Visitor bureau cites marketing gains, outlines $1.4M budget and rainy‑day plan

Janice Rivera, presenting the Visitor & Convention Bureau (VCB) semi‑annual report to the North Bend City Council, said the bureau expects about $1.4 million in VCB‑side expenses this fiscal year and has built a lodging‑tax 'rainy day' fund of roughly $84,000. She told the council the board plans to add about $53,000 this year until the fund reaches $200,000.

The VCB receives lodging‑tax revenue from North Bend and neighboring jurisdictions, including Coos Bay and portions of Coos County around Charleston. Rivera cited research from Dean Runyon & Associates showing visitors spent about $147.3 million in the three communities in 2024 — a figure she said supports roughly 2,100 local jobs — and $335.9 million across Coos County (about 3,800 jobs).

Rivera highlighted recent marketing results tied to a daily Denver–OTH flight. "When you do the calculation, that means that for every dollar that the Visitoring Convention Bureau spends to market our area, we bring $26 back to our businesses and to our communities," she said. Her team ran a digital campaign from April through August that generated about 11,000 visits to a campaign landing page and 307 click‑throughs to United Airlines' booking site; unique Denver visitors to the site rose from about 330 to 5,991 during the campaign period.

She also described targeted 'bucketed' Google ad campaigns that shifted money into smaller, theme‑specific promotions (for example, cultural tourism and forest bathing). Rivera said the cultural campaign produced a roughly 2,000% year‑over‑year increase in visits to a cultural page, forest bathing saw large gains, and a winter mountain‑biking campaign produced nearly a 300% lift.

Rivera described event support and operations: the VCB has committed $23,000 from sponsors to fully fund holiday‑lights shuttle buses (Friday–Sunday nights plus Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve). Ridership, she said, was about 4,000 in the first year and about 4,400 last year despite fewer service nights.

Council members asked operational questions about shuttle reservations, parking and flight load factors; Rivera said shuttles are free to riders, Shore Acres parking is now $10, and airport reporting showed a 173% increase in Denver‑flight passengers when service moved from twice‑weekly to daily. She closed by noting new merchandise and postcards available at the North Bend visitor center.

The council did not take formal action on the presentation; Rivera's report will remain part of the meeting record.