Lakeside, part of the big picture

Best Costume

Oregon Tourism & Hospitality Exceptional Partnership Award

Lakeside Chamber of Commerce President Jonie Reeder, “The whole South Coast Partnership worked together to get this done, I’m proud that we did it and got the award for it. This will help bring tourism to the south coast as well as to Lakeside.”

Also, an award was presented for the best costume at the presentation.

Local merchants donated prizes given along with the media promotion in an additional effort to get people to the South Coast.

Reedsport, Winchester Bay. Coos Bay, North Bend, Gold Beach, Brookings, Bandon, Port Orford, and Lakeside Chambers all contributed toward a $36,000 matching grant through Travel Oregon.

Southern Oregon Coast wins big at the Governor’s Conference on Tourism

The Southern Oregon Coast Partnership received one of the industry’s highest honors at the Oregon Governor’s Conference on Tourism on Sunday evening when the Oregon Tourism Commission (dba Travel Oregon) presented them with the  prestigious Oregon Tourism & Hospitality Exceptional Partnership Award.

The Southern Oregon Partnership consists of Destination Marketing Organization’s (DMO’s) from Brookings to Reedsport. The Partnership was formed last year and started out with a bang by receiving a $10,000 matching grant from Travel Oregon to assist with a multi-faceted promotional campaign. Their marketing efforts included traditional media along with a new website, facebook page, and blog postings. According to Katherine Hoppe, director of the Coos Bay – North Bend Visitor & Convention Bureau, “This partnership was about more than just advertising, it was about propelling one another to the benefit of our entire region and about recognizing that we are stronger as a whole than we are individually. We’re all extremely excited and grateful that Travel Oregon found it award worthy.”

The Partnership Award from Travel Oregon recognizes a group of Oregon tourism and hospitality industry organizations which have collaborated to create and promote a successful tourism program, promotion, or product which is more successful than any single entity could have produced alone.

Another big winner for the South Coast was Bandon Dunes Golf Resort. They were honored with the Oregon Sustainable Tourism Leadership Award. The sustainability award recognizes an individual’s outstanding leadership, stewardship, and socially responsible practices as demonstrated by a strong commitment to decreasing the environmental impact of the tourism and hospitality industry.

This is the third year in a row the Coos Bay – North Bend VCB has been honored with an award and a first for the Southern Oregon Coast Partnership. The DMO’s included in the partnership are Brookings-Harbor Chamber of Commerce, Gold Beach Promotions & Visitor Center, Port Orford & North Curry County Chamber of Commerce, Bandon Chamber of Commerce, Coos Bay – North Bend Visitor & Convention Bureau, Lakeside Chamber of Commerce and the Reedsport/Winchester Bay Chamber of Commerce.