South County Destination Management: News

Since mid-March of 2020, nearly 20 months ago, our community – and world – has been dealing with a global pandemic. Here in Pacific City, an area built on the strength of small businesses, the impact of COVID has been more than challenging. Click here to read the full press release.

Looking at the numbers, the vast majority of TLT collected by the county has been spent on projects in south county. Click here to read the full press release.

We’re very lucky in Tillamook County to have multiple industries that are very successful, providing jobs for our families. Timber, fishing, food processing, farming, education, construction, retail and food stores, natural resources, healthcare, government and tourism are major employers. Each of these sectors is interwoven. Click here to read the full press release.

The Beatles couldn’t have sung it better and as we are able to see more smiles returning to the maskless faces, we ask that patience and kindness continue to be given to our workers, business owners and anyone else who chooses to continue to mask up. Click here to read the full press release.

Just in: the 2021 Q1 Transient Lodging Tax (TLT) revenue collected by Tillamook County reports 135% increase from 2020 Q1 and even still a 108% increase from 2019 Q1 (pre-COVID 19). Visitors are coming to Tillamook County, staying for longer periods of time, and “peak season” is expanding its range. Local grocery stores, gas stations, maintenance and supply stores, short-term rentals, and other small businesses are profiting from this growth. The County is actively and conscientiously counteracting this increased demand on infrastructure, built facilities, and population management with a thoughtful and measured long-term master plan. This column focuses on the strategies developed for South Tillamook County. Click here to read the full press release.

The County Park’s mission is to provide safe and beautiful spaces for locals and visitors to enjoy; to stabilize and protect existing revenue centers (aka campgrounds, day use areas, and boat launches); and to care for and enhance what already exists. County Parks stewards over many assets that make the following activities possible: hiking, boat launching, picnicking, paddle boarding, boating, fishing, walking dogs, playing on playgrounds and many more. Every year, these assets get degraded, especially in their marine environment. To keep these areas of activity safe, County Parks has immediate needs such as improving infrastructure, most of which is as old as an antique car. County Parks wants to provide additional, useful amenities such as wifi in campgrounds but needs for take care of its many restrooms and potholes first. Click here to read the full press release.

The South Tillamook County Emergency Volunteer Corps is offering a training class for emergency response volunteers in a series of classes from mid-April to mid-June.

The attached flyer has many relevant details.

Everyone is welcome! If there are boaters or estate agents or historians or stitchers or swimmers who you think might be interested, please forward it to them. This is a great way to become involved in the community.

Throughout this planning process, and brought up in many of the working meetings of the Pacific City-Woods Parking Advisory Committee (PAC), the term “destination management” has been used to reference the community work at hand. These words have been used in conjunction and perhaps synonymous with “sustainable tourism.” But what do those terms mean, and how are they related to the many visitors that South County receives, especially in summer. Click here to read the full press release.

The year 2021 holds many anticipated changes for all of us, both large and small, one of which includes new parking fees for Pacific City. With the imminent changes to how we park and access the county’s outdoor areas, comes the question: why charge for parking? Click here to read the full press release.

Visit Tillamook Coast donated two beach wheelchairs to Pacific City as part of their equity to outdoor access program. The chairs will be available to the public, at no cost, through Kiwanda Hospitality in Pacific City. Click here to read the full press release.

To reserve a beach wheelchair in Pacific City, email adventures@headlandslodge.com

See Results of the Online Survey

Cape Kiwanda is one of the most popular recreational destinations in Tillamook County, if not the entire north Oregon coast. It is home to the world famous Pacific City Dory Fleet. Over the past ten years, Cape Kiwanda has seen a surge in tourism, particularly during the peak summer months. While visitors are an integral element of the local economy, Cape Kiwanda’s transportation facilities, infrastructure and the environment are under increasing pressure. Traffic congestion, beach safety, a lack of adequate parking and restrooms, and garbage are among the issues that degrade the visitor experience and impact the quality of life of local residents. Therefore, Tillamook County has taken several steps toward achieving solutions that benefit both residents and visitors.