Bulletin E-Edition:
more photosDiners have a view of the Three Sisters at the Lodge Dining Room at Black Butte Ranch. An alliance of Sisters property owners, including Black Butte Ranch, is pooling its resources to market the area as a destination. Preston Thompson, marketing manager at Black Butte Ranch, says “the views alone from some of these properties makes this area a potent force.”
Melissa Janson / The Bulletin
Selling Sisters
Alliance forms to market region’s many offerings
By Jeff McDonald / The Bulletin
Published: January 07. 2008 4:00AM PSTSISTERS — Visitors often stop for a look at this small Western-themed town during summer, but they don’t stay long enough to survey its diverse offerings, according to a group of lodging property owners who have formed a cooperative marketing alliance to encourage visitors to explore the area and stay awhile.
The alliance, known as the Unique Properties Group of Sisters, will pool the resources of five different property owners and the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce to market the area and create new packages designed to make what’s being called the “Sisters Country” more of a destination instead of a quick stop on the way to Bend or Sunriver.
When the campaign launches in March, the five lodging properties — FivePine Lodge, Suttle Lake Lodge, Lake Creek Lodge, Black Butte Ranch and Best Western Ponderosa Lodge — and the chamber each will contribute equal money into advertising and introduce an eco-tour package where tourists could pay for a multi-day walking tour of the area from the High Desert to the Metolius Basin, said Bill Willitts, developer of the FivePine campus.
The campus is a mix of businesses at the east end of town that includes the FivePine Lodge & Conference Center, Shibui Spa, Sisters Movie House and Sisters Athletic Club. A new restaurant and brew pub are slated to open at FivePine this year.
The 10-day, 40- to 50-mile tour could include overnight stops at each lodging property and would be guided by Sisters-based restoration and field guide group Wolftree Inc. on existing trails, Willitts said. Visitors would hit the trail during the day, then relax and unwind with a spa treatment, dinner and warm bed in cozy accommodations at night.
The walking tour would include a shopping and gala celebration featuring Northwest wines and beers, Willitts said.
“We’re trying to build upon the national trend of experiential travel and eco-travel and attract international tourists to Sisters,” Willitts said.
The new campaign, which is still being finalized, also will feature a Discovery Pass package including spa treatments, dining coupons at local restaurants such as Jen’s Garden, golf vouchers at Black Butte Ranch Golf Club and Aspen Lakes Golf Course, lift tickets at Hoodoo Mountain Resort and movie passes at the Sisters Movie House to accompany overnight lodging at one of the five properties, Willitts said.
The 10-day, eco-tour idea could attract international tourists who are looking for ways to experience the Western United States in an authentic way, said Alana Audette, president and CEO of Central Oregon Visitors Association. Audette met Wednesday with the Unique Properties Group about the concept and how COVA might help.
“Building a unique itinerary is a brilliant idea, and it’s practical for what people would be getting,” Audette said. “But it’s something that they’re going to have to modify if they want to market the idea to domestic travelers because 10-day vacations in a small area are not as frequent. But it’s well-suited for international travelers because they like to immerse themselves in their itinerary.”
The Unique Properties Group would initially focus 80 percent of its advertising budget — which hasn’t been finalized — on print advertisements from the Portland/Vancouver area to Eugene, Willitts said. Twenty percent would be spent in Deschutes County, he said.
Working together
Cooperative marketing is a common tool in Central Or-egon’s $498-million-a-year tourism economy.
COVA was founded on the idea that tourism-related businesses could leverage their advertising dollars with the public and privately funded tourism-promotion agency to attract more visitors to the region, Audette said. Additionally, larger tourism partners such as Mt. Bachelor ski area and the Sunriver Owners Association have formed partnerships with COVA and seen their marketing dollars matched.
“It’s a special model here (in Sisters) where competitors pool their resources to grow business for everyone,” Audette said. “I’m proud that businesses have the vision to see this can be a powerful way to do effective marketing.”
It would be the first time for Sisters lodging partners to work together and couldn’t have happened without the recent development in the area, including the new FivePine and Suttle Lake lodges, and a renovated Black Butte Resort, all of which have helped make the Sisters area more of a destination, said Preston Thompson, marketing manager at Black Butte Ranch.
“I’m sure it’s been done, but it hasn’t been done right here — there are so many other options in Central Oregon, but there are serious possibilities in the Sisters area,” he said. “The views alone from some of these properties makes this area a potent force.”
‘On the hunt for what’s new and different’
The marketing efforts could help increase visits at Hoodoo, where most skiers and snowboarders come from the Willamette Valley for the day and return home at night, said Matthew McFarland, Hoodoo general manager. Last year, about 62,000 of the ski area’s approximately 90,000 visitors were from the Valley, and only about 1,000 of those purchased discounted lift tickets from area lodging properties, McFarland said.
“Hoodoo would offer great discounted rates at volume pricing instead of offering tickets to lodging properties individually,” McFarland said. “Because if somebody comes and stays for two days, they’re more likely to ski a second day. We can promote this as a kind of mini-vacation and help business in Sisters at the same time.”
The campaign would fit well with what the state’s tourism-promotion agency is trying to market nationally and internationally, said Todd Davidson, executive director of Travel Oregon, based in Salem.
“We’re always interested in new product that’s being developed by local and regional partners,” Davidson said. “This would give us another tool to present Oregon to international tour operators, and media and domestic media, who are always on the hunt for what’s new and different to put in front of their readers.”
The eco-tour idea also would work well with the promotion of the Oregon brand, which focuses on the state’s outdoor recreation opportunities, and would match national trends, Davidson said.
“People are looking for the opportunity to test their mettle, but also have luxury as well,” he said. “They want to push themselves during the day, but relax at the end of the day with a nice glass of pinot noir.”
Jeff McDonald can be reached at 383-0323 or at jmcdonald@bendbulletin.com.
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