News release from VCB. Coming off a banner year for tourism, the Coos Bay – North Bend Visitor & Convention Bureau (VCB) is urging local citizens to continue their support of tourism by hosting their meetings, gatherings and retreats in the Coos Bay, North Bend, Charleston area. According to Katherine Hoppe, director of the VCB, “We’ve never seen such large growth in occupancy figures as we have this past year, and we’re hoping to continue that momentum by tapping into one of our greatest resources, our people.” The VCB is launching a campaign called Bring it Home, designed to provide local citizens with the tools and information they need to host a meeting. “We’ve developed a checklist and toolkit to help folks understand what goes into planning a gathering and to try and take the guess work out of it, “ said Hoppe. “We also want our citizens to know that our lodging industry and the VCB are here to serve as guides through this process so that organizers don’t have to go it alone.” VCB Chair and manager of the Best Western Holiday Motel, Joseph Monahan, noted that a lot of smaller organizations hold retreats or meeting outside the area with their regional groups, he’d love to see some of those occur here. “Large conventions are great, but we also want to see some of the smaller, more informal gatherings happen here. There’s so much to show off about this area, we’re an ideal location for church retreats, club meetings, and family reunions.” According to the Dean Runyan & Associates most recent available report, visitors spent $242 million dollars in Coos County in 2013. It further goes on to point out that if each resident household encouraged one additional overnight visitor, it would equate to an additional $4.1 million in spending and 52 new jobs. For more information on how to Bring it Home, visit www.OregonsAdventureCoast.com/meetings or contact the VCB by emailing meetings@oregonsadventurecoast.com
