City communications officer unveils 'Score and Explore' sports-tourism brochure and hotel discounts

Maggie Aguilar, the city’s communications officer, briefed the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission on July 14 about a sports-tourism program called “Score and Explore” funded by LTAC that aims to entice visiting sports teams and their families to stay and spend in Oak Harbor.

Aguilar said the program assembles weekend packages of lodging, restaurants and local activities — including parks and trails — and that the brochure will be distributed to visiting coaches and families so group organizers can plan weekend stays. “So what we did is we put packages together for these teams and these coaches to spread to their families so that we're doing the work for them,” Aguilar said.

Aguilar said the city is working with several hotels on trackable discounts. “A few that we have talked to right now, Best Western and Candlewood, would like to provide a discount,” she said, adding any discount would need a specific Score and Explore code to permit tracking of use for LTAC reporting. Aguilar said the brochure also includes parks, hikes and downtown attractions, and that the city coordinated with Main Street to highlight downtown festivals and visitor options.

Aguilar also described a back-to-basics social-media push using interns to run a “photo of the week”…