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Wednesday, April 15, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Planning future tourism promotion
Correspondent
Sisters9 approach to pro-
moting tourism is under
review.
In response to the Sisters
Country Vision Plan, the
City has been gearing up to
address Strategy One for a
Prosperous Sisters; to make
Sisters a four-season tour-
ist and visitor destination by
strategically increasing the
number of shoulder season
and winter events and attrac-
tions, such as performances,
festivals, retreats, educational
speaker series, trainings, and
outdoor sports tournaments.
The Action Plan calls for the
creation of a Sisters Events
Committee with a paid
coordinator.
As of June 30, 2020, the
contract between the City and
the Chamber of Commerce
naming the Chamber to act
as the Sisters Visitors Bureau
will expire. On January 22,
Chamber executive direc-
tor, Judy Trego, approached
the City Council and made a
request for $250,000 in addi-
tional funds for next fiscal
year, above and beyond the
current fixed annual contract
amount of $250,000.
The money given to the
Chamber comes from the
transient room tax (TRT)
collected on overnight guest
stays in local hotels/motels,
bed and breakfasts, and short-
term rentals. By state law, a
certain percentage of the TRT
is required to be spent on
tourist-related activities and
promotion. The $250,000 a
year to the Chamber is more
than the percentage required
by law.
Rather than try to craft a
long-term contract with the
Chamber at this point in time
when the events/tourism/vis-
itor committee is still in the
planning stage, the Council is
considering a one-year exten-
sion of the current contract at
its current $250,000.
The City believed there
was a clear need to engage
the Chamber in a conver-
sation around the future of
tourism promotion in Sisters.
In February and March,
City Manager Cory Misley
and City Councilor Michael
Preedin held three meetings
with Trego, Nick Beasley,
Chamber board president,
and other staff.
Misley reported that he
thinks the City and Chamber
have come to an understand-
ing on a general direction for
the near future. The discus-
sions covered many topics
including information gath-
ering, Sisters Country Vision,
and looking to the future of
the partnership/contract.
There were a few key
takeaways that should be
central to the direction
for a short-term contract
extension:
" Create a tourism/visitor
committee made up of stake-
holders such as the Chamber,
the City, lodging providers,
event coordinators, and city
residents. The committee can
help guide decisions/invest-
ments regarding the TRT and
tourism in Sisters.
" Create a strategic plan
around tourism/visitor pro-
motion and investments. The
committee would be the key
stakeholder group inform-
ing this effort. A consultant
would be retained to lead/
manage the effort. This stra-
tegic plan would be a longer
term (three to five years)
framework to guide year-
to-year decisions regarding
investments in tourism pro-
motion, events, and facili-
ties. Furthermore, it could
contemplate many scenar-
ios including contingency
planning and resiliency for
unforeseen circumstances
(wildfire, pandemics, natural
disasters).
An estimate of the time
needed for this is three to six
months and could begin soon
after the committee is cre-
ated, meaning the plan could
be completed approximately
this time next year.
Given the need to assem-
ble the committee, which will
create the strategic plan, there
is not currently enough new
data/information to make a
long-term decision regard-
ing the TRT and the contract
between the City and the
Chamber.
With the current shutdown
caused by the coronavirus,
the TRT funds collected this
year will most likely be nega-
tively impacted. For this fis-
cal year (2019-20), the bud-
get projections for TRT funds
collected was $674,000, but
Finance Director Joe O9Neill
has reduced that projec-
tion downward to $556,000
due to the coronavirus.
He is projecting $500,000
for FY 2020-21 due to the
coronavirus.
Misley reported to the
Council that the Chamber
understands the process and
appreciated the fact that
the amount for next year
wouldn9t be reduced. The
overall goal shared by both
groups is to <make Sisters
better.= The $250,000 is yet
to be approved by the Budget
Committee which will be
meeting in early June.
Sparks will fly!
After Governor Kate
Brown9s announcement on
Wednesday that Oregon
schools will be closed to
in-person learning for the
remainder of the school year,
the Oregon School Activities
Association (OSAA) has
canceled all remaining
spring activities and state
championships.
<Today9s heart-wrenching
decision is difficult for all
members of the OSAA fam-
ily,= said Peter Weber, OSAA
Executive Director. <We
empathize with students and
school communities, espe-
cially our graduating seniors,
but recognize that these can-
cellations will allow our col-
lective focus to remain where
it9s most needed at this time
4 on the health and safety of
all Oregonians.=
<We had maintained hope
for an abbreviated spring
season to help bring a sense
of normalcy to these uncer-
tain times,= said Weber.
<Now more than ever we
need to apply the lessons
learned through participation
in education-based activities
4 teamwork, sacrifice, resil-
ience 4 and play our role in
adhering to the public health
guidelines. We all look for-
ward to the day when we
play again.=
Current OSAA policies
prohibiting the use of school
facilities and coaches from
organizing or directing work-
outs and practices remain in
effect until further notice.
The OSAA Executive Board
will meet in the coming
weeks to discuss policies
for summer activities, along
with academic eligibil-
ity concerns for Fall 2020
that have been expressed
by member schools and
families.
The OSAA and our
member schools are cur-
rently awaiting guidance
from Oregon Department of
Education on credit attain-
ment for ninth- through 11th-
grade students through the
state9s Distance Learning for
All initiative.
Excellence With Compassion
W
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Spring sports season
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