travel oregon todd davidson

Travel Oregon CEO Todd Davidson on Oregon’s tourism comeback

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- In a sure sign of Oregon's comeback, tourists are returning to the Beaver State at levels not seen since before the pandemic. The Oregon Tourism Commission - operating as Travel Oregon - says visitor spending hit an all-time record of $14 billion in 2023. Travel Oregon CEO Todd Davidson joined Eye on Northwest Politics to talk about the reasons for Oregon's tourism comeback and what's ahead when it comes to Oregon touris…

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Travel Oregon

Todd Davidson

CEO at Travel Oregon

Todd Davidson began their career in 1988 as the Executive Director of the Albany Visitors Association. In 1994, they moved to Travel Oregon, where they served as both the CEO and International Marketing Manager.

Todd Davidson graduated from Iowa State University in 1985 with a Bachelor of Science.

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Coos County tourism sees growth after pandemic slump, study says

by Gold Meadows and KCBY.com Staff

COOS BAY, Ore. — The tourism industry in Oregon took a positive turn in 2021 after a pandemic-induced slump.

That's according to a new economic impact study released this week by Travel Oregon for National Travel and Tourism Week.

Todd Davidson, CEO of Travel Oregon says the state as a whole experienced a 65% growth in travel spending since 2020.

Coos County in particular saw a dramatic climb from $170 million spent on tourism in 2020 to $228 million last year.

This also brought nearly an 11% increase in jobs in the county.

"When the pandemic started, this industry was hammered," Davidson said. "Visitor spending dropped from $12.8 billion to $6.5 billion in one year, and we lost tens of thousands of jobs as a result of that. We've recovered roughly 65% of that visitors spending."

"We only have 3,300 jobs in the tourism industry in Coos County, and we lost quite a few of those to the pandemic," said Janice Langlinais, Executive Director of Coos Bay-North Bend Visitor and Convention Bureau. "In 2021, we started to see a resurgence. We're not back to the $277 million, but we are at $228 million."

Langlinais says National Travel and Tourism Week also honors frontline workers like waiters, gas attendants, and hotel workers.

She says these numbers are preliminary, and final numbers are set to be released in June.

Think Out Loud

Travel commission report shows oregon tourism surpassing pre-pandemic levels in many places.

Broadcast: Monday, June 5

Whale watching off the Oregon Coast is a perennial tourism draw, both for Oregonians and out-of-state and international tourists. In most parts of the state, tourism levels are above where they were in 2019, pre-pandemic.

Courtesy of Oregon State Parks / Courtesy of Oregon State Parks

Tourism all over Oregon saw a big jump last year , both from in-state and out-of-state visitors. And in some categories, activities reached new highs. That’s according to a recent report released by Travel Oregon, the state’s tourism commission. We talk with CEO Todd Davidson about what this means for Oregon communities, and the agency’s strategy to support sustainable growth in the industry over the next decade.

The following transcript was created by computer and edited by a volunteer:

Dave Miller : This is Think Out Loud on OPB. I’m Dave Miller. Tourism all over Oregon saw a big jump last year, both from in-state and out of state visitors. In some categories, activities reached new highs but travel in the Portland area is still lagging behind pre-pandemic levels. This is all according to a new report released by Travel Oregon, the State’s Tourism Commission. Todd Davidson is a CEO of Travel Oregon, he joins us to talk about the lingering effects of the pandemic and Portland’s reputational hit along with projections for tourism in Oregon, going forward. Welcome back to Think Out Loud.

Todd Davidson : Thank you, Dave. Good to be with you today.

Miller : It’s great to have you on. So 2021 was a lot more pandemic affected than last year, 2022. So it’s not exactly a surprise that there would have been an increase in tourism last year. What did surprise you in the numbers?

Davidson : You’re absolutely spot on, Dave, that there’s no surprise in the resiliency of the travel and tourism industry. What surprised me the most was maybe the strength of that resiliency. In other words, how much the recovery was realized. I think it’s important to remember where we were –  in 2019, tourism was a $12.8 billion industry for the state of Oregon. The next year, 6.5 billion, literally cut in half. Then we grew back to about 10.8 billion and then last year to reached 13.9 billion. So not only back to pre-pandemic, but a billion dollars ahead of pre-pandemic levels. That strength of that resiliency was a little bit of a surprise to me. So based on knowing our international wasn’t fully back yet and not all air service is back yet. So that was a big surprise for me.

Miller : I wanna make sure I understand the numbers you mentioned because I saw one chart in the report showing that if you adjust for inflation, statewide travel spending in 2022 is still below pre pandemic levels, around where it was in 2016. And that seems like an important thing to adjust for, right?

Davidson : Yeah, absolutely. In fact, when I talk about that $13.9 billion figure, I say there’s two primary influences behind that. One is the increasing demand for travel to and within the state of Oregon. The other is the inflationary pressures that the US economy and candidly the global economy have realized over the past couple of years. So to be back at 13.9 billion was the element that perhaps caused the greatest surprise for me. But the overall strength of the recovery so far has been very solid and very encouraging in terms of indicating the resiliency of the industry for Oregon.

Miller : If you look at the Portland area, in particular, Portland saw the biggest gain in tourism and spending from 2021 to 2022. But my understanding is it also saw the biggest drop in the worst year and a half or so of the pandemic. How big a drop was it?

Davidson : It was significant and that is correct that Portland saw the strongest recovery regionally in 2022 over 2021. They also saw the greatest decline during the pandemic. When you look at the fact that Oregon went from about 13 billion to 6.5 billion between 2019 and 2020, that’s about a 50% drop. Visitor spending in Portland was down about 70%. And so when you have 40 some percent, roughly, of all visitor spending in Oregon occurring in the Portland region, that 70% decline was significant in terms of its overall impacts as well on the state economy.

Miller : Before the pandemic, when I would tell people in other states that I was from Portland, the most common response I got was, ‘Wow, I’ve heard it’s amazing,’ or, ‘I visited once and I’d love to go back.’ I traveled, just recently, and when I told people where I was from over and over people would ask if it was overridden with crime or if it was just wall to wall homeless tents. These are issues we’ve talked a lot about on this show including today. The reality is way more complicated than what might filter through peoples’ consciousness in New York City or Wichita.

But we are talking about a real reputational hit to the city based on some things that are objectively true. Can you counteract that with a travel campaign or do you just have to weather it and wait for circumstances to change?

Davidson: The reality in any kind of advertising or branding effort is that marketing and advertising will only get you so far. A brand is what your customers say about you. That is your brand. What is it that lives in the minds of your customers? Our friends and colleagues at Travel Portland will acknowledge that there was a… and has been a reputational hit during COVID, with homelessness, with crime.

However, what I’m also seeing that has me bullish on Portland is the fact that through all that, certainly from a leisure travel standpoint - So here you’re looking at the average US consumer looking for where they wanna go for their vacation. Portland is still showing up on lists of places to go in 2023 in major business and travel publications. They’ve secured the National Education Association Conference. They’ve secured the Women’s Final Four in 2030. The restaurant scene is coming back in… some of the most written up restaurants in the nation are in Portland. The Ritz Carlton is opening this year.

So there’s still plenty of reason to be optimistic and hopeful for the future, while realizing that there has been that reputational hit and we’ve got to meet people where they are and be honest about where we were, what the plans are and where we’re going.

Miller : What does it mean for the statewide travel and tourism booster to be honest about where we are? I mean, you’re not journalists. Your job is to get people to come here. So I’m just curious what it means when you say you have to be honest about where we are. What would you tell the Ophthalmologists’ Conference? Like, why should they come here now?

Davidson : Yeah. Well more often than not, we and others are relaying what it is that we’re hearing from journalists and others that we’ve had here. We’re bringing journalists into the state and they’re experiencing Portland as well as other regions of Oregon. We’ve brought tour operators in and not just domestic but also international. We’ve heard from some of them that they wanted to come because they wanted to see Portland for themselves. They were very pleasantly surprised.

So there’s this idea too about how much has been built up in the press. You’re right. I’m not a journalist but how much of it has been built up in the press and has become, for that reason, you know, it’s where the reputational damage is living and needs to be counteracted. Versus what is reality and reality is bringing the journalists in, bringing the tour operators in. Not from across the country, but from around the world as well to experience Portland firsthand and be able to give you that honest assessment. And it’s not perfect yet.

There are plans and steps and we’re seeing things that are being contemplated in City Hall right now about ways to address the homeless situation in Portland and the camping situation generally. So there are things that are being done. We’re hopeful that with those efforts and people being able to come and experience Portland and Oregon, that will counteract that.

One thing I’d point out is, Portland has been running [surveys] throughout the pandemic and with that reputational perception issue out there, with folks that had been visiting Oregon and they find an incredibly positive intent to return, which is a very, very good sign for Portland as well. So again, we’re close to it. We live here. It may not feel like the Portland we remember from ‘X’ number of years ago but I believe it will be again and that’s why I remain bullish on Portland.

Miller : But if we look at the demographics of travelers, it seems like according to the report there has been a shift to more internal travel. Oregonians visiting different parts of the state. Certainly that was absolutely the case in 2020 and 2021, but it seems like that has continued and a big drop in international travelers. I think a drop in out-of-state travelers as well, at least a smaller percentage still than pre-pandemic. How do you think about the significance of that change in demographics?

Davidson : I think part of it is really diving into the visitor spending numbers a little bit more deeply. Oregon has always had a significant segment of the visitor spending being Oregonians traveling in Oregon. We love it here. We love our state. We love the diversity of our state. We may be folks that always wanna flock to the coast or flock to the mountains or we’re folks that wanna mix it up and experience different parts of the state, different seasons of the year, differences over the course of different years. But Oregonians love to get out and experience their own state. So to see roughly 40% of visitor spending in 2022 coming from in-state visitors, wasn’t surprising to me. It’s always been a significant amount. It’s ranged from 35 to 45% over the years. So 40% doesn’t surprise me. 60% out of state and international, also feels about right. The number that is definitely down, as a percentage, is international.

The reason I say it’s not as much a surprise, it was actually to be expected, is because we hadn’t seen the opening of the Asia markets, which are key to Oregon’s international visitation. We didn’t see the opening of those until very late in 2022 and we have yet to see the return of our international nonstop air service to Asia. So our flights to Europe are back and stronger. Flights to Canada, back and stronger. Flights to Mexico are back and strong. But to not have that Asia influx, where we’ve had strong visitation historically from Japan and Korea and China, does suppress the international visitor spending percentage.

Normally we’d be running close to 12% all international, both North America – Canada, Mexico – as well as our overseas inbound international run about 12%; one out of every eight dollars spent in Oregon would be from an international visitor. Last year was five. But again, not a big surprise to me given where we were with just the Asia markets and candidly here in the US. We didn’t even lift our restrictions for vaccines and the like until May of this year. So now the pieces are kind of in place just to hopefully stimulate demand from Asia. See the return of international air service, which will hopefully culminate in increased visitor spending from those markets that have been lagging since the pandemic hit.

Miller : Todd Davidson, thanks very much for joining us once again. I appreciate it.

Davidson : My pleasure, Dave. Good to be with you today.

Miller : Todd Davidson is the CEO of Travel Oregon. He joined us to talk about the big increase in travel and tourism statewide from 2021 to 2022.

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Business Movers: Todd Davidson, Travel Oregon; Mary Jensen, Bonneville Power Administration; Carmen Gaston, Archdiocese

• Updated: Apr. 02, 2015, 8:34 p.m.
• | Published: Apr. 02, 2015, 7:34 p.m.
• Vickie Kavanagh | The Oregonian/OregonLive

BEND -- SOAR Oregon , a nonprofit funded by the state of Oregon, has made two significant hires as it begins its second year focused on developing the civilian Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS or commercial drone) industry in Oregon.

Chuck Allen , a veteran of entrepreneurial startups and multinational corporations, has been named executive director of SOAR; and John Stevens , a leader in manned and unmanned aircraft operations and program management, has been named chief operations officer for Oregon's unmanned aircraft test ranges.

Allen, an accomplished technology and operations executive manager across several industries, has served as managing director and chief technology officer for Citigroup Global Equity Finance and as managing director of Microsoft's Middle East business, where he established the regional office and took it through 600 percent growth over four successive years.

Allen's background ranges from the highly entrepreneurial, such as mentoring startups, to the highly technical, such as running data centers for major trading firms and operations for a video-game company. His successes include helping to build the technology infrastructure to support a $60 million trading company and then rebuilding the data centers after they were lost on 9/11. Allen is also a pilot and drone hobbyist.

Allen succeeds Mark Morrisson , who resigned to pursue a personal project.

Stevens brings 10 years of experience in the oversight of civil manned and unmanned aircraft systems and 30 years in complex program management. His position will be crucial in standing up Oregon's test ranges to meet Federal Aviation Administration safety and proficiency standards.

Stevens will execute SOAR's operational strategy with the ranges at Pendleton, Warm Springs and Tillamook, with the Federal Aviation Administration, and with Oregon's partner in UAS operations, the University of Alaska at Fairbanks.

Stevens, who most recently was the range manager for the Pendleton UAS Range, also served as senior director of program operations of the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Flight Test Center at New Mexico State University, one of the country's leading schools in the development of UAS technologies.

He was founder and principal of the Sandia Performance Group in Albuquerque, providing strategic, technical, and program management solutions to aerospace and other organizations. Before that, he was involved in program management and flight test activities for a UAS firm and Federal Administration Administration certification projects for light jet and piston manned aircraft.

The filling of the two senior positions comes on the heels of the state announcing the support of $1.8 million dollars in UAS infrastructure for the Pendleton range through $1.1 million in grants and loans and an additional $545,000 in the form of a forgivable loan. The City of Pendleton, which funded the first phase of development at the range will contribute another $146,000 to the next phase.

Haley Bridgnell

PORTLAND -- Haley Bridgnell has been hired to fill the new position of assistant media planner/buyer at Charlton Marketing .

Bridgnell  will be involved in research, strategic planning, media buying and general support of the media department.

The Oregon native earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Oregon. Work experience includes five years as a law clerk.

When she's not working on advertising campaigns, she enjoys running, biking, and hiking.

FOUNDATIONS

PORTLAND  -- Jeremy Barnicle , chief development and communications officer at Mercy Corps , joined the board of directors of the Vibrant Village Foundation .

Vibrant Village is a private foundation based in Portland, Oregon. Since opening its doors in 2010, the Foundation has invested more than $5 million in programs around the world. Currently, Vibrant Village funds projects in 22 countries in the areas of water, agriculture, education, food security and community health and wellbeing.

Barnicle brings extensive experience working at the intersection of politics, media and foreign policy. Prior to joining Mercy Corps in 2005, he worked with the U.S. State Department, on Capitol Hill, with several consulting firms, and at the Associated Press.

He has lived and worked in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Hungary and Sierra Leone.

Barnicle has a bachelor of arts degree in public policy from Vanderbilt University and a master of public affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, where he serves on the dean's advisory council.

PORTLAND -- Mary Jensen , who has worked in the  Bonneville Power Administration General Counsel's office since 2002, has been named its general counsel. She takes over after managing the office for a year as acting general counsel.

Mary Jensen

While serving as acting general counsel, Jensen guided the administration's Office of General Counsel through a major reorganization, instituted a new office policy on legal advice, and collaborated with the Department of Energy general counsel in creating national guidelines for power marketing administrations in states where marijuana sales are lawful under state statutes.

She also instituted new processes that enable faster response times to requests made under the Freedom of Information Act.

Jensen has specialized in legal issues involving the provision of transmission service at Bonneville and was promoted to manage that legal section in 2008.

Before joining Bonneville, she worked at the U.S. Office of the Solicitor in Phoenix, Arizona, advising the Bureau of Indian Affairs regarding operations of its federally-owned electric utilities that provide service in Arizona.

Preceding her federal service, she worked as a prosecutor in Tucson, Arizona, handling felony cases including vehicular offenses, elder abuse and homicide. Jensen is a graduate of the University of Arizona College of Law. Her son is a third-generation journeyman lineman, who lives in Missouri with his wife and their five children.

The Office of General Counsel provides legal expertise that supports Bonneville  programs through legal advice and representation, including but not limited to the general areas of transmission, natural resources, power, lands, federal resources and treaties, generation and finance, personnel, and ratemaking.

Carmen Gaston

PORTLAND -- The  Archdiocese of Portland has appointed Carmen Gaston as Archdiocesan director of development and stewardship, effective April 7.

Gaston, currently chief development and strategy officer for Catholic Charities, will work closely with Archbishop Alexander K. Sample to direct major gifts and planned giving programs, as well as the Archbishop's Annual Appeal.

Prior to joining Catholic Charities, Gaston was assistant vice president for alumni relations and planning at the University of Portland for more than eight years. She earned her bachelor in arts degree at University of Portland and her law degree from Creighton School of Law.

She also is active in the community, serving as vice-chair of the board at Volunteers of America Oregon and as community board Member at the Medical Society of Metropolitan Portland. She also served as an adjunct professor at the University of Portland Pamplin School of Business.

She was honored in 2009 as one of Portland's 40 Under 40 by the Portland Business Journal for career accomplishments and community service contributions.

WELCHES -- The Resort at The Mountain has hired Nate Wiesner as the new executive chef. In his position, Wiesner is responsible for oversight of all kitchen operations, including staff management and menu creation.

Nate Wiesner

Wiesner has 17 years of restaurant operation management experience. His passion for cooking and motivation to become a chef began when he was a kitchen manager at Mt. Hood Brewing Company in Government Camp in his early twenties.

With the motivation to pursue a culinary career, Wiesner took a position at Salty's on the Columbia River as a line cook where he worked his way up to sous chef and was awarded manager of the year.

From there he moved on to sous chef at Mama Mia Trattoria in Portland before becoming the executive chef at L&B'S Restaurant & Gallery in West Linn.

Prior to his position at The Resort, Wiesner spent four years as the chef de cuisine at the Springs Living Facility in Hillsboro.

Wiesner has resided in the Pacific Northwest since he was 15 when he moved with his family from Green Bay, Wisconsin. He currently lives in Happy Valley with his fiance and four children.

Wiesner competed in the Bite of Oregon in 2013 and won best presentation for his dish.

TRANSPORTATION

PORTLAND -- Nicole Hollamon , director of safety at Kool Pak , will serve as first vice president of the Oregon Trucking Associations' Technology and Maintenance Council .

In this capacity, she will perform the duties of the president during his absence or as requested by the president. She will also remain on the trucking association's board of directors as the Technology and Maintenance Council representative.

This is Hollamon's third election to the board. Most recently, she served as president of the Technology and Maintenance Council from 2010 through 2012 and as the council's secretary from 2008 through 2010.

Todd Davidson

PORTLAND/SALEM --  The U.S. Travel Association has appointed Todd Davidson , chief executive officer of Travel Oregon , as its new national chairman.

Davidson, who previously served as the association's first vice chair, succeeds Interstate Hotels & Resorts chief executive officer Jim Abrahamson .

As national chair of U.S. Travel, Davidson will guide the board and association's efforts to:

• Aggressively highlight the role of the U.S. travel industry in driving increased economic growth and opportunity; and
• Firmly establish leisure travel as essential to American life.

As chief executive officer of the Oregon Tourism Commission (doing business as Travel Oregon), Davidson has overseen the growth of his state's $9.6 billion industry that employs more than 94,000 Oregonians.

He helped lead the effort to establish dedicated, stable funding for Travel Oregon, which facilitated the growth of Oregon's travel industry. During his tenure, Travel Oregon has garnered 13 Mercury Awards , including the top award for Best Website and Best Overall State Marketing Program in 2013.

-- Compiled by Vickie Kavanagh [email protected] 503-294-5913; okavkid

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Travel Oregon CEO Todd Davidson Named U.S. Travel National Chair

Todd Davidson

WASHINGTON [ ABN NEWS ] — The U.S. Travel Association on Thursday announced the appointment of Todd Davidson, CEO of Travel Oregon, as its new national chair. Davidson, who previously served as the association’s first vice chair, succeeds Interstate Hotels & Resorts CEO Jim Abrahamson.

“We are thrilled to welcome Todd as our new national chair,” said U.S. Travel Association president and CEO Roger Dow. “With the travel industry driving U.S. economic growth, jobs and exports, Todd is well-positioned to further expand the reach and influence of America’s travel sector. Todd’s experience and expertise will greatly benefit the travel community.”

As national chair of U.S. Travel, Davidson will guide the board and association’s efforts to:

. Aggressively highlight the role of the U.S. travel industry in driving increased economic growth and opportunity; and

. Firmly establish leisure travel as essential to American life.

“Given travel’s outsize contributions to U.S. economic strength and the growing evidence of the benefits of leisure travel, we have more opportunities than ever to tell its powerful story in Washington and beyond,” said Davidson. “My goal is to ensure that the travel sector has a strong voice and a seat at the table when critical decisions are made. I am honored to serve in this leadership capacity during this time of growth and success for the industry.”

As CEO of the Oregon Tourism Commission (d/b/a Travel Oregon), Davidson has overseen the growth of his state’s $9.6 billion industry that employs more than 94,000 Oregonians. He helped lead the effort to establish dedicated, stable funding for Travel Oregon, which facilitated the growth of Oregon’s travel industry. During his tenure, Travel Oregon has garnered 13 Mercury Awards, including the top award for Best Website and Best Overall State Marketing Program in 2013.

Edited by Jose H Oliveira Jr

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