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Response 2.1 : Why would tourists travel to Kittitas County to attend your evenUactivity/facility? *
<br />The Kittitas County Historical Museum collects, preserves, and share the history of Kittitas County - from time immemorial to
<br />present day. This includes all the people, places, evenls, and activities that have made our communiiies whai they are today,
<br />and to share this with anyone interested in ihat hisiory.
<br />Guesls come to the Museum io learn more about the communities they are in. the buildings nearby, events and activities, and
<br />their family members that may have once lived here (or still live here). They want to know anything and everything - and with
<br />50+ exhibits, we definitely have something for everyone.
<br />Advertising in ihe Sealtle/Tacoma, Portland {OR), and Eastern Washingion areas, we will draw travelers to and through
<br />Ellensburg and Kittitas County. We currently know that the majority of our visitors are from 50+ miles, and based on our
<br />guestbook log, this marketing will target the dominant visitation markets. Over the past few years, we have averaged 60-65%
<br />from 50+ miles, and this year stands to fall within that same trend.
<br />Our social media demographics also reflect interest in the Museum (by likes and follows) from persons 50+ miles away,
<br />including Portland (OR), and the major Washington cities of Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane, Kennewick, Vancouver, and Moses
<br />Lake.
<br />We anticipated based on our current attendance numbers that visitation and overnight stays will in*ease in 2025 due to
<br />advertising and our events, activities, and programming. We have already had several guests from out of area stay overnight to
<br />participate in our History Pub Crawl, or they came to the Museum as their iniended destination for research purposes and
<br />stayed overnight as a result. We expeci that as our activities increase, visitation and overnight stays will increase as well. We
<br />partner with Hotel Windrow for our annual lecture series, and encourage visitors to make this their hotel choice; but we also work
<br />with the TownePlace Suites by Marriott as they have chosen the Ellensburg BIue Agate as their theme and design based on
<br />items out of our colleciion. We plan to continue working wiih boih hotels for upcoming events to encourage more overnight
<br />stays, as guests have indicated that multiple events and venues on certain weekends justify an overnight stay. Many of these
<br />events will add to existing evenis or create opportunities to extend stays in Ellensburg and the Kittitas County area.
<br />2500 character lirn;t
<br />Response 2.2: Describe the prior success of your evenUactivity/facility to attract tourists. *
<br />ln a receni assessment of our guestbook log, we found that in 2023,60% of those who visited the museunr were from areas
<br />more than 50 miles away, which totaled 4,559 of 7,650 visitors.As of August 31,2A24, there have been 5,370 visitors based on
<br />direct count. This is an increase of 10% in aitendance over a year to date, which can be based on a return from our marketing,
<br />exhibits, programming, and events. Of our visitors , only 1,089 visitors {or 20%) have signed our guestbook log, which often
<br />represent a group or family unii (one for multiple visitors, aggregating the number). Of these, 676 (or 62Yo) were from more than
<br />50 miles, while ihe remainder (38%) were from more local distances. When we inquired (either in-person or through our
<br />guestbook log), about 25% al lhe visitors from 50+ miles indicated that ihey were staying overnight in the community, as they
<br />heard about our Museum from a local hotel or RV Park. Of the 5,370 people who have visited the Museum, 3,808 (71%)
<br />attended for exhibii or general purpose, while 937 (17%) attended programs, events, or guided walking tours.
<br />Mosi visitors to our Museum have inquired about other aciivities in and around Ellensburg and Kittitas County, such as food,
<br />shopping, educational offerings, other museums and hisiorical sites.
<br />Our social media pages reflect interest and visitation from individuals from 50+ miles, including Portland (OR) and ihe major
<br />Washington of Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane, Kennewick, Vancouver, and Moses Lake. Many visitors who also come into the
<br />Museum indicate in the guestbook that they heard about the Museum via the web and online advertising. Guests who attend our
<br />tours and events fill out surveys, and have indicated they have travelled from as far as Yorba Linda (CA), Portland (OR), Auburn,
<br />Snohomish, Chattaroy, Stehekin, & Moses Lake, to attend our leciures, Hisiory Pub Crawl, and more.
<br />As we are an add-on to many experiences, we have found that while we do not directly generate a high number of stays, we add
<br />to the stay & most will stay an extra night to take part of an event.
<br />2500 character limit
<br />3l lmpact
<br />oApplication Questions: Part 2
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