TACOMA, Wash. — The city of Tacoma is taking a new approach when it comes to boosting its tourism industry.
For starters, they're no longer mentioning "Pierce County" in advertising materials. Now, they're going to start embracing the natural beauty that is Mount Rainier in their marketing to tourists.
“Mountain. City. Sea." is the city's new three-word tagline that marketing organization Travel Tacoma Mt. Rainier hopes will bring even more tourism to the third-largest city in Washington.
“People want to come have those experiences here not just because of a cool convention center, but because the get to walk out and see that view of the mountain,” said Dean Burke, President and CEO of the newly formed Travel Tacoma-Mt Rainier.
Once two separate organizations, Travel Tacoma & Pierce County and the Tacoma South Sound Sports Commission have merged to form Travel Tacoma – Mt. Rainier Tourism and Sports.
The new branding comes as three major hotel projects are simultaneously under various stages of construction.
One project off Commerce Street will connect a high-rise hotel to the existing convention center. Travel Tacoma Mt. Rainier said 1,100 rooms are expected to come online citywide over the next 10 months.
“Right now, hotel occupancy for Tacoma and Pierce County is sitting between 7 and 10% above the national average. That’s excellent for us, especially for a second-tier market like us,” Burke said.
While Seattle continues to draw international clientele, Tacoma hopes this campaign will solidify its spot as the regional destination for travel year-round.