On Monday of this week, the Issaquah Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with the city of Issaquah and the city’s Lodging Tax Commission, hosted a nationally known tourism/community promotion expert to help educate us on trends and best practices in developing an improved tourism strategy for our community. This presentation served as the kickoff of a multi-month community assessment, research project and stakeholder outreach effort to develop an Issaquah-specific tourism business plan.

How (and whether) our community is adequately promoted is a critical piece of our any community’s economic development strategy. But what does tourism and community promotion have to do with sustaining a strong local economy?

Everything.

First, how we are perceived across our region is important. Our statement about our assets and the invitation to discover our community keeps Issaquah “top-of-mind” as a great place to visit, live, play and do business. As we compete for new businesses t, this regional buzz is important and keeps us on the map.

It’s also about jobs and resources. Bringing more shoppers, restaurant diners, and hotel stays into Issaquah is a proven method to import dollars. It’s pretty obvious – better, smarter and more integrated marketing leads to more sales – for any business. And the same is true for a community. And at a time when, we believe, the priority of every community leader should be creating jobs, this is one strategy that makes sense, while adding new revenue for city services to boot.

And finally, first impressions matter. Every new site selector looking to relocate a large or mid-size corporation, every new entrepreneur looking for a King County location to launch his or her enterprise, and every new potential resident is, first and foremost, a visitor to Issaquah. They first discover Issaquah as a tourist. They form first impressions. They develop an opinion on our brand. They make a choice to stop in, kick the tires and make a call as to whether we are worth a second look and a return visit.

We are not looking to be the next Disney World, Space Needle or Pike Place Market teaming with domestic and international visitors day-in and day-out. We are just looking to keep our community on the map, in the picture and a part of the conversation as a place to discover and explore. It’s about honing our unique value proposition and getting a fair share of the growing tourism spending dollar in Washington.