Quinton Smith / Lincoln Chronicle **Meeting in the Yachats Commons, the Oregon Tourism Commission last week heard how Oregon has become the first state to be certified as tourist accessible by Wheel the World, a national organization.**

By QUINTON SMITH/Lincoln Chronicle

YACHATS – A program initiated by a coastal tourism organization and pushed by Yachats’ former chamber director and current city manager has resulted in Oregon becoming the first state in the country to win a designation of “accessibility verified.”

Meeting in Yachats last week, the nine-member Oregon Tourism Commission was told the $400,000 program is designed to help make people with a wide range of disabilities feel comfortable when booking motels, visiting attractions or simply dining out.

The effort was started in 2022 by the Oregon Coast Visitors Association, one of seven regional arms of Travel Oregon, the quasi-public state agency whose mission is to promote tourism and enhance visits. But it was Bobbi Price, then director of the Yachats Chamber of Commerce, who worked with seven other chambers from Astoria to Coos Bay to win $201,000 in grants to encourage businesses to sign up for assessments by Wheel the World.

Since then, Wheel the World has visited 750 tourist-oriented Oregon businesses to assess things such as parking lots, entryways, trails, motel rooms all with an eye toward better accommodating people with physical and/or developmental issues.

Oregon will now have a page on Wheel the World’s website, and then each verified business in each region – the coast, Willamette Valley, Portland, central Oregon and the like — will be listed to help people make travel plans.

Kevin Wright, a Travel Oregon vice president, told the commission that the goal is to take away questions that disabled people may have so they “don’t have to worry if places are accessible.”

Travel Oregon chief executive officer Todd Davidson said the accessibility studies involved all areas of the agency and hundreds of businesses willing to be examined.

“This was inspired by the Oregon Coast Visitors Association, which started working with Wheel the World, and then we took it statewide,” Davidson said.

Travel Oregon plans to kick off a six-week marketing campaign next week promoting the state’s new designation and accessible travel.

Travel Oregon is a semi-independent state agency with 73 employees funded by a statewide lodging tax of 1.5 percent that fuels its budget of $42 million a year. Tourism in Oregon accounts for $14 billion in annual spending and 120,000 jobs.

Drew Roslund, managing partner in the Overleaf Lodge and Fireside Motel and an OCVA board member who made a short presentation on workforce housing, said the three-day stay in Yachats by commissioners and staff was important.

“It puts the spotlight on Yachats,” Roslund said. “Some of them are familiar with Yachats, but they’re imbedded here for three days and that’s important in highlighting the community.”

Quinton Smith / Lincoln Chronicle **Yachats city manager Bobbie Price, Mayor Craig Berdie and Oregon Coast Visitor Association executive director Marcus Hinz brief the Oregon Tourism Commission during its meeting last week.**

A Yachats presentation

Although much of the two-day meeting focused on Travel Oregon programs and reports, the commission did get a short presentation from Price, Yachats Mayor Craig Berdie and OCVA executive director Marcus Hinz.

Price said the city plans to have its new Travel Oregon/OCVA-financed tourist trolley rolling between Beachside State Park and Cape Perpetua in time for the mushroom festival in October and previewed a new “Visit Yachats” promotional video that emphasizes “slowing down, disconnecting and reconnecting.” The video will debut in October when the Yachats chamber launches its new website, she said.

Berdie walked the commission through its tourist-oriented projects including the proposed estuary boardwalk and the purchase of the adjacent Landmark property, the restoration of the Little Log Church Museum, and even the nearly-complete library, which based on checkouts is attractive to visitors.

But he also warned that tourist towns and their infrastructure needs – especially water issues — are closely related, that workforce housing is critical for the coast’s hospitality industry, and that all organizations need to work harder to grow tourism in the spring and fall shoulder seasons.

“I come here frequently and it’s great to see the transformation taking place,” said Commissioner Lucinda DiNova of Coos Bay, whose term is expiring and attended her last meeting.

Commissioners and some staff also walked the Amanda Trail on Thursday morning and heard the tragic story of Amanda De Cuys from trail advocate Joanne Kittel of Yachats and Doug Barrett, chief of the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians.

“It was both inspiring and heartbreaking,” said David Gremmels of Central Point, president of Rogue Creamery.

The commission also:

Heard a report on its upcoming program to award grants of no less than $500,000 to destination management organizations for major projects;
Heard a report looking back at Travel Oregon’s 2023-25 tourism and economic development strategies including workforce training and education, programs for communities hard hit by wildfires, drought, and still recovering from the pandemic, programs to broaden the tourist season, and to support “recreation ready” projects in rural communities; and
Heard a staff report on the agency’s 2025-27 strategic plan and how data will be used to determine whether those are met.