Deidre Peterson, chief executive officer of the Shelton Chamber of Commerce, presented the Chamber’s second-quarter visitor-services report to the council, covering April through June. Peterson said the Chamber and partner visitor services operate under contracts with the city and county lodging tax funds and are seeing more annual passes and stronger engagement per visitor even as foot traffic and phone inquiries declined slightly.

Peterson highlighted investments to improve the visitor experience: a renovated visitor center with new LVT flooring and lighting, signage and seven interchangeable informational panels focused on timber and railroad history. The Chamber also helped roll out a kiosk with the Wild Side (Explorer) progressive map app that lets users find hiking trails, lodging and restaurants and enables the Chamber to capture email addresses and location data for outreach. Peterson said staff and volunteers flex hours to cover special events such as Forest Festival and the art walk.

On marketing, Peterson reported online engagement metrics (reach on the Chamber visitor page of about 25,000 and other page metrics) and noted visits from in-state markets — Tacoma, Olympia, Seattle — and some out-of-state visitors. She said lodging options in Shelton remain limited, so the Chamber focuses on directing visitor spending to downtown retail and services.

Council members had no substantive objections; Peterson answered brief procedural questions and said the Chamber will continue to coordinate with city staff for event coverage and promotions.