Hot C. Oregon summer tourism smashes records

The sun is still shining, but it’s that time of year the High Desert returns to the locals and regional tourism experts are wrapping up the season with a smile of satisfaction.

“It’s just such an exciting time for tourism,” Central Oregon Visitors Association President and CEO Alana Hughson said Wednesday. “We’re going to finish the summer up right around 20 percent up over the prior year, which is fairly astounding.”

Hughson said her organization gauges tourism growth by a number of factors, including analyzing price increases for hotel rooms.

She said reports show the rise in summer room rates was more than twice what was expected, increasing by up to 10 percent. Hughson said that’s roughly 5 percent higher than pre-recession prices, even after some adjusting for comparison.

Although the association found adult and youth sporting events contributed to a busier summer, Hughson said the bread-and-butter was simply vacations to explore Central Oregon’s outdoor recreation options.

Sun Country Tours Marketing Director Michelle Mercer said the rafting and paddle company experienced a 15 percent growth in business this summer.

“We were thrilled with that kind of growth,” Mercer said. “For something recreational, that’s an add-on to your trip.”

Hughson said data on how many people visited Central Oregon is not yet available, but she estimated the 3-4 percent occupancy growth COVA predicted in the spring was easily broken.

There’s also a new trend bringing in a different type of tourist — travel to the High Desert to say ‘I do.’

“Our wedding business and catering business was up over 45 percent from last year,” said Black Butte Ranch Marketing and Sales Director Kendal Daiger, adding that bookings for leisure trips and business conferences also spiked over the summer.

Exciting news across industries spread through the region, but is it too much too soon?

“This is the first summer in a number of years we were at capacity with occupancy, and really struggling to get people placed,” Hughson said. She added that the rapid growth could realistically be considered unhealthy and unsustainable.

“We need to be very strategic moving forward and look at how we can grow events and activities on the non-weekend, non-peak times, and look at how we can build events in the shoulder season,” Hughson said.

Hughson said she expects the rest of the year will also bring record-breaking tourism for the respective seasons, although not nearly the amount of growth as seen during the summer.