News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Judy Trego has an upbeat assessment of Sisters' tourist economy at the tail end of the season.
"What I have heard from the merchants downtown is that they have had a very good year and that their sales are up, some by 30 percent," Trego told The Nugget last week.
She said that lodging and resort properties are doing well.
"Aspen Lakes is having weddings, FivePine is booked and Loy (Helmly, manager of Ponderosa Lodge) says they're doing really good as well," Trego said.
Room-tax collection is an easy way to gauge how many people are traveling to Sisters, and indications are that tourism is up considerably.
Room-tax numbers show an 11.56 percent increase in May, a very slight increase in June, which is always busy anyway, and a 9.8 percent increase in July.
A large increase in the middle of the off-season has drawn notice. There was a 38 percent room tax jump in January, Trego reported.
It's hard to pin down exactly what caused that increase, but the Chamber has made an effort to expand its marketing of Sisters, and good travel conditions due to an unusually dry winter also probably played a part.
"We can say advertising and great weather help increase sales/lodging," Trego said.
Visitors are coming to Sisters from all corners of the globe.
"We have had visitors from China, Canada the United Kingdom, France, The Netherlands, and from over 20 states who have signed on our log," Trego noted.
Many visitors hear about Sisters by word of mouth, particularly from people who come here for one of Sisters' major events and have a good experience.
"They hear a lot about the events," Trego said. "The word-of-mouth comes from the event piece."
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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