A new independent report from Dean Runyan Associates shows that 2017 was a record breaking year for Oregon’s travel industry.
2017 was the eighth consecutive year of growth in the state, and travel related spending increased by $500 million to reach a record $11.8 billion total for the year.
The report shows that the number of Oregonians directly employed in the industry increased by 2.2% over last year, netting more than 112,000 jobs throughout the state.
According to Andy Vobora from Travel Lane County, there’s more to be done to encourage growth here.
“One of the things that’s been holding us back at least a little bit in terms of growing, at least 2 of those markets, the sports and conventions, are the facilities we have locally. So, we’ve engaged in some work recently to look at both the convention space that we have. Is it adequate? And also on the sports side. Do we have enough of the sports venues to really kind of support that tournament growth and that kind of thing?”
The full Dean Runyan report can be found at industry.traveloregon.com.