Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Port of Seattle Grants Funds for Tourism

By Karen Robes Meeks

Organizations dedicated to promoting tourism in Washington State recently received a financial boost from the Port of Seattle.

The Port Commission granted $200,000 for 26 tourism-related projects through a matching funds program, which provide up to $10,000 to various groups in an effort to attract more visitors and promote the use of port facilities.

“With approval of these projects, the Port of Seattle is able to promote tourism to all corners of the state and bring revenue and jobs to places that need them,” said Commissioner Stephanie Bowman. “This year we included additional funding for eco-tourism and we look forward to seeing great results from these 22 environmentally focused projects.”

Olympic Peninsula Visitors Bureau, which received $9,000 toward developing a new website, digital advertising and social media campaign aimed at “out-of-state fly-in markets,” would not be able to develop a robust online marketing campaign targeted to potential visitors outside of Washington State without the grant, explained executive director Marsha Massey.

“This unique program is important to an organization of our size, affording us the opportunity for broader reach and allowing us to grow off-season travel to the Olympic Peninsula, and in so doing, to increase air travel through SeaTac International Airport,” Massey said.

The Port of Seattle collected more than $71 million from King County taxpayers in 2016.