13 minute read
Defying Conventions
With the convention business dead for now, Spokane’s tourism industry has had to improvise
For decades, local tourism-focused groups like Visit Spokane, the Spokane Sports Commission, and the Spokane Public Facilities District have been centered on one united mission: How can they bring as many tourists to Spokane as possible, packing them into big events like track meets and conventions, so the whole local economy would flourish?
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But then, last March, that entire premise came to shuddering halt. Instead, they faced a slew of new questions.
How could you pack the Arena when sports and concerts were all canceled? How could you promote tourism when interstate travel was dangerous? How could you hold conventions when the convention business effectively ceased to exist?
And most importantly: what now?
First, it meant assessing the damage. Spokane County Fair and Expo cut their staff in half. Visit Spokane laid off their entire sales staff.
“I’m presenting a budget to my board today that shows us losing $4 million next year,” says Stephanie Curran, CEO of the Spokane Public Facilities District, which runs Spokane’s Arena and convention center. “This morning, I was thinking never would I have ever thought in my lifetime I would present a budget that was going to lose even $1 million, nevermind $4 million.”
Meg Winchester, president of Visit Spokane, says things may not truly get back to normal until 2023. Even once most people are vaccinated, a fear of travel may linger.
But each of these groups has found ways to adapt, to find the opportunities scattered among the ashes.
“I, from the beginning, have refused to be a victim of this,” says Curran. “A lot of venues across the country have just laid everybody off and shut down. But we’re kind of small and mighty in Spokane.”
The Spokane County Fair and Expo couldn’t hold the Interstate Fair. So they had drive-in movies and held a fair-food drive-thru event.
Eric Sawyer, CEO of the Spokane Sports Commission, says his team even tried to pitch a West Coast college basketball version of the NBA bubble — they’d play in the Arena and the convention center and attend classes in Spokane hotel rooms. But with the patchwork of different state and local rules, it was too difficult to make it work.
Still, those local tourist groups have also found ways to turn their empty buildings and unused lots into an asset to fight the virus and the challenges it posed.
The fairgrounds opened for use in drive-thru COVID testing. And in the same way that nearly a century ago one of Spokane’s Prohibition-shuttered breweries became housing for transients, the Spokane Arena was turned into a temporary homeless shelter.
“The mayor called me and she’s like, ‘I’m in a desperate situation,’” Curran recalls “‘We need to find a [place for homeless people to stay] because of social distancing,’ I was like, ‘Great, we’re the perfect place.’ Normally, we couldn’t do stuff like this because we would be booked.”
VISIT SPOKANE'S MEG WINCHESTER
And when air quality turned dangerous, the Arena again became a shelter.
Meanwhile, they’ve turned to how they can prepare for the future.
With a reduced staff, Visit Spokane partnered with sales staff at Curran’s Public Facilities District and looked for openings to make a pitch for the promise of Spokane.
Visit Spokane found 20 high-end event planners and, instead of giving them a tour in person, they did it virtually. They sent them bottles of wine from Barrister Winery and coffee beans from Indaba. So, when Visit
Spokane presented the merits of our fair city to the region over video chat, the event planners could sip some of Spokane’s finest beverages while watching.
“They were like ‘Wow!’ afterwards,” Winchester says. “We’d never done anything like that before. It was actually very successful.”
Not only that, but the dearth of tourism-related travel, Curran says, gave Spokane a chance to get in front of the sorts of influential event planners who would never have given the Lilac City a second look before. “There was one in particular; he said, ‘OK, fine, you’ve convinced me. I’ll come to look at
Spokane,’” Curran says.
Using $2.5 million of CARES Act money, Visit
Spokane has been running ads all over the place, including in Seattle and Portland. It may seem odd to spend money on tourismrelated advertising during a time when tourism is so limited. But Winchester argues that it makes perfect sense. It’s about planting a seed that, by the time restrictions are finally lifted, has blossomed into fullgrown Spokane-bound wanderlust.
“People are dreaming right now,” Winchester says. “Our job is to get people to dream and commit.”
And that’s where Sawyer, with the Sports Commission, sees a lot of hope.
“There’s going to be some tremendous opportunities for those communities around the country who have survived COVID,” Sawyer says. They’re lining up events for the third and fourth quarter next year.
In one sense, Spokane got lucky.
For years, the delays and setbacks getting the Podium — the $53-million state-of-the-art sports tourism megaplex — off the ground had been a source of frustration. Think of all the economic impact we were losing out on!
It turns out, it was more like missing a flight for a plane that ended up crashing. The Podium’s soft opening is scheduled for next fall, right when — hopefully — the virus has been beaten back enough to take advantage of the megaplex.
“Maybe we’re all vaccinated,” Sawyer says. “Who knows what’s going to happen.”
And when the time comes for vaccinations, the facilities district knows of a few huge, well-ventilated facilities perfect for administering those vaccinations.
“At the convention center, they are ready to possibly become one of the locations for vaccinations,” Winchester says. ◆ VOLUME 6
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8 INLANDER SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 Champagne Sunday Brunch at the Historic Davenport have been temporarily suspended as a result of the restrictions and the dip in hotel occupancy. But today all Davenport Collection hotels and restaurants are open, with some COVID-19 restrictions. Jensen says there have even been some positive takeaways amid the downturn. “Especially with our restaurants, it’s pushed us to become more electronic in everything we do. We have QR codes on each table now, and people can scan that and be taken to an online menu on their smartphones. And the next step in that is our new mobile sites where you can order food online.”While features like those will help the Davenport Hotels minimize in-person interaction during COVID-19, they’ll also allow them to make room service more effi cient and convenient in the long run. “We’ve got over a hundred years of interaction and great customer service, and now we’re reinventing that, rethinking how we do things.”Classic red-carpet treatment, enhanced with digital fl air, is certainly one way to warmly welcome conventioneers and business travelers back to Spokane when tourism resumes in full. In fact, even as Visit Spokane prepares to launch an integrated marketing campaign across the Inland and Pacifi c Northwest, there are signs that it’s already working.“For the past couple of months, countywide we’ve actually been seeing a little over 50 percent occupancy rate in our hotels,” Winchester says. “What that tells us is that, in the grand scheme of things, people are still coming here organically and staying in our hotels and enjoying everything that we have to do in the Spokane region. People are looking for more of an outdoor recreation destination, a safe destination, a getaway. And we offer all of that.” ◆ Business owners who would like to partner with Visit Spokane and take advantage of their marketing platforms are encouraged to email Meg Winchester at mwinchester@visitspokane.com. All the hotels and restaurants in the Davenport Collection can be found online at davenporthotelcollection.com. The website offers an easy online room booking process and more information about their dining options. "Tourism is an underrated economic driver," says Visit Spokane CEO Meg Winchester. “We sometimes take for granted how much money it brings in — and those are outside dollars that are coming into Spokane.” A recent study found that those outside dollars amounted to as much as $1.3 billion in spending in 2019. If the direct and indirect impacts of that spending are taken into account, it’s possible to say that tourists help sustain nearly 18,000 local jobs. Of those, roughly 30 percent are in the food and beverage sector.That highlights just how much of a far-reaching and interconnected impact that tourism has on the region. When visitor traffi c slows in response to a global pandemic like COVID-19, the local economy feels it from top to bottom. “Visit Spokane is about 90 percent funded by hotel occupancy,” Winchester says. “So, as you can see, it’s a trickledown effect. Lower occupancy leaves us with less money to market to bring people to Spokane.” Matt Jensen is the corporate director of sales and marketing for the Davenport Hotel Collection. He estimates that their branded group of fi ve hotels, which includes the Davenport Tower and the Historic Davenport, have seen around a threequarters retraction in business since statewide restrictions went into effect back in March. All but the Davenport Grand Hotel were closed until the end of June. “You’ve got the leisure traveler, the corporate traveler who’s here on business and then you’ve got a convention group traveler,” Jensen says. “Well, two of the three have just — poof — gone away. The hotel model has been one piece of it. And then there’s the restaurant model, where we have limited capacity because of social distancing.” Popular perks like happy hour at Table 13 and the BACK TO BUSINESS PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS SPONSORED CONTENT PALM COURT GRILL AT THE HISTORIC DAVENPORT HOTEL Safe business practice resourcesKindnessNotCovid.org • Financial resources for businesses ABOUT Back to business · These weekly pages are part of a local marketing effort in support of the hospitality sector brought to you by leading institutions and businesses to help promote the Spokane County economy, supported in part by Cares Act funding. With the goal of balancing commerce and public safety, you can follow along here in the Inlander, and via the links below, as local restaurants, shops and more share their stories and invite your support. more to come the Inlander for special Back To Business guides, along with special sections, sharing more recovery stories and community business features. The Red-Carpet Treatment DAS STEIN HAUSDAS STEIN HAUS GERMAN • NORTH SPOKANE Got a craving for German food? Look no further. Das Stein Haus German Pub and Eatery in North Spokane is your destination for German Brew and authentic homemade German food such as Schnitzels and Bratwurst. We are happy to announce that we are now open for in-house dining. Because of limited seating capacity at this time, we recommend you make reservations. 1812 West Francis, 326-2214, dassteinhaus.net DOMINI SANDWICHES DELI • DOWNTOWN] We are the longest run family sandwich shop (57 years) in Spokane. We have fresh bread delivered every day and cook the best roast beef in town. Famous popcorn comes with your sandwich too. We have been at this location for 57 years. We are a New York style sandwich shop with only meat and cheese, no veggies. We are doing only takeout, pickup and curbside orders at this time. 703 West Sprague, 747-2324, dominispokane.com ELLIOTTS AN URBAN KITCHEN AMERICAN • NORTH SPOKANE New American cuisine utilizing ingredients with integrity, in a relaxed neighborhood environment, serving craft cocktails and some of the best service in town. 2209 North Monroe, 866-0850, facebook.com/elliottsanurbankitchen INDABA COFFEE COFFEE • FIVE LOCATIONS We are a small family-run business found in the heart of Spokane. We believe hospitality will change the world. For us, this starts with donating a meal with every bag we sell and making friends with everyone we get the pleasure of serving. We offer in-dining seating at our Broadway and Riverside locations. You can also order your drink ahead of time for in store pick up or curbside delivery through the Joe Coffee Order Ahead app. 1425 West Broadway, 1315 W Summit Pkwy., 419 N Nettleton St., 210 N Howard, 518 W Riverside Ave. indabacoffee.com FERRARO'S NORTH ITALIAN • NORTH SPOKANE Family owned and operated since 2008. Homemade recipes handed down through generations. All employees wear masks, tables are six feet apart, Hand sanitizer and gloves are available to customers as well. 3022 N. Division, 325-7443, ferrarosfamilyitalian.com MAPLE STREET BISTRO BISTRO • NORTH SPOKANE Maple Street Bistro prides itself on serving high quality espresso drinks with locally we would love to see you! Maple Street Bistro currently has our lobby closed and all orders are taken at the door. You can take the orders to-go or stay and enjoy our patio seating. We also have a convenient drive-thru option, or you can call ahead and pick up your order at the door or the drive-thru. 5520 North Maple, 328-0473, maplestreetbistro.com ECLECTIC • SPOKANE VALLEY MAX at Mirabeau is a great place for food and a one-of-a-kind atmosphere. MAX food is created for you by our skilled chefs and suited to fi t even the most discerning palette. To enhance your dining experience, MAX’s chefs have created a menu using scratch cooking. The menu items have been thoughtfully planned to use the freshest ingredients purchased from local purveyors, growers, bakers, winemakers and brewers whenever possible in order to bring to you, our guest, the highest quality products available. Social distanced seating inside and on our outdoor patio. Thorough cleaning and disinfecting efforts daily. We also offer takeout, curbside to go, delivery and room service for those not wanting to eat inside or who are on the go! 1100 North Sullivan Rd., 922-6252, maxatmirabeau.com TRAILBREAKER CIDERY & EATERY CIDER • LIBERTY LAKE Trailbreaker Cider is a family-owned company specializing in hand-crafted ciders, using the freshest ingredients from throughout the Inland Northwest. Our ciders are made using real apples, pressed on site here in Liberty Lake and pair wonderfully with our restaurant’s food selection. The state-of-the-art cidery features spacious indoor seating with over a half-acre of outside lawn space that cider lovers can properly socially distance. Our facility also features modern air ventilation systems that refresh the air within the facility once per hour, 24 hours per day. 2204 N. Madson Rd., 592-8219, trailbreakercider.com
