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HomeMy WebLinkAboutQEC_LTAC_Letter-10202025October 20, 2025 Clarifying DMO Structure and Jefferson County Representation Following recent LTAC discussions, we wanted to offer a brief clarification about how Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) typically function, and how QEC’s proposal was designed to complement, rather than duplicate, existing tourism efforts at the state and regional levels. Across Washington State, tourism promotion works like a coordinated funnel that guides potential visitors from broad national awareness down to local engagement and spending: ●National level: Brand USA and the U.S. Travel Association promote travel to the United States as a whole. ●State level: State of Washington Tourism (SWT) markets Washington through national and international campaigns highlighting our state’s landscapes and cultural experiences. ●Regional level: The Olympic Peninsula Tourism Commission (OPTC), administered by the Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau (OPVB), connects SWT’s messaging to the identity of the Olympic Peninsula. OPTC represents multiple counties, including Jefferson, Clallam, Grays Harbor, Mason, and the cities of Sequim, Port Angeles, and Port Townsend. ●Local level: Individual counties and cities translate those broader messages into on-the-ground experiences — packaging our lodging, dining, and attractions into reasons to visit now. Under this model, QEC’s proposed role is not a duplication of OPTC’s regional work, but rather the essential local link in the chain: the point where inspiration becomes actual visitation and economic impact. Certain tools, like websites or social campaigns, may appear similar across tiers but Quimper Events Collective - www.quimpereventscollective.com MAILING ADDRESS: 821 Washington St Port Townsend WA 98368 WEBSITE: quimpereventscollective.com INSTAGRAM: @quimpereventsco BOARD OF DIRECTORS Alexis Arrabito, President Mia Garcia, Vice President Heidi Haney, Treasurer Jessie Short, Secretary Natalie Maitland, Director Bethany Mahaffey, Director Marvin Copeland-Griggs, Director operate at very different scales and purposes: OPTC tells the Olympic Peninsula story; QEC would tell Jefferson County’s story within that narrative. We also share the desire for greater accountability between OPTC and Jefferson County. One effective way to strengthen that relationship would be for the County’s designated DMO to ser ve as its official representative at OPTC meetings, ensuring a clear line of communication, coordination, and feedback between our local stakeholders and the regional tourism network. During the October 13 BOCC meeting, Commissioner Brotherton referenced the City of Port Townsend’s model as an example worth emulating. We agree, and we believe it offers a practical framework. The City does not operate its DMO fully in-house; instead, it maintains limited staff capacity (a .25 Marketing & Communications Director and a .5 Arts Coordinator) while contracting with local organizations for visitor ser vices, reader boards, and public engagement. This hub-and-spoke structure blends city oversight with community expertise; a model that works because it leverages trusted local partners/subject matter experts. Many counties use similar hybrid approaches, as noted in the Kitsap County PAO’s DMO Executive Summary 2024_07_08 DMO Exec Summary (enclosed with this letter). These public-private partnerships deliver professional marketing capacity while maintaining public transparency and measurable outcomes. That is precisely what Quimper Events Collective is offering Jefferson County: a coordinated, contract-based model that draws on proven local expertise, ensures accountability, and produces results that benefit the entire visitor economy, not just our members. Because no RFP process has yet been conducted for 2025, we respectfully suggest that LTAC consider the demonstrated capacity, partnerships, and performance QEC has already shown. Our proposal provides the County with an immediate, cost-effective path to establish a DMO presence for 2026 while a longer-term hub-and-spoke framework takes shape. We view this as a collaborative opportunity, one that aligns Jefferson County with state and regional systems, amplifies local businesses, and finally gives our communities a unified voice in the visitor economy. Sincerely, Quimper Events Collective Board Quimper Events Collective - www.quimpereventscollective.com 1 Executive Summary Issue Description: Destination Marketing Organizations (DMO) Meeting Date: July 8, 2024 Attendees: Eric Baker, Anne Williams Action Requested at this Meeting: Information on the elements of a Destination Marketing Organizations, their benefits and considerations for Kitsap. INTRODUCTION Destination marketing organizations (DMOs) are entities dedicated to promoting tourism and driving economic growth in a particular destination. DMOs can take many forms, including chambers of commerce, convention and visitor bureaus (CVBs), economic development organizations (EDOs), city and county governments, state governments, and smaller nonprofit community associations. Chambers of commerce and CVBs are perhaps the most well-known types of DMOs, as they are responsible for marketing and promoting a particular city or region to tourists and business travelers. EDOs, on the other hand, focus on attracting and retaining businesses to a particular area, which can in turn lead to increased tourism. City and county governments may have dedicated tourism offices or departments, and state governments often also have their own tourism offices or agencies. Smaller nonprofit community associations or even individual tourism asset operators may also be involved in promoting local tourism and events. Each type of DMO has its own unique strengths and capabilities, and the best organization to partner with will depend on the specific needs and goals of a particular destination. Jurisdictions can designate one or more DMOs with any number of tourism, lodging and hospitality responsibilities. TYPES OF ENTITIES INVOLVED IN TOURISM AND ECONOMIC GROWTH ACTIVITIES The following offers a high-level overview of the unique role and structure of convention and visitors’ bureaus (CVBs), destination marketing organizations (DMOs), and economic development organizations (EDOs). 2 CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAUS (CVBS) CVB experts are the source of information about hotels, facilities, attractions, restaurants, and activities, and the first contact when planning an event. All CVBs are not-for-profit organizations primarily funded by their local governments, usually through a portion of hotel occupancy taxes. Their mission is to promote the long-term development and marketing of a destination, focusing on convention sales, tourism marketing, and services. As the tourism marketing arm of the destination, the CVB is responsible for creating public awareness about their destination and, ultimately, booking the meeting and event business that feeds the economic engine of the region. And, because their services are funded by local stakeholders, they are free to the planner. In some cases, the creation of a Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) is a response to the need to separate tourism-related funding from an existing Chamber of Commerce. While both organizations may promote the local business community, the focus of a CVB is more specific to tourism promotion and the attraction of visitors. Separating the two entities can allow for more targeted efforts towards tourism, without diluting the focus on other aspects of economic development. This can be particularly important for larger, more developed destinations where tourism is a significant part of the local economy. By creating a CVB, the tourism industry can have a dedicated organization that can work more closely with local government and other stakeholders to develop and execute effective tourism strategies. DESTINATION MARKETING ORGANIZATIONS (DMOS) Essentially, the terms CVB and DMO are interchangeable. Referred to as CVBs for many decades, destination marketing organizations began identifying themselves as DMOs to convey a less bureaucratic connotation to the traveling public. Similarly, many CVBs, such as VisitPittsburgh, Meet Minneapolis and San Francisco Travel, have replaced the traditional “Convention & Visitors Bureau” portion of their name with a more descriptive, action-oriented name. Like many other re-named CVBs, “Experience Columbus” now identifies with the more contemporary DMO designation but is still happy to acknowledge that it is the region’s convention and visitor’s bureau. Every CVB is a DMO, but, technically, not every DMO is a convention and visitors bureau: some destinations have no meeting facilities and consequently market to leisure travelers only; some focus solely on meeting and convention business and leave transient tourism marketing to other entities. No matter what you call them, CVB/DMOs are uniquely qualified to be the best first point of contact for any meeting or event because of their comprehensive view of the destination, local expertise, extensive market relationships, and complimentary services. DESTINATION MARKETING ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE Most DMO’s are not-for-profit organizations that work independently under the auspices of a board of directors. Their primary funding source usually comes from a hotel/motel tax that a hotel guest pays on lodging in the communities the DMO represents. To collect the lodging tax revenue, the DMO has a contract with the local government agency with an obligation to represent and promote their specific 3 destination to drive economic development related to travel and tourism. Other sources of revenue can come from membership fees, partnership revenue, event revenue and more. Specifically, DMO’s will promote without preference their community’s attractions, restaurants, hotels, shops, entertainment opportunities, events, and unique venues/facilities. They develop strategies that will attract visitors for leisure, sports, conferences, group travel and more based on that community’s particular assets. DMO’s also provide a tremendous number of services to travelers seeking information about a community if they are planning a trip or on site. To save time and money, meeting planners and event hosts seek the services of the DMO as they are connected to most people, venues, hotel properties, attractions and more that can ensure an event goes smoothly and participants have a great experience. Using a DMO, an event planner can receive seamless services, from a comprehensive community bid to a coordinated familiarization tour to services during their event. DMO’s can often be a resource for local partners when it comes to industry trends, a directory of all kinds of local and state contacts in the hospitality, tourism and event services industries, knowledge of pertinent legislative changes and more. They can also serve as advocates for community projects that can promote tourism activities in their community. MODELS OF DMOs There are different DMO models which can be either as a governmental agency, independent agency, or through a Chamber. AS A GOVERNMENT AGENCY In this model, the DMO is a department within local (city or county) government. The agency reports directly to the political leadership (mayor, council, commission) or to a local government manager/administrator. They often work with an appointed oversight or advisory committee made up of government representatives and tourism stakeholders. Generally, the top administrative position serves in an appointed capacity and other staff members fall under whatever level of civil service protection the local government entity may practice. Advantages • Direct accountability to the funding sources. • Direct line of administrative supervision (agency head reports to one person). • Utilizes administrative, personnel and accounting systems already in place in local government. • Interaction and coordination with other departments; tourism development is perceived as an “equal interest” among the local government programs of work. • Some cost savings (office space rental, equipment, administrative costs, etc.) compared to separately held offices and their needed infrastructure. • Overall long-term organizational stability. • Personnel benefits (insurance, retirement, time off, etc.) on par with local government employees. 4 Disadvantages • Possibility of political influence on program of work and/or staffing decisions. • If not involved in an advisory/oversight capacity, stakeholders may feel excluded from decision- making process. AS AN INDEPENDENT AGENCY In this model, the organization is free-standing, independent and most often not-for-profit 501(c)6 organizations with their own governing board of directors who hires the executive director, establishes and governs the policies and procedures of the organization, and gives overall direction to the program of work. Funding for these organizations and their programs of work comes primarily from local governments who enter a contracted arrangement with the CVB/DMO to provide tourism development activities for the community and pay for such services through local lodging tax collections. Independent CVB/DMOs also often have other revenue streams through special events, service fees, advertising sales in publications and on their website, package program sales, product/gift shop sales and, in some cases, membership fees. Advantages • Independent organizations tend to be less bureaucratic in structure and are free to operate more on a business model. • Independent Board of Directors tend to be individuals who have experience in the tourism industry and who have a direct, vested interest in seeing the work of the organization being successful. • CVB/DMO administrative and staff direct accountability to a board of directors and to the agenda and program of work established by the board. • Salary and benefit programs in independent organizations tend to be closer to market equivalency, making it easier to attract and retain experienced and qualified tourism and marketing professionals. • Since they are not government agencies, independent organizations have the freedom to develop non-lodging tax revenue streams. Disadvantages • Local government may feel a sense of diminished control of the program of work. • If non-tax revenues become an overly important source of funding, a larger portion of management time and resources may have to be directed to that function rather than to the primary function of marketing the destination. • If a membership-based model is used, there can be a structural bias towards marketing and promoting members over non-members, often leading to dissatisfaction among non-members. WITHIN A CHAMBER OF COMMERCE The program of work of tourism development for a community often functions as a division of department of a chamber of commerce or other economic development agency. This is particularly true for start-up or small destinations, where the community has neither the resources nor staff to operate a separate tourism program. In some cases, larger and more well-established destinations continue to operate their tourism programming through a chamber or EDA. In these cases, the chamber/EDA usually acts on a contractual basis to perform the program of work of tourism development for the community, with funding for the 5 program coming from lodging tax collections. In some cases, the chamber also makes a financial commitment to the program, most often through personnel and/ or physical office costs. Some chambers charge and receive a management fee for performing this function for a community. In most cases, the CVB/DMO is governed by a board of directors independent of the chamber’s board. Advantages • If the chamber has a good standing and reputation in the community, that lends credibility to the CVB/DMO and the program of work of tourism development. • Chambers of commerce often represent a very broad cross-section of a community’s business, government, and civic leadership. Those resources, skills and influence in the community can be made available to assist and enhance the work of the CVB/DMO. • There can be cost savings for both the chamber and the CVB/DMO through the sharing of administrative, personnel and operating expenses. Disadvantages • Chambers of commerce and CVBs can have somewhat different missions and objectives. • Chamber boards of directors may not be experienced in or focused on tourism development. • If the chamber does not have a good standing in the community, that can be detrimental to the program of work of tourism development. • In communities with multiple chambers of commerce, the placement of a CVB/DMO within any one chamber can lead to feelings of favoritism, exclusion, or preferential treatment towards one community over another on the part of the CVB/DMO.