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In this episode of ClackCo Works, Dylan Blaylock talks with Lizzie Keenan, executive director of the Clackamas County Office of Tourism, about the powerful role tourism plays in the local community. Lizzie explains how creative programs—like their mascot Monty the river otter—and smart investments help attract visitors while also improving life for residents. The discussion covers how tourism supports local jobs and businesses, and how the money brought in is reinvested into community projects such as trails and festivals. Lizzie also shares how her team targets different visitor groups and works to spread the benefits of tourism across the county. Tune in to discover how tourism drives growth and keeps Clackamas County vibrant.
Transcript
Dylan: Welcome back to ClackCo Works, where we chat with the people who make Clackamas County work for their community. I'm Dylan Blaylock with Clackamas County Public Affairs. Today, we're here with Lizzie Keenan, the executive director of the Clackamas County Office of Tourism, also known as Oregon's Mount Hood Territory. Thanks for being here.
Lizzie: Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Dylan: You have a cool job. We talk to a lot of people with cool jobs, but you have a very cool job as head of tourism.
Lizzie: Yeah, honestly, sometimes we feel guilty in tourism that we have fun jobs. Tourism is meant to be fun, and it is a fun thing to work on. Of course, there are serious components, but everything is intended to lift people's spirits.
Dylan: I'm sure it's challenging, too. Let's get into it. What exactly is the Clackamas County Office of Tourism, and what do you do?
Lizzie: We're part of the county, a county service. Our mission is to improve the lives and experiences of residents through tourism, funded by a transient lodging tax collected on overnight stays. It's a holistic approach to maximizing the benefits of tourism and reinvesting back into livability and community vibrancy in the county.
Dylan: Transient... sorry, what was it?
Lizzie: Transient lodging tax, or TLT for short.
Dylan: TLT. So that's collected with hotels, motels, maybe short-term rentals?
Lizzie: Yes, and also campgrounds. Anything that's basically a visitor—sometimes even residents—staying overnight in Clackamas County and paying for lodging. They pay a 6% tax to the county.
Dylan: How do you go about achieving your goals? How do you actually get people to come here? What are some of your programs?
Lizzie: It's a whole range of things. We have a solid team and a great board. Our work is broken up into destination development, community relations, and marketing. All of that builds into our master plan, which focuses our work to achieve our mission and goals. For example, on the development side, we run grant programs, look at visitor flow, and address high-use and low-use challenges. We support interventions to redirect visitors or provide education programs. We also have our mascot, Monty Hood, a river otter, who helps educate visitors on how to be better guests.
Dylan: Who do you target? How do you decide which people to go for? Is it people within Oregon, neighboring states, or nationally?
Lizzie: It changes all the time. We message and market to the full spectrum you described, depending on the economic climate and other factors. Generally, a visitor in the tourism industry is defined as someone from 50 miles or more away from their home. We get a lot of visitors from Portland, which is less than 50 miles away, but they have a different economic impact than someone from Seattle who might stay for a few days. We target both short-haul and long-haul markets, but currently, we're very focused on short-haul markets—people who drive or take a short flight, often staying longer. International visitors make up about 6% of our total visitor spending, but they stay longer and spend more per person, often filling in off-season or mid-week gaps.
Dylan: Do you have any idea how many tourists visit Clackamas County every year on average?
Lizzie: Last year, we had about 2.8 million overnight visitors. If you add day visitors, depending on how you define them, the total number could be anywhere between 6 to 10 million visitors.
Dylan: What are some areas you have targeted, either across the country or internationally?
Lizzie: Top U.S. markets are Washington, California—especially Northern California and L.A.—and Boise, Idaho. In the past, we targeted Minneapolis and Texas for longer-haul travel. Internationally, our biggest market is Canada, but Europe is also a huge driver, especially the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands. Oregon got a big boost from a Dutch reality TV show filmed here, which still brings visitors from the Netherlands.
Dylan: When you advertise internationally, are you marketing directly to the public or to entities over there?
Lizzie: We focus on talking to tour operators. International travelers, especially from Europe, often book through tour operators or package deals. We attend trade shows in the U.S. where we meet with international tour operators and pitch Oregon and Clackamas County. This approach gives us a much better return on investment than trying to reach consumers directly in a competitive space.
Dylan: Let's talk about ROI. What are the benefits to the public of these efforts, and what's the ROI for what you and the Office of Tourism do?
Lizzie: The visitor economy in Clackamas County is very powerful. Last year, we brought in about $680 million in direct visitor spending, supporting about 7,800 full-time jobs, plus seasonal and part-time jobs. For every dollar we invest from the transient lodging tax, we see about $143 in direct visitor spending from non-county residents. It's an industry that brings outside money in, not just circulating local dollars.
Dylan: How big is your office? How many employees?
Lizzie: Fewer than you might think—just nine employees.
Dylan: Are there specific areas of the county that you promote? How is it divided?
Lizzie: We promote the whole county, but we've divided it into three distinct experience areas: the urban core (like Oregon City, Lake Oswego, Gladstone, Happy Valley), the mountain area (Highway 26 corridor up to the mountain), and the rural area (agritourism, like Molalla and the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival). Each subregion has different peaks and valleys in visitation, and we try to balance them to support businesses year-round.
Dylan: Is the mountain area the most visited during the summer?
Lizzie: For sure, yes. Outdoor recreation is a primary driver for Clackamas County and the state. The mountain experience, trails, and lakes are very popular. We also try to redirect visitors to other rivers and lakes in the county. In spring, the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival is the number one visited place in Clackamas County, drawing international and out-of-state visitors.
Dylan: You mentioned grants and financial assistance to improve areas. Can you talk about the boardwalk?
Lizzie: Yes, the Trillium Lake boardwalk. In the last three years, through our Strategic Investment Program, we've invested about $1.7 to $1.8 million into projects across the county, including the Trillium Lake boardwalk. There was a rotted section that the Forest Service couldn't fund to fix, so we helped complete it, making a large portion fully accessible. We've invested in dozens of projects that benefit both visitors and residents.
Dylan: What would happen if the Office of Tourism didn't exist?
Lizzie: All of those things would go away. The transient lodging tax feeds the economic engine for tourism. If you're not investing in marketing, experiences, and products, the quality of the visitor experience goes down, fewer visitors come, and businesses struggle to stay open year-round. Our funding was the first to reopen campgrounds and trails after the Riverside Fire, for example. Without us, that funding often doesn't exist elsewhere.
Dylan: If there's one thing you wish residents of Clackamas County knew about your office or tourism in general, what would it be?
Lizzie: Two things: First, that we exist. Residents aren't our primary audience, so they might not see our ads or materials. Second, many things they enjoy in their community have been improved by tourism dollars. People often think we're just about advertising, but we're also about development and investing back into the places everyone loves, using a sustainable model.
Dylan: Lizzie Keenan is the executive director of the Clackamas County Office of Tourism, also known as Oregon's Mount Hood Territory. Thanks for being here.
Lizzie: Thank you so much.
In this episode of ClackCo Works, Clackamas County Treasurer Brian Nava explains how his office keeps the county’s finances running smoothly. He describes the Treasurer’s Office as the county’s bank, managing a $2 billion budget, investing funds safely, and making sure property tax dollars reach over 120 local districts like schools and fire departments. Nava also talks about the importance of transparency, regular audits, and the checks and balances that come with his role.