Lewis County Economic Alliance hosts summit in Mayfield Lake aimed at increasing tourism in the area

Jan. 20 – With the Lewis County Economic Alliance recently acquiring the Discover Lewis County program, the alliance hosted a summit at the Mayfield Lake Resort and Marina on Wednesday evening for Lewis County tourism-oriented businesses and organizations.

Group representatives present included Visit Rainier, White Pass Scenic Byway, Onalaska Alliance, Cowlitz Basin ORV (All Terrain Vehicle) Club, Mineral Lake Lions Club and Experience Chehalis.

Other attendees represented the Packwood Hotel, White Pass Country Historical Museum, Veterans Memorial Museum, Rainier Cabins, Celtic Elk Campground in Randle, Elkamp Campground in Mineral, Deer Point Meadows Investments in Vancouver, Lavender Passion Flower Farm in Mineral , Nisqually River Retreat near the Elbe, Mill Town Lanes in Morton and Longmire Springs and Packwood breweries.

The attendees each gave a brief introduction and explained a bit about why they came to the summit.

“I have a lot of people coming into my Airbnbs going to Mount Rainier and always asking ‘what else is here? ‘” said Tina Moore, owner of the Lavender Passion Flower Farm and vice president of the Mineral Lake Lions Club.

Moore said she used to tell visitors her own favorite areas and activities, but wanted more centralized tourist information.

β€œIt would be great to have all of this information in one place, to just be able to give it to them,” Moore said.

She added that the Mineral Lake Lions Club is gearing up for its 30th annual fishing tournament, which will include a standing pond full of fish for the kids.

Each child will receive a free fishing rod and will have all the fish they catch prepared and cooked. The derby is scheduled for April 22 and 23. For more information, visit https://minerallakelions.com/?page_id=517.

Among other highlights, Janice Grose of the White Pass Country Historical Museum and the Packwood Visitor Center announced that the visitor center set a new visitor record for 2022.

“This year he achieved a tremendous goal, over 8,100 people came, plus phone calls and social media. It was our biggest year yet,” Grose said.

Gala Miller, community engagement specialist for the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, added that all terrain parks in the forest are open to visitors.

After the presentations, participants split into four groups, each focusing on different ideas for attracting more tourism through increased social media engagement, planning and activity. The group session lasted over an hour and concluded the summit.

Lewis County Economic Alliance infrastructure initiatives program manager Todd Chaput said he will now work with other alliance colleagues and outside consultants to develop a plan. strategically using insights from the summit to focus on growing Lewis County’s tourism economy.

Discoverlewiscounty.com was previously operated by the Lewis County Government.

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