A warm Welcome to Mason County & THE OLYMPIC PENINSULA

The Mason County Board of Commissioners recently approved funding for further development of plans to create a tourism Welcome Center on Hwy 101 near Taylor Town.

The project was proposed after the Lodging Tax Advisory Board called for strategies to meet changing needs of visitors and tourism providers. Mason County contracted with Northwest Event Organizers to examine the feasibility of a full service Welcome Center on Highway 101.

The Board’s goal was to determine if a comprehensive facility – regionally oriented and partnering with community stakeholders – could reach visitors effectively, operate economically, and provide enhanced services that would improve tourism sustainability in Mason County. spin-off benefits in terms of additional visitor spending in the area. According to a recent tourism analyst report (Dean Runyan 2020), on average, visitors that stop at welcome centers spend 68% more on their trip than other types of visitors.

These centers serve as an opportunity to connect with visitors who like, expect, and need personal concierge services.

The purpose of this “gateway” center is to welcome travelers and provide details on local activities, events and amenities available. The facility would be a destination in its own right, offering interesting activities and a welcoming experience that embodies, protects, and showcasing our rich timber and aquaculture heritage, while providing inspiration and guidance for tourism asset operators, event coordinators and explorers to create memorable adventures and stories.

Additionally a Welcome Center, incorporating multiple tourism partners, could result in substantial regional The restroom is the #1 reason visitors stop at a Welcome Center -literally. A visible center with convenient ingress and egress and plenty of parking, could serve travelers basic as well as inspirational needs.

The proposed Center will be home to an array of uses including rotating heritage exhibits, educational events, and community gatherings.

The proposed layout includes high visibility and access from Hwy 101 as well as park areas surrounding camp and event area.

Proposed layout | Image in Action Design

The grounds accommodate walking trails and overflow parking. Ultimately the surrounding acreage could fulfill the needs of agricultural events and traditional Mason County festivals.

The Welcome Center is proposed for one of several possible locations on Hwy 101 between Taylor Town and Shelton’s exit to Hwy 3. This section of highway is the busiest on the entire Olympic Peninsula with over 30,000 vehicles passing daily. After this point traffic is diverted to routes around the county and upper peninsula. This concentration of traffic makes it an ideal location for a State partnered Rest Area.

In 2018 total direct travel spending in the county was reported at $128.6 million/annum. Increases in recent years is acutely reflected in State Park usage. In 2019 Mason County's State parks reported 1,210,080 users with 83,749 overnight users. In 2020 this number was increased to 1,380,703 users with an overnight count of 89,127. The increase in visitation in the last year can be attributed to Washington’s “Stay Home” orders and travel bans. Close proximity to urban hubs, including Tacoma, Seattle, and, Portland, naturally led to an increase of visitors to our county. Despite the anomaly caused by the pandemic, there has been an upward trend since 2017and it is projected that the trend will continue. In order to sustain growth and meet the displaced demand (those seeking accommodations outside Mason County) there is need for infrastructure enhancement in dining, lodging, event facilities and place-based attractions. This shortage is a hurdle to future tourism growth in Mason County. The Welcome Center will allow Mason County to position itself as a key access point to the Olympic Peninsula.

Shelton’s Hwy 101 south access is a logical location for a center catering to tourist market service for the entire Olympic Peninsula. Primary tourism draws for the region include trails, wilderness and water-based activity as well as hiking, and camping. Shellfish, golf, biking, racing, skydiving, and sport tourism offer opportunities as well.

Situating the Welcome Center gives consideration to visibility, access, attractions, services, as well as future festivals and events. Events create compelling time sensitive motivation for visitors to travel to the area and they result in attention to our unique assets.

A location on Hwy 101 with multiple uses and enhances opportunities for private as well as public partnerships beneficial to increase and ensure relevancy the Center, as well as generate revenue to offset operational costs. The Welcome Center’s goal in design and implementation is to meet the changing needs of the tourism industry and be financially sustainable as well as an economic generator for the region.

In the next year the County will be coordinating with consultants, stakeholders and government entities to further develop the Welcome Center concept. With tourism dollars committed to the project through 2022 and strong support from local and state entities, the project has the potential to be of benefit to local businesses, non-profits, community members and visitors.