Cannon Beach marketing plan emphasizes stewardship, launches geolocation pilot

A tourism consultant, Dan Devlin, presented a two‑year strategic marketing plan developed with the Chamber that aims to increase off‑season visitation and to pair tourism promotion with stewardship messages. Devlin said the campaign will use geolocation advertising to reach day‑trippers and provide weekly reports on engagement.

Devlin described stewardship and "clarity of place" as central themes—examples included messaging to protect wildlife and to encourage low‑impact recreation. "Geolocation is surprising how much information you can capture from people's cell phones, and that's how we'll be targeting," Devlin said, describing a short, targeted campaign intended to prompt visitors already in the area to spend locally and to follow stewardship guidelines.

Councilors and attendees discussed privacy and the technical limits of geolocation targeting. Staff and Chamber representatives said stewardship messaging (wildlife protections, pick‑up‑after‑pets reminders) will be included alongside promotions of local businesses and events. The Chamber said it has budgeted for a marketing coordinator position and will coordinate social shares with Chamber members and the Experience Cannon Beach channels. Weekly benchmark reporting was promised after the first geolocation run.