Why Kitsap County Needs a Strong Destination Marketing Organization 

Tourism is often talked about as an amenity. In reality, it is economic infrastructure.

When done well, tourism supports local jobs, small businesses, tax revenue, downtown vitality, and long-term community investment. It strengthens the very conditions that make a place desirable to live, work, and build a business. That level of impact does not happen by accident. It requires a professional, coordinated, and well-resourced Destination Marketing Organization (DMO).

A DMO’s core job is simple to explain but complex to execute: build awareness of a place, convert interest into overnight stays, and ensure the visitor economy grows in ways that benefit the entire community. That means more than running ads or posting on social media. It means research, data analysis, long-term brand building, industry partnerships, destination development, content creation, media relations, group sales, and continuous measurement of results.

Just as important, modern DMOs do not only “market” destinations. They help develop them.

Destination development is the strategic work of identifying gaps in visitor experiences, infrastructure, and services — and helping communities align around solutions. That can include supporting year-round experiences, strengthening wayfinding and visitor information, improving accessibility, encouraging new lodging or attraction investment, supporting event growth, and ensuring visitor experiences reflect local culture and community values.

Without this function, destinations become reactive instead of intentional.

Today, Kitsap’s tourism ecosystem is filled with passionate partners: cities, chambers, visitor centers, event organizers, tribes, ports, nonprofits, and businesses. Each does important work. But without a unified regional strategy, efforts can become fragmented, duplicative, and harder to sustain.

Fragmentation creates three major risks:

1. Diluted Market Presence: Travelers do not think in city boundaries. They think in experiences and trip clusters. Competing or disconnected messaging weakens Kitsap’s ability to stand out in a crowded travel marketplace.
2. Inefficient Use of Public Funds: Multiple small, uncoordinated campaigns cost more and deliver less impact than a single, data-informed regional approach.
3. Missed Economic Opportunity: Without consistent promotion and product development, Kitsap leaves overnight stays, visitor spending, and future investment on the table.
   
   

This is why Kitsap County, and our cities: Bainbridge Island, Bremerton, Port Orchard, and Poulsbo’s 2026 lodging tax investments in destination marketing and management matter.

A strong, countywide DMO provides:

• One regional brand and voice
• One data-driven strategy
• One set of performance benchmarks
• Coordinated city and partner marketing
• A long-term roadmap for destination development

The goal is not to replace local identity. It is to elevate it — under a shared framework that makes every community more competitive.

Tourism is not a side project. It is a renewable economic engine.

Kitsap County’s and our cities’ opportunity is clear: move from fractured efforts to a unified system that builds demand, strengthens communities, and positions Kitsap as a premier place to visit — and as a place worth investing in.

That work starts with a strong DMO at the center of the ecosystem.