The Snohomish County Tourism Bureau officially launches its new destination brand and tourism website designed to create more awareness of the area and increase the number of visitors on Thursday.
The new brand will be unveiled at 8 a.m. on Thursday at the Future of Flight Aviation Center at Paine Field near Everett.
“Open Up” is the key branding tagline, which is paired with the many activities and attractions Snohomish County has to offer visitors. The new destination brand is one of the strategies included in the 2010 Snohomish County Strategic Tourism Plan, supported by the Snohomish County Office of Economic Development and passed by the county council in 2011.
“Our goal is to grow tourism into a $1-billion dollar industry in Snohomish County,” said Amy Spain, executive director of the Snohomish County Tourism Bureau. “Tourism is Snohomish County’s third largest industry – it generated nearly $876 million dollars in visitor spending in 2012. Snohomish County ranked fourth out of 39 counties in the state in terms of visitor spending according to a recently released report by Dean Runyan and Associates.”
The report documents that tourism in Snohomish County generated 9,340 jobs, $217.3 million in payroll, $16.6 million in local taxes, and $45.9 million in state taxes in 2012.
Because tourism is so important to Snohomish County, the Snohomish County Tourism Bureau partnered with Nashville-based North Star Destination Strategies, which has developed destination brands for more than 150 communities nationwide. North Star conducted extensive research to identify how Snohomish County is currently perceived by visitors, residents and stakeholders – and how the area can be positioned to stand out among competing destinations.
North Star then created a comprehensive branding program designed to effectively heighten awareness of Snohomish County and attract more visitors in the future. The program includes ideas for communications, signage, special events, community outreach, online initiatives, merchandising and more.
“Snohomish County has a tremendous opportunity to develop into a prime tourism destination,” said Spain. “With North Star’s assistance, we now have a consistent and compelling new theme and a focused message to help us persuade visitors that Snohomish County should be their next vacation destination.”
In addition to a new brand effort, the primary communication tool to potential visitors is the newly-developed website, www.snohomish.org, which was designed by Paramore Digital Agency of Nashville, Tenn. Consistent with the graphic design elements created in the branding process, the new website will enable visitors to learn about Snohomish County through unique content and tools that sort through the area’s attractions and events based on their specific interests or by a serendipitous exploration of the site. The website features a state-of-the-art responsive design to accommodate all mobile platforms in addition to traditional desktop computers.
Paramore Digital Agency is also working with the Snohomish County Tourism Bureau to use the latest in digital media to reach target audiences and those interested in planning a vacation to the area.
