Tourism Industry Engagement Contractor

Contact: Ithaca Janzen

[email protected]

Overview

Experience Mt. Hood and the Gorge, managed by Clackamas County Tourism, is seeking a contractor (individual or firm) to help connect tourism stakeholders in the region to available resources through the creation of a comprehensive toolkit and delivery of training opportunities. This contract operates under the direction of the Experience Mt. Hood and the Gorge Regional Coordinator.  

Experience Mt. Hood and the Gorge is the Regional Destination Management Organization for the Mt. Hood and Columbia Gorge region in Oregon.  There are five tourism DMO partners that make up Experience Mt. Hood and the Gorge:  

• Clackamas County Tourism, representing east Clackamas County (Estacada, Sandy, Villages of Mt. Hood, Government Camp)
• Visit Hood River, representing all of Hood River County
• The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce, representing north Wasco County
• Explore Troutdale, representing east Multnomah County (Troutdale, Wood Village, Corbett)
• Cascade Locks Tourism Committee, representing Cascade Locks

We are seeking a contractor to support tourism businesses and organizations in the Mt. Hood and Columbia River Gorge region of Oregon to better understand and access the tools and opportunities available to them through destination organizations.

The success of this position relies on the contractor’s ability to consolidate information into easy to understand language, build out a resource guide/toolkit, and outreach and communication skills to deliver that toolkit to partners through training.  

Scope of Work & Timeline

This project has two phases. Phase 1 will occur late March 2025 – June 30, 2025 and covers toolkit creation and organizing two group trainings. This contract is for Phase 1 of the project. This contract may be extended to also cover Phase 2: one-on-one business outreach during FY25/26, dependent on funding availability and contractor performance in Phase 1.

Deliverables for Phase 1 include:-

• Create a resource guide/tool kit:
  • With provided materials from Experience Mt. Hood and the Gorge, the contractor will boil information down to what is most valuable to the end user and create an easily accessible on-line toolkit on the www.hoodgorge.com/industry-resources website for tourism entities to access. The tool kit will cover all the available opportunities for a tourism entity in the region to access based on what type of business they are and what their needs are. (Please note, it will not be the responsibility of the contractor to create new programs, only to make the information about existing programs easy to digest and increase awareness of and access to them.)
  • Topics to include in the toolkit include:  
    • Google My Business and Locl training
    • Improve Accessibility of Visitor Experience
    • EV Charging Stations
    • Grants and Funding Opportunities
    • Scholarships
    • Marketing Co-ops
    • PR Coverage
    • Research and Data for Decision Making
    • And other Sub-Regional Opportunities
• Coordinate and manage two half-day in-person Tourism 101 training and networking events
  • Coordinating event logistics and day of run of show
  • Coordinate programming with support from destination partners
  • Outreach to invite participants
• Tracking
  • The contractor will track all tourism partner engagements, including: types of outreach, # of partners trained, and other KPIs to be determined.

Success will be measured by: 

• Completed toolkit
• Visits to the Industry Resources on our website
• Sign-ups to the industry newsletter
• Attendance and follow up from Tourism 101 Trainings

Deliverables for the potential Phase 2 (FY25/26 potential contract extension – NOT part of this contract) would include:-

• One-on-one outreach to businesses, Chambers, and other groups
• Sharing the Toolkit through additional channels
• Coordinating any additional identified tourism trainings

Added Value

Preference will be given to individuals/agencies that have previous knowledge/experience with the Mt. Hood and Columbia River Gorge region’s tourism businesses, organizations, and priorities.

Preference will be given to experience and/or knowledge of Travel Oregon industry programs.

Compensation

Phase 1 of this project is intended to be compensated at a project level. Please provide a proposed budget for the outlined projects. Phase 2 of this project is intended to be billed at an hourly rate, based on partner need and opportunity. Please provide your hourly rate.