Oregon’s Mt Hood Territory is rich with beautiful rivers and lakes. They are also unknown by many visitors to Oregon. If the region carefully planned, managed and marketed these water resources, then they can be valuable economic development assets without damaging the environment. Crane Associates was hired to find this critical balance. The Mt Hood Territory Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) needed to create a Strategic Plan for increasing visitation, attracting more overnight stays, and increasing length of stay by leveraging its water resources. The work involved a national market analysis, a statewide survey of visitors, dozens of focus groups, 6 workshops with tourism service providers, and 4 months of site visits, all of which resulted in a highly detailed understanding of visitor demands, behaviors, and expectations. Strategies were tested with service providers and a final set of 49 recommendations were drafted within 5 groups including: Physical Improvements; Marketing Strategies; Community Involvement; Product Development and Enhancement; and Institutional and Governance Improvements. Each recommendation had measurable goals, Key Performance Indicators, assigned responsibilities, a timeline, and a budget. The project was recognized by state and regional marketing entities as a successful approach and Crane Associates was hired a second time to present the findings to regional stakeholders and initiate implementation of the strategies.
