At Go to Seattle, the area’s tourism board, we sometimes concentrate on attracting guests from all over the world to our lovely metropolis after which championing the native financial advantages of tourism with the general public. However as Seattle tourism has rebounded and downtown finds a brand new footing, one group is noticeably lacking from the image: locals.
To make sure the long-term success of the town, locations and experiences that make Seattle distinctive, that should change. That’s why we’re asking Seattleites to rediscover their hometown by means of “There’s Never Been More to SEA,” a brand new, citywide marketing campaign.
It’s a vital shift, supposed to deliver residents again into the long-term tourism outlook for Seattle. Constructed with native enterprise and neighborhood companions, it’s an effort to reconnect folks with the town they name residence, supported by the Perks Pass, which makes spending time downtown simpler and a bit extra reasonably priced.
Seattle has its seasons, from shiny summers to grey winter days. For a lot of locals, the town has felt caught in an extended winter in recent times, formed by lingering perceptions that downtown is unsafe.
A stroll by means of the town at the moment tells a special story. Cafes are busier, lights and decorations fill the streets, and eating places are as soon as once more reserving up on Friday nights. Even in winter, the world feels extra energetic, with constant foot visitors in locations that have been quiet a number of years in the past.
The momentum is measurable. Even with a dip in Canadian journey, 2024 was one in every of Seattle’s strongest tourism years on document. Forty million guests generated $8.8 billion {dollars} in spending. Downtown is seeing the outcomes, together with 40 new enterprise openings, fuller venues and a return of cultural programming that displays a broader restoration. Regional residents are lacking out.
The Perks Go presents entry to a spread of downtown experiences at diminished costs. For these contemplating close-to-home plans this season, it offers a extra reasonably priced solution to spend time within the metropolis, whether or not for a quick outing or a weekend break.
The affect of renewed foot visitors extends previous the vacation season. Spending by guests and residents helps fund the companies that hold Seattle operating, together with transportation, parks and emergency response. Tourism helps tens of hundreds of native jobs and generates substantial tax income, easing monetary strain on households throughout King County.
Native visits are vital. When residents spend time downtown through the “cozy” season, that point of yr between summer season and spring, they assist stabilize the companies that anchor the world and assist the civic areas that outline Seattle. We wish to carry that momentum into the yr forward, together with a full calendar of festivals, a extra walkable Pike Place, the sunshine rail growth and the FIFA World Cup matches.
Rediscovering downtown is about supporting the methods and companies Seattle depends on day-after-day. Additionally it is a solution to stand with the folks and companies that hold the town operating. When residents come downtown for a meal, an occasion or on a regular basis wants, they create the exercise that retains companies functioning and jobs in place.
Our return to the locations we love solely strengthens Seattle and strikes the town ahead for everybody to take pleasure in within the years forward.
