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<br />Executive summary
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<br />Geotourism (chapter 1)
<br />Geotourism sustains or enhances the geographical character of a
<br />place - its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the
<br />wellbeing of its residents. This Kittitas County tourism
<br />infrastructure plan is based on a geotourism definition and
<br />approach.
<br />
<br />The amount of lodging tax revenue being generated in Kittitas
<br />County has increased significantly in recent years due to the
<br />development of additional lodging facilities and tourist attractions.
<br />As a result, the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) and the
<br />Consolidated Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC)
<br />commissioned this Kittitas County Tourism Infrastructure Plan to
<br />determine trends in geotourism, profiles of typical geotourists,
<br />projections of geotourism potentials, assets that attract geotourists,
<br />goals and actions necessary to expand geotourism potential, and
<br />implementation steps necessary to achieve results.
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<br />Trends (chapter 2)
<br />Kittitas County tourism spending between 1991 and 2013,
<br />increased by 4.6% or to $170,200,000 resulting in a 4.5% increase in
<br />earnings or to $53,100,000 in tourism related employment, and -
<br />0.7% in employment or to 2,380 jobs by 2013.
<br />
<br />Kittitas County, Roslyn, Cle Elum, and Ellensburg’s combined
<br />revenues from the state-shared and added local lodging tax
<br />increased from $163,627 in 1994 to $1,296,722 by 2014 increasing
<br />at an annual average growth rate of 13.7%.
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<br />Profiles (chapter 3)
<br />A survey conducted on Kittitas County and Kittitas County Chamber
<br />of Commerce websites of tourist respondents indicated 33% of
<br />survey respondents primarily live in Puget Sound (Tacoma, Seattle,
<br />Everett) and other Western Washington State (18%) for 51% total
<br />from the west side of the state, Central Washington State (29%),
<br />Eastern Washington State (12%), Oregon (3%), California (1%), other
<br />states in the US (4%), and Canada (0.1%). The results generally
<br />reflect population distributions within Washington State and
<br />possibly the impact of major travel corridors on I-90 and US-2 to
<br />major metropolitan areas in Western Washington.
<br />
<br />Of the survey respondents 69% definitely planned on participating
<br />in recreation including biking, hiking, swimming, kayaking, boating,
<br />fishing, hunting, skiing, and other winter activities and 61% to visit
<br />family and friends compared with area ambiance including
<br />shopping in stores, eating in restaurants (47%), attending events
<br />including festivals or other celebrations (42%), ecotourism including
<br />nature and wildlife tours, bird watching (30%), history including
<br />touring landmarks, historic districts, and museums (30%),
<br />agritourism including touring wineries, farms, ranches, barn quilts
<br />(22%), arts and culture including visiting artists studios, galleries
<br />(14%), or attending a meeting or conference (10%). Conversely, 82%
<br />of survey respondents definitely planned on not participating in a
<br />meeting or conference compared with arts and culture (40%0,
<br />agritourism (38%), ecotourism (31%), history (24%), family and
<br />friends (22%), events (21%), area ambience (16%), and recreation
<br />(14%).
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<br />Projections (chapter 4)
<br />Kittitas County’s principal market area is deemed to be counties
<br />best served by major roadways including Interstate 90 serving King
<br />and Pierce Counties to the west and Grant County to the east, US-2
<br />and US-97 serving Snohomish and Chelan Counties to the northwest
<br />and Douglas County to the northeast, and Interstate 82 serving
<br />Yakima and Benton Counties to the south.
<br />
<br />The results of the website tourist survey generally reflect
<br />population distributions within Washington State and possibly the
<br />impact of major travel corridors on I-90 and US-2 to major
<br />metropolitan areas in western Washington. Given the significantly
<br />larger populations residing in western Washington, even minor
<br />increases in tourist attraction from western Washington could easily
<br />generate greater tourist visitation volumes than major increases
<br />from the smaller populations in central and eastern Washington.
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