Story Photos
 Mark Plotkin, director of the Cowlitz Tourism Bureau, looks at a recent Travel section cover story about Mount St. Helens in the Los Angeles Times. The volcano remains the top tourist draw in the region but officials are hoping visitors will quickly realize there’s much more to see here. Bill Wagner / InBusiness
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Revamped tourism effort under way in Cowlitz County
Friday, April 11, 2008 4:00 PM PDT
By Erik Olson
Printable version
E-mail this articleWith a growing Web site and a different funding partner, the Cowlitz County Tourism Bureau is looking to bring more visitors to the shadow of Mount St. Helens.
“The mountain still draws them in,” said Mark Plotkin, director of the tourism bureau.
The Web site, www.VisitMtStHelens.com, is about a year into its redesign, he said. It’s regularly updated, which gives people more of a reason to browse through some of the other things Cowlitz County has to offer for visitors to the volcano, Plotkin said.
“We’re not necessarily a destination, but the mountain gives them a place to jump off of,” he said.
Once tourists arrive at Mount St. Helens, or come to Southwest Washington for other recreational opportunities, Plotkin said he wants them to have a positive experience at local businesses. That’s part of the thinking behind the bureau’s latest project to improve customer service and attract tourists to come back to Cowlitz County.
It’s a program called “The Guest,” and it’s designed to provide tips for tourism-based businesses to make tourists feel like guests in a home, he said. The program has been scheduled at businesses around the county during the past few months, Plotkin said.
“That’s been very well-received,” he said.
So well that tourism bureau is planning to restart the seminars at the end of May and beginning of June, Plotkin said. The most successful sessions have been when businesses participate, which they can do by contacting the tourism bureau at 577-3137.
There are more reasons than Mount St. Helens to travel through Cowlitz County, Plotkin said. That’s why the tourism bureau is a part of the Southwest Washington Tourism Coalition, which works to showcase the entire region. Also, Cowlitz County participates with other areas, including Wahkiakum County, to develop maps highlighting hot spots on the drive to the beach, he said.
Southwest Washington is seeing a different kind of tourist, Plotkin said. More often, visitors to Cowlitz County are the serious recreationalists, the people who know where they want to go and are less likely to want to stop on the side of the road to take pictures, he said.
And the money they bring in is growing. In 2006, tourisism spending in the county increased $10 million to $122 million, Plotkin said.
“We could see that hit $200 million. That could be huge,” he said.
And it’s money coming in from outside the region, which makes the tourism industry something everyone can support, said Cowlitz County Commissioner Axel Swanson.
“It’s not a divisive issue. It’s something everyone can be on board with,” Swanson said.
common man wrote on Apr 21, 2008 7:36 AM:
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