Challenge

Unite the communities of Northeast Washington behind a common vision of future success and establish a sustainable tourism economy that strengthens relationships across the region, highlights local assets, stimulates local economies, and protects and enhances local resources.

Solution

Crosscurrent Collective designed a collaborative vision-casting program for the region’s stakeholders, beginning with a Destination Scan and Visitor Opportunity Study. These pieces laid a foundation for understanding the region’s history, demographics, and economic contexts, as well as key assets, challenges and opportunities.

Three evening events and four full-day workshops gave community members a chance to dive deep into the existing data and imagine future scenarios. Attendees considered community priorities and identified points of connection and opportunities for alignment across diverse industries and assets as they asked the central question, “What does an ideal future tourism economy look like?”

Twenty-one steering committee members and 78 community participants came together to gain a deeper understanding of how tourism can honor regional heritage, uncover local stories and histories, and find a balance between meeting the community’s needs and enriching visitors’ experiences. Crosscurrent helped the community choose qualified leaders to continue planning and executing on the region’s short- and medium–term goals.

Impact

The Northeast Washington Tourism Workspace program increased local collaboration that will shape the future of a growing tourism and outdoor recreation economy in Northeast Washington. As a result of hosting a Washington Tourism Workspace, community and industry stakeholders have come away with a solid roadmap to guide both short-term and long-term destination development and management, including:

• A 10-year Community Vision of Success
• A Destination Leadership Team (DLT)
• A list of community values the DLT is committed to upholding
• Priority short- and medium-term strategic actions
• Short-term strategic actions and action teams

This Destination Strategy was the pilot project for our Washington Tourism Workspace series. Our work in Washington is ongoing. Learn more at Washington Tourism Workspace  

SERVICES PROVIDED:

1. Formed a steering committee comprised of 17 diverse organizations
2. Customized community engagements to bring stakeholders together
3. Conducted a Visitor Opportunity Study and Destination Scan to establish baseline data
4. Facilitated four full-day workshops covering tourism scenarios; outdoor recreation; destination development; and marketing and visitor communications
5. Crafted a community vision for tourism inclusive of broad community input
6. Supported regional leaders to form a Destination Leadership Team and three community-led action t­­­­eams to support top-priority projects

OUTPUTS:

• Northeast Washington Destination Scan
• Northeast Washington Visitor Opportunity Study
• Northeast Washington Tourism Workspace – Summary Report

THE TEAM:

• Kristin Dahl, Crosscurrent Collective
• Kate Harbour, Crosscurrent Collective
• Dan Clasen, Crosscurrent Collective
• David Beurle, Future iQ
• Dan Moore, Pandion Consulting
• Kieron Wilde, First Nature Tours
• Talia Salem, The Urban Nomad
• Shelly Stevens, Tri-County Economic Development Department
• Matthew Ozuna, State of Washington Tourism
• Mike Moe, State of Washington Tourism