Target Growing Inbound Oceania Market
Salem, Oregon – Travel Oregon and Travel Portland will host industry partners and travel media in Australia and New Zealand as part of a 15 day mission in October to further expose the destination – known for its award-winning Pinot noirs, craft beers, artisan food scene, music culture and spectacular coastline – to these important inbound markets.
The mission encompasses key east coast Australian cities including Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Newcastle, where the team is meeting travel trade and media to share the latest destination highlights before heading to New Zealand. The biggest event of the trip is being held in Sydney tonight (October 14) where media, key wholesalers and industry partners will enjoy some Oregon hospitality and learn more about what the “Beaver State” has to offer Antipodean travelers. The event will be held at hip Sydney venue, The Dove and Olive, which is known for its’ craft beer – a perfect alignment to Oregon, which is home to four of the country’s largest microbreweries.A record number of 1,122,180 Australians visited the United States in 2012, an increase of 8.1 percent year on year from 1,038,000 in 2011. This makes Australia one of the top 5 nations to provide visitors to the U.S, around 12 percent of arrivals are business related and close to 88 percent are visiting for leisure.
With the welcome rise in visitation to Portland, the city has increased its hotel beds including the six-story, 223 room centrally located Residence Inn by Marriott, the 100-room historic Sentinel hotel, which both opened earlier this yearand the quirky Tony House Hotel comprising five expertly designed self-contained tiny houses built on flatbed trailers. A further nine lodging projects of varying styles are in the works including a 52 room hostel in Old Town Chinatown, a refurbishment of the Red Lion Hotel to rebrand as the new contemporary designed, Hotel Eastlund featuring two new restaurants by noted Portland chef, David Machado. In addition, Hilton is set to build a new luxury hotel as part of its boutique collection, Curio, in downtown Portland due to open in late 2016. Oregon’s Heathman Hotel – now best known for the role it played in Fifty Shades of Grey – is the star of a new themed VIP Travel Package aptly named Fifty Shades of Oregon.
The state is capitalizing on the 2015 release of the movie with the package which offers visitors the opportunity to experience where Ana and Christian had their first rendezvous, the Heathman Hotel, before continuing to the coastto soak up the ambience of Stephanie Inn and concludes with a mountain adventure in a treasured national historiclandmark, Timberland Lodge. Available now and priced from $7500 for two, this six night, seven day sensory experience encapsulates the best Oregon has to offer including luxury accommodation, transport, wine and food complete with aphrodisiacs. For more information visit www.heathmanportland.com
Oregon’s reputation for spectacular scenery has been cemented with the December 5 th U.S. release of the movie ‘Wild’, much of which is set in Oregon. Originally a novel by Portland author, Cheryl Strayed, the film stars Reese Witherspoon who treks over 1000 miles solo after the destruction of her marriage, on one of Oregon’s great hikes, the Pacific Crest Trail. “We’re excited to have our beautiful state and wilderness showcased in what’s expected to be a hugely popular film. It’s wonderful to see so much of the movie was actually filmed in Oregon, showcasing the vast natural beauty of the state,” said Lisa Itel, Global Sales Director, The Americas and Oceania.
With a variety of popular nature-based experiences readily accessible from Portland, a new Nature Passport has been introduced, enabling visitors to identify more than 20 of the top experiences in nearby Washington County, offering more than 700 square miles of wetlands and wildlife habitats. Oregon is also home to more than 6,000 lakes including the deepest in the U.S. – Crater Lake. It has the longest ski season in North America and some of the best rock climbing in the country. In addition, Oregon has no sales tax and it is illegal to pump your own petrol giving visitors a real break when they visit this beautiful state!
Oregon is also a farm state and home to 99% of the U.S. commercial crop of hazelnuts, 70 different varietals of winegrapes, and some of the freshest seafood and ingredients in the country. The state also offers farm stays, visits to horse and cattle ranches, “u-pick” farms, winery tours, beer trails, and other agritourism opportunities.
According to Lisa Itel, over the past two decades, Portland’s food scene has really come of age. Or, as Eric Asimov described it in The New York Times, “Portland has emerged from its chrysalis as a full-fledged dining destination.” Food & Wine has named it one of the “best places to eat” in North America and Time.com called Portland “America’s new food Eden.” The creative food cart scene alone can be credited with both U.S. News & World Report and CNN naming Portland the city with “the world’s best street food.” In Portland where a craft distilling boom is well underway, there are 10 distilleries within the city limits. Five of these distilleries are located in the up-and-coming Central Eastside District, in an area referred to as Distillery Row. Visitors to Distillery Row can partake in tastings, tours and other special events.
Other Fun Food and Drink Facts:
- Oregon has incredible ingredients from pears, truffles and hazelnuts to sustainably caught seafood
- Oregon is home to world-class chefs, brewers, vintners, chocolatiers, butchers, farmers, fishermen, crabbers, salt distillers, and ice cream, cheese and charcuterie makers.
- Oregon is best experienced from behind the handlebars of your bike. That’s because Oregon has more scenic byways and tour routes than any other state in the US
- Portland is home to eight wineries located near the city center
- There are now 51, and counting, microbreweries within the Portland city limits, ranging from large-scale operations with distribution around the country and even the world, to highly respected neighborhood brewpubs that are producing innovative new beers and bringing back largely forgotten brewing traditions
- Four of the country’s largest microbreweries are in Oregon: Widmer/Craft Brewers Alliance, Deschutes, Full Sail and BridgePort
- Portland’s reputation as “Beervana” has much to do with the region’s access to the best ingredients for making beer.
- Oregon is the second largest hop-growing state in the country, with 14 different types grown in the Willamette Valley, which makes it easy for local brewmasters to produce “fresh hops” beers (made from hops picked within the previous 24 hours).
About Travel Oregon
The Oregon Tourism Commission, dba Travel Oregon, works to enhance visitors’ experience by providing information, resources and trip planning tools that inspire travel and consistently convey the exceptional quality of Oregon. The commission aims to improve Oregonians’ quality of life by strengthening economic impacts of the state’s $9.6 billion tourism industry that employs nearly 94,000 Oregonians. www.TravelOregon.com
