BLYN – Before we show off our attributes to people in other regions, we’d best become friends, or at least partners.
That was the message, proclaimed by everyone from ferry operators to wine makers, at the Olympic Peninsula Tourism Summit on Wednesday.
Under a cloud-free turquoise sky at the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribal Center, 70 participants talked about catching tourism’s next waves: travelers seeking “soft adventure,” “watchable wildlife” plus “a quaint or uniquely American experience.”
Keynote speaker Marsha Massey listed those terms and pronounced the Peninsula loaded with them.
Massey, interim managing director of the state Tourism Office, may be a bit biased in favor of the state’s attractions.
Her point, however, was that wineries, restaurants, governments, outfitters and ferry operators of the North Olympic Peninsula must get together to confront the challenges threatening to undercut the flow of vacationers into the region.
