Tuesday, December 11, 2007
1:30 to 4:00 PM
Suquamish Tribe’s Kiana Lodge
Sandy Hook Road, Poulsbo, Wa
Dear Tribal Tourism Industry Partner:
The Washington State tourism industry is embarking on a new era! The passage of Substitute House Bill 1276 (the “Tourism Bill”) in April, 2007, the formation of the Washington State Tourism Commission, and a new dedicated funding source all allow for a wide range of new opportunities. As part of the move into this new era, the Tourism Commission is embarking on a six year strategic planning effort. Critical to the success of the resulting plan is securing key insights from all Washingtonians who recognize the importance of tourism to the economy. We’d like to invite your participation.
The Washington State Tourism Commission has retained the Radcliffe Company of Spokane and Nichols Tourism Group of Phoenix, AZ, to guide this effort. Mr. Radcliffe and Mr. Nichols have over 50 years of combined experience in destination marketing and management, and have partnered on similar efforts from Alaska to Florida.
In order to build a strong, unified strategic plan for our State's future tourism efforts, we need to hear from key stakeholders and constituents around the state. In recognition of the State of Washington’s government to government relationship with the Tribes we have set up a separate consultation session for Tribal Tourism representatives. This session will allow our planning consultants to gain important insights on critical tourism-related issues facing Washington in the coming years.
The Tribal Tourism Input Session will be held on Tuesday, December 11th from 1:30 to 4:00 p.m. at the Suquamish Tribe’s Kiana Lodge, Sandy Hook Road, Poulsbo, Wa. Please RSVP to lforsman@suquamish.nsn.us so we can properly prepare.
The aggressive schedule set by the Tourism Bill for completion of the strategic plan has unfortunately compressed our outreach process. If you are unable to attend you can also join in at the attached schedule of public meeting dates and locations. Further information will be posted to our industry website, www.experiencewa.com/industry.
Thank you in advance and we look forward to meeting with you.
Kind regards,
Marsha Massey
Interim Tourism Director
Washington State Tourism
Leonard Forsman
Chairman
Suquamish Tribe
And Washington State Tourism Commissioner