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Sumner updates tourism strategy to align with Pierce County, pushes agritourism and transit links
Summary
Communications Director Carmen Palmer updated the Sumner City Council on a strategic tourism plan aligned with a countywide effort, highlighting agritourism, partner coordination, transit connections and lodging-tax work ahead of county and regional events.
Sumner City Council heard an update Sept. 8 from Communications Director Carmen Palmer on the city’s strategic tourism plan and steps to better align Sumner with the Pierce County tourism strategy.
The 10‑year plan, adopted in 2024 and produced with consultant MMGY NextFactor, emphasizes aligning local promotion with county efforts, strengthening partnerships with hotels and destination-marketing organizations, developing agritourism and improving connectivity to regional transit and event generators such as Mount Rainier, the state fair and Sound Transit lines.
Palmer told council the plan is relatively new: “Our strategic tourism plan is about 1 to 2 years old.” She said the city piggybacked on Pierce County’s contract with MMGY NextFactor, which reduced the city’s cost and helped make the Sumner subarea plan compatible with the countywide approach. “Tourism for us is putting heads in beds, not just leisure travelers,” Palmer said, noting that business travel and participants in regional sporting events are major overnight markets as well.
City staff described several strands of work now active or planned: monthly coordination meetings of hotels, Sumner…
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