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Troutdale tourism review shows visitation rebound; council approves $15,000 for Troutdale Arts Festival
Summary
City staff reported 2023–24 tourism data showing downtown visitation at record highs and $84 million in estimated visitor spending (2023). The council approved a $15,000 donation to the Troutdale Arts Festival after organizers said moving the fair downtown boosted weekend visitation; small downtown businesses urged fee relief for curbside spaces.
Troutdale’s tourism and economic development staff on March 11 presented a year‑end review of destination strategy, event performance and visitor data that showed downtown visitation surpassing pre‑COVID levels and estimated visitor spending in the tens of millions in 2023.
Marley Wachsler, the city’s tourism manager, said Placer.ai data recorded roughly 11.7 million visits to Troutdale in 2023, driven in part by attractions such as McMenamins Edgefield and the Sugar Pine Drive‑In; staff reported about $84.2 million in visitor spending in 2023 and said downtown visits totaled 475,764 in 2024 — the highest recorded since the city began tracking the metric in 2017. Wachsler described a new destination brand positioning ("It all starts in Troutdale") and said the city plans marketing and wayfinding updates, promotion of First Fridays and broader seasonal event packaging (for example, expanding Windy Wonderland into a holiday season of events).
Troutdale Arts Festival and council donation
Shannon Chisholm and volunteers from the nonprofit Cascadia Arts Association described the Troutdale Arts Festival’s move downtown in 2023. Organizers said the festival is a juried fine‑arts show (85 booth spaces) and that moving downtown produced two of the highest visitation days in downtown Troutdale for 2024. Organizers asked the council for city sponsorship; the council approved a $15,000 donation by voice vote/roll call (motion by Councilor Zach, seconded by another councilor; roll call recorded as unanimous yes). The staff and organizers said the festival offers booths for local businesses at a reduced fee ($150) and that the event seeks to avoid outside food vendors that compete with downtown restaurants.
Business concerns and downtown impacts
Several downtown business owners and restaurant operators urged the city and event organizers to consider waiving or subsidizing booth fees for restaurants that place tables and service in front of their businesses. Business owners said: (a) closing the street for a multi‑day event can reduce restaurant sales from regular customers who cannot access indoor seating, (b) outdoor furniture and staffing to serve customers during the festival can be costly, and (c) some restaurants experienced strong sales from participating but others said the per‑space cost made it hard to participate.
Council direction and next steps
Council members approved the $15,000 sponsorship. Councilors asked staff to survey downtown restaurants quickly about whether a fee waiver or subsidy is needed and report back; staff agreed to follow up. Wachsler said staff will proceed with rolling out the destination brand, updating ExploreTroutdale communications, and pursuing short‑term‑rental transient lodging tax collection changes (code updates needed to allow platforms such as Airbnb to collect the TLT on behalf of short‑term hosts).
Ending
City leaders said tourism is a significant economic driver for Troutdale; organizers and staff said they will continue to coordinate events, marketing and downtown business outreach for 2025.
