Oregon's Adventure Coast: Coos Bay, North Bend, Charleston moves travel forward

The World, Coos Bay, Ore.
·3 min read

May 23—The latest report provided by Travel Oregon's third-party research firm, Dean Runyan & Associates, shows that Coos County has not only seen Visitor Spending in the area return to pre-pandemic levels, but exceed those levels.

For the calendar year 2022, this latest data shows for Coos County, the travel industry generated $295.9 million in visitor spending in our communities, which supported more than 3,600 jobs for Coos County residents. This Visitor Spending generated $2.1 million in local taxes and $10.4 million in state taxes.

"Some of the increase in visitor spending can be attributed to a 5% increase in summer visitors to our destination compared to summer of 2021 plus the high gas prices we saw in summer of 2022," said Janice Langlinais, executive director of the Coos Bay-North Bend-Charleston Visitor & Convention Bureau (VCB). "In addition, we have seen a nice increase in visitors flying to the destination through Southwest Oregon Regional Airport in North Bend, up 10% over 2021 according to Dean Runyan & Associates."

Coos County Airport District Public Information Officer Stephanie Kilmer says the increase in visitors flying through OTH is not surprising since overall commercial passenger enplanements, including both visitors and residents, were reported to be up nearly 40% in 2022 over the previous year.

In 2019, visitor spending in Coos County topped $277.3 million but that spending fell dramatically in 2020 to $179.3 million, particularly in the retail and food services sectors. Visitor spending recovered slightly in 2021, reaching $218.6 million, a 22% increase over 2020.

All of this information was shared with the tourism and business sectors when the Coos Bay-North Bend-Charleston Visitor & Convention Bureau recognized travel's essential contributions to our local economy by hosting a luncheon with guest speaker Todd Davidson, CEO of Travel Oregon, on Wednesday, May 10, at The Mill Casino Hotel & RV Park during National Travel & Tourism Week.

"This luncheon is part of the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce's weekly Wednesday Business Connection. However, this particular luncheon will be all about the travel and tourism economy in Coos Bay, North Bend and Charleston, also known as Oregon's Adventure Coast, as well as Coos County and Oregon," said Langlinais.

"Travel is at the heart of Oregon's Adventure Coast and all of Oregon, powering a strong U.S. economy, creating jobs and strengthening our community's culture and identity," said Lucinda DiNovo, Chair of the VCB Board and Vice-Chair of the Oregon Tourism Commission. "This National Travel and Tourism Week, we are proud to celebrate all that travel does for our community now, and all that it will contribute in the future."

National Travel and Tourism Week, (NTTW) the annual celebration of the contributions of the U.S. travel industry, spotlights the essential role that travel plays in driving economic growth and innovation through the theme #TravelForward.

"The travel industry fuels every industry—our industry's success is the nation's success," said U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Geoff Freeman. "This week is a prime opportunity to elevate the message that travel is essential to moving America's economy forward."

Established in 1983 by President Ronald Reagan, NTTW is an annual tradition to mark the U.S. travel industry's role in stimulating economic growth, cultivating vibrant communities, creating quality job opportunities, stimulating business activity, and elevating the quality of life for everyday Americans.

Travel serves as a catalyst for a productive U.S. economy and helps power the success of other industries. The U.S. travel industry generated a $2.6 trillion economic output in 2022 and supported 15 million jobs, fueling communities, small businesses and working families across the country.

Travel spending also generated nearly $160 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022—revenue that helped fund critical public services while saving each U.S. household an average of $1,270 in taxes.

Please visit ustravel.org/NTTW to learn more about National Travel and Tourism Week.