||| BY MATTHEW GILBERT, ORCASONIAN OP-ED REPORTER |||
After a busy 2022 of surveys and public meetings, the process for developing the Sustainable Tourism Management Plan (STMP) has shifted its focus. As described by Kendra Smith, the county’s Director of Environmental Stewardship, “We are doing some behind the scenes work on the capacity analysis of various facilities and some outreach to tour operators to help further define what sustainable services should look like from each sector.”
As for how “sustainability” is being defined, Smith says that “it generally acknowledges that our current activities in tourism will be supportive of our community and environment today without negatively impacting future generations. More specifically, we are working to develop localized strategies by sector (lodging, tours, etc.) to define green/sustainable standards that are island specific. That work is being done with the help of Pandion (one of the consultants) and the San Juan County Visitors Bureau and will extend through 2023 as an early action item of the Plan.”
An important component of the Plan is the Recreation, Open Space and Stewardship Plan (formerly known as the Parks, Trails, Natural Areas, and Non-Motorized Transportation Plan), recently updated and considered by Smith as a “subset of our tourism management efforts.” It’s a data-rich 244 pages, described in its Executive Summary as providing…
“a long-term vision and six-year plan to guide action and investment in a wide variety of outdoor spaces and facilities managed by San Juan County. This Plan charts a future for San Juan County Parks, the Land Bank, Environmental Stewardship and Public Works, which are the four County departments charged with overseeing County recreation, open space, and stewardship facilities and activities.
“This Plan updates the previous one and is designed to maintain San Juan County’s eligibility to apply to state grants to acquire land for open space, construction of recreational facilities, and ecological restoration activities, and state-based park and recreation grant funding.”
You can view the plan as an attachment to the Council’s November 29 meeting agenda. A copy will soon be posted on the County website. The county is hoping to release a final draft of the entire STMP for public review by late Spring.
Quarter 3 Revenues Steady
Despite labor shortages, an infuriating ferry system, a tragic fire in Friday Harbor, and the untimely demolition of Prune Alley, Quarter 3… Quarter 3 sales and lodging tax revenue (covering the period from May – July) has generally kept pace with last year’s record-breaking numbers. Overall lodging tax revenue was down 4.5%, while sales tax revenue was up 3.4%. Lodging tax revenue was virtually unchanged for Orcas and down on both San Juan (-6.7%) and Lopez (-19%) compared to 2021. (Island-by-island sales tax breakdowns are not available.) It should be noted that lodging tax numbers were nearly identical for Orcas and San Juan up until 2021 when they surged 18% higher on Orcas and will likely remain at that level when the moss has settled over final season figures.
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Excellent update, thank you Mathew.
My faith in SJC actually coming up with a tourism plan that does anything more than promote for more tourism… is nil. Prove me wrong. 20 years ago when the SJC Visitors Center signed its first contract with San Juan County they promised to usher in a new era of “Environmental Tourism,” and what I’m seeing now when viewing the websites for the consulting firms that SJC has hired to help with the tourism management plan is another rendition of the same.
“We are doing some behind the scenes work on the capacity analysis of various facilities and some outreach to tour operators to help further define what sustainable services should look like from each sector.” (Kendra Smith, SJC Director of Environmental Stewardship)
Let me get this right Kendra — you’re reaching out to the tour operators in SJC to define what “sustainable services” are? This leads me to ask, “what are the definitions for the terms “sustainable,” and “capacity” as viewed by San Juan County at this present time? The reason I ask is that in researching one of the other consultant groups currently working for the county on the tourism management plan their company’s definition of “limits,” and “sustainability” is “whatever the management plan calls for.” These are their words, not mine.
And when I view the website of the consulting group highlighted within this article I see,
Pandion Consulting ( https://pandion.biz/development/ ) Pandion works with associations, travel destinations, and governments to help build the travel and tourism infrastructure needed to support the next generation of travelers. We offer: > Rural tourism development workshops > Travel asset assessment.
Working with Pandion has been a delight, and we look forward to continuing to explore the possibilities of what we can do to help develop Oregon’s rural tourism economies.“ -Harry Dalgaard III, Destination Development Specialist at Travel Oregon
I say, “It doesn’t matter if the San Juans are getting over a million socially educated, environmentally oriented, and sustainably minded tourists per year. It matters that the San Juans are getting over a million tourists per year.” A responsible tourist management plan on an island is one with limits.