Despite regional tourism being strong here again this year, local experts in the industry say a lighter convention event schedule could mean visitor traffic will soften slightly in 2017.

Visit Spokane President and CEO Cheryl Kilday says demand for overnight stays, particularly in the downtown area, is up this year. Also up, she says, is corresponding Tourism Promotion Area funding, which is derived from a special fee on lodging and provides money used to promote tourism and increase overnight stays here.

 “Overall, this year, I would estimate we’ve seen about a 5 percent increase in both visitor traffic and visitor spending for Spokane County,” she says.  “Downtown may be higher, at about 8 percent, as the expansion of the convention center and the new Davenport Grand Hotel continue to have a positive impact.”

Kilday says tourism has been strong this year, with business, leisure, convention, and sports traffic all showing healthy gains, but next year may see only a 3 percent increase. 

 “We have fewer big conventions on the books for next year, and while we still expect it to be a solid year, we don’t want to overestimate,” she says. 

Upcoming events that are expected to generate larger visitor traffic next year include an annual Council of Higher Education Management Association meeting in May, and two July events, a Porsche Parade and an International Cake Exploration Societé gathering.

In the coming year, Kilday says, the organization will continue to concentrate on attracting more conventions and recruiting business to the area.  

“We’ll also be focusing more on the international leisure market, starting with the Asian marketplace,” she says. “International traffic is growing, and we want to find ways of promoting our region to those visitors who’re already passing through.” 

On the sports tourism side, Eric Sawyer, president and CEO of Spokane Sports Commission, says that in 2016 the organization helped to generate 52,000 hotel stays and was involved with 60 events, generating about $54.3 million in economic impact to the area.

“This year we did pretty well, and in 2017, we should be up again although perhaps not as significantly,” he says. 

According to Sawyer, the commission already has helped to book a total of almost 42,000 hotel stays for events next year. He says two of the larger events slated for 2017 include the BMX national championships and a Judo Junior Olympics event. 

Matt Jensen, corporate director of sales and marketing for the Davenport Hotel Collection, says this year has been strong for visitor traffic, with the collection’s four hotels seeing 20 percent growth in overall stays. 

“Much of that is due to the opening of the Davenport Grand,” he says. “Its connection to the convention center makes it an appealing stay.” 

The 17-floor, 716-room Davenport Grand opened in June of 2015, at 333 W. Spokane Falls Blvd. Jensen says the new hotel has added to the city’s supply of available rooms, which has worked well with increased demand. 

 “Our goal in creating the Grand was to grow new business for both Spokane and the convention center, so it’s nice to see that positive impact on the market showing through.” 

Despite the anticipation of a slower convention schedule, Jensen says the hotel collection is expecting a strong 2017, with the Davenport Grand set to host the Porsche Club of America, an American Wildlife and Resource Conference, and a National Association for Interpretation Conference.