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Troutdale tourism staff review 2025 visitor gains, new brand and marketing materials
Summary
Troutdale’s tourism staff presented 2025 visitation and spending data, debuted a new ‘Gateway to the Gorge’ brand and marketing materials (postcards, maps), and outlined steps to begin collecting lodging tax from short‑term rentals.
Marley, a tourism division presenter, told the Town Center Advisory Board on Feb. 19 that Troutdale’s tourism program has formalized a destination brand aimed at positioning the city as a gateway to the Columbia River Gorge.
"This is the visitor map that we created and it was a labor of love and essentially banging my head against a wall," Marley said, describing a two‑sided ‘Wander the Waterfalls’ map that pairs Troutdale information with a touring route toward Cascade Locks.
The presentation traced Troutdale’s transient lodging tax (TLT) history — established at 6% in 1972 and raised to 6.95% in 1999, with 0.95% earmarked for tourism promotion — and outlined the tourism division’s responsibilities, including visitor promotion, town center plan implementation and marketing the Confluence project for the Urban Renewal Agency.
Marley said municipal code updates to require collection of lodging taxes on short‑term rentals were approved in January and are now being implemented. "We’ve passed the necessary municipal code updates in January," Marley said; staff are coordinating with platforms so collections can begin.
The presenter also described new visitor materials: free postcards with QR codes linking to driving instructions and an AllTrails route, personalized note cards used in mailed visitor packets, and a brochure distribution plan that includes Oregon welcome centers and Portland hotels. Marley said the cards and brochures are intended to guide visitors along Historic Columbia River Highway and to downtown businesses while limiting the need for frequent map updates.
On metrics, Marley reported Troutdale attracted about 2,400,000 out‑of‑market day and overnight visitors in 2025, generating roughly $28,200,000 in visitor spending (an 11.3% increase from the adjusted 2024 figure of $25,300,000 after methodological changes that removed gas purchases and inbound commuters). The city recorded approximately 508,900 visit nights in 2025 and an average of about 33,700 monthly visitors.
Board members praised the materials and suggested small refinements — several recommended expanding the downtown insert to list restaurants and shops or to use a separate panel so the main map remains stable. The board also discussed leveraging vintage photos and historical sketches to strengthen the brand’s local feel.
The board did not take formal action on the presentation; staff said a condensed version will go to City Council on March 11 with a shorter briefing and that additional edits to marketing materials are forthcoming.
