in Southern Oregon.
(Photo © J. Maus)
Travel Oregon is currently developing a marketing campaign for the 2010 spring-summer season that will focus on Oregon’s outdoor recreation opportunities. According to Linda Andrews, a tourism development assistant with Travel Oregon, the campaign will “specifically focus on cycling and mountain biking.”
Travel Oregon says they’ll invest $1 million into the effort and the campaign will run from March 22nd to July 15th. The campaign will include advertising, public relations, and a promotional outreach component. The advertising will direct potential bike tourists to a new landing page on TravelOregon.com where (among other things) they’ll find a searchable bike ride and event database powered by RideOregonRide.com. Travel Oregon helped fund and develop that website last year to support bike tourism throughout the state.
The announcement of this campaign comes just a few weeks after a study from Wisconsin found that bicycling contributes $1.5 billion to that state’s economy. Of that $1.5 billion, the study found that “recreational bicycling” accounted for $924 million.
Oregon is well-positioned to establish itself as the premiere bicycling destination in the country. This marketing campaign will support ongoing advocacy and bike tourism efforts statewide.
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Nice! But what does Oregon produce to compete with the bratwursts in Wisconsin?
Nick V:
Beer! Duh. 😉
People have been riding their bikes around Oregon from before pavement, with gusto. Some have credit cards and jobs, some sleep under bridges. Some both. Commodification of something that is already free, and the motivation to do so should be examined in daylight. The same roads still work, no matter when the map was published or how many fit riders are depicted on the cover. Want to kill the magic in a destination? Just let Oregon Tourist Board promote it.
Suburban.. nobody is promoting tourism at the cost of the low budget folks. But encouraging folks to ride around our State, enjoying the sights in a low impact vehicle, will do much for some of the more remote parts of the State, where dollars to the local economy are crucial, esp since the decline of resource extraction economy. Folks in Remote and Halfway and Applegate will appreciate those tourism dollars as much as we will here in PDX. I haven’t seen Travel Oregons efforts yet, but I am sure not going to knock supporting tourism in a State that is long on beauty, but short on opportunity.
Nick, that would be beer.
Speaking of promoting mtn biking in Oregon, the mtn biking here in Reno — yes, I said Reno, not just Tahoe, northern NV, and the Sierras — kicks the crap out of anything in Portland.
We’ve got trailheads on the north side of town and the south side of town, and both sets of trails are mere minutes from work/town, are legitimate single-track trails that have great climbs and go for miles, and offer something for every level of rider.
Why am I telling you this? To inform and inspire. Make those selfish NIMBY “friends” of Forest Park share the love, Portlanders.
I’d feel better if some of that money was used to improve cyclist safety on the very routes they are promoting. Hwy 101 could use more signs alerting drivers to the presence (and rights) of bicycles. Speed reduction (even by 5 or 10 mph!) on the stretches of that route where there is hardly any shoulder would help, too.
It’s nice to live in a state that promotes both bicycle and beer tourism.
If you have ideas or questions, be sure to come to the March 18 Bicycle Brown Bag at the Portland Building. Kristin Dahl from TravelOregon and Alexandra Phillips from Oregon Parks & Recreation will present on bike tourism, State Scenic Bikeways, and more.
Thurs, March 18, noon-1pm
Portland Building – 1120 SW 5th Ave, 2d fl.
I think Kate is spot-on. 101 is the biggest bike tourism location in the state, because of location, and because it’s promoted by a half-dozen or more entities in addition to the State of Oregon. (e.g. The Adventure Cycling Association promotes it as one of their major routes) 101 needs some traffic calming, some shoulders in areas that have none, and better protections for cyclists.