oregon Governor’s Conference on Tourism in Salem, March 11-13, will feature can’t-miss keynotes and breakout sessions with a wide variety of topics and speakers. Keynote speaker Claude Silver will kick off the conference with the motivation to use empathy to fuel growth and connection. Brad Anderson of Blueprint Creation, a leading firm in employee training, will lead two lively breakout sessions on delivering memorable sales and customer service experiences. More conference details are available here. With the support of Travel Salem, attendees will disperse around the city for the Tuesday, March 12 lunch. This unique Dine Around will support local businesses and give each attendee a taste of the capitol’s culinary scene. More details will be shared with attendees in advance of the conference.
Strengthening the dynamic learning opportunities, Travel Oregon is pleased to announce three optional Mobile Learning Labs. These tour experiences will take attendees off-site to the businesses and farms leading change in their industries. Keep an eye out for more details and the opportunity to sign up when you register for the conference. Mark your calendars for the following pre-conference sessions:
- Marketing Mixer | March 10, 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Enjoy drinks, appetizers and an opportunity to share marketing strategies to drive statewide advertising alignment and increase tourism’s economic impact. This event is for tourism partners with an advertising budget of $10,000 or more annually.
To encourage open conversation between tourism partners, we ask that agencies or companies not attend without their DMO partner. Agencies attending are only able to attend representing their client.
- Dark Sky Tourism Learning Community Meeting | March 11, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
This meeting is open to anyone interested in preserving Oregon’s dark skies, developing and promoting dark sky visitor experiences, and staying connected with dark sky initiatives and stakeholders across the state. Register here.
Looking for more information on dark sky tourism? Access resources here or request a personal consultation with a dark sky expert.
- Global Sales Happy Hour | March 11, 4:30 p.m. - 6 p.m.
This event, organized by Travel Oregon's Global Sales team, is a networking opportunity for the industry and special guests from NTA (National Tour Alliance) and IGLTA (International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association). Refreshments and snacks will be available.
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New Industry Collateral - Meaningful Jobs
New collateral has been developed to help communicate the economic impact of tourism statewide and regionally. The collateral is available digitally by region:
These documents are intended to be used and shared so please feel free to use them as digital or printed materials. Questions? Contact Kate Baumgartner, Public and External Affairs Strategist.
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Oregon Tourism Learning Academy Launches Spring Class The Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association (ORLA) recently announced the fifth year of the Oregon Tourism Leadership Academy (OTLA), developed in partnership with the Oregon Destination Association and Travel Oregon. The program is targeted to public and private sector tourism professionals who are seeking to polish their leadership and professional skills, continue to grow their career accomplishments, and make positive and lasting contributions to the state’s tourism economy and its success.
The fifth-year class will launch April 3 in Southern Oregon and conclude in the Willamette Valley during Winter of 2024. Participants include representatives from many sectors of the hospitality and tourism industry including destination management organizations, restaurants, chambers of commerce, lodging properties, and travel publications. See the official press release here.
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Take the Oregon Heritage Vitality SurveyThe Oregon Heritage Commission is conducting a survey and would like to hear from anyone whose work touches documenting, preserving or sharing Oregon’s heritage. This can include but is not limited to: collections, museums of all kinds (history, art, science, children’s, aquariums, arboretums, and beyond), historic preservation, historic cemeteries, historic properties/structures/sites, historical societies, local heritage and culture efforts, and archives.
The survey should take 20-30 minutes. You may pause the survey and return to complete it if needed - leave the survey open in your browser and return when you are ready. The commission is looking for high-level estimates rather than precise answers, so please answer to the best of your knowledge.
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