Visitors Welcome

Bill Percival exhibited the tell-tale signs of a tourist as he strolled through downtown Coeur d’Alene last week — a Nikon camera bumping against his chest and a shopping bag clutched under his arm.

The 46-year-old architect from North Carolina was midway into a 19-day jaunt around the West. He spent six months researching the trip, including places to visit in the Inland Northwest. Historic homes by Spokane architect Kirtland Cutter were on his list. So were other local icons.

“I was told to eat at Clinkerdagger’s,” said Percival during a stop at the Resort Plaza Shoppes, “and I was told to visit a bookstore called … Auntie’s?”

The summer traveling season is rapidly winding down. Thanks to tourists like Percival, it’s been an especially lucrative three months.

Americans took more — and longer — leisure trips between Memorial Day and Labor Day than they did last year, according to the Travel Industry Association of America’s estimates.

Nationally, people felt more confident financially and safer flying. Locally, Inland Northwest hotels, restaurants and retailers benefited from mostly sunny skies, a flurry of special events and a resurgence of Canadian visitors.

Demand for hotel rooms grew by 9 and 11 percent, respectively, in Spokane and Kootenai counties during the first seven months of the year. Higher hotel occupancy rates had positive spinoffs on a slew of other business, from gas stations to restaurants.

“July and August were extremely busy for us,” said Erik Laursen, general manager of the Rock City Grill in downtown Spokane. Normally, business tapers off during the summer months, when the grill’s regular customers head out of town. This summer, the restaurant’s 45 tables were full of families with kids. “That definitely points to tourists,” Laursen said.

He attributes part of the increase to Rock City’s new location in the River Park Square shopping center. But events such as the Far West Regional Youth Soccer Championships — which drew about 12,000 athletes and spectators to the region — also played a role. “We’d like to see Spokane that busy every weekend,” Laursen said.

At Auntie’s Bookstore, much of the summer traffic was also tourists, said Barbara Nadeau, general manager. She sees lots of people in town for family reunions and weddings. Even if the gathering is at Priest Lake or Deer Park, people head to Spokane for a day of shopping. “Auntie’s is definitely a destination,” Nadeau said.

Effects of the strong tourist season were felt throughout the region.

At the 1,300-acre Rider Ranch east of Coeur d’Alene, proprietor Linda Rider added extra trail rides to keep up with demand. Some days, she led two trail rides into the foothills of the Bitterroots, returning just in time to stage an evening cookout for a third round of guests.

For Rider, the season kicked off in mid-June, when Ironman triathletes, their spouses and children poured into Coeur d’Alene. “Then we went full blast until Labor Day,” she said.

The ranch gave between 750 and 1,000 rides – Rider hasn’t tallied the final figures yet. The guest list included customers from Japan, Germany, Italy and England, as well as the Northwest.

“We see a lot of grandmas with grandkids, and a lot of locals with guests,” Rider said. “We’re also seeing the impact of Silverwood’s advertising in Seattle.” Many of her customers spend a day or two at the North Idaho theme park, and are looking for other family activities in the area.

Cloudy weather and rain in late August put a slight crimp in Silverwood Theme Park’s attendance, said Marketing Director Nancy DiGiammarco. But overall revenues were up at the park — one of the region’s most popular summer draws. According to a 2003 Idaho study, Silverwood visitors spend an additional $38 million outside the park on lodging, travel, shopping and dining.

“Hopefully, we’re filling hotel rooms around the region,” DiGiammarco said.

Five years of advertising in the Seattle market has paid off handsomely for Silverwood: More than 120,000 of the park’s visitors were Puget Sound residents last year. Early tallies suggest the numbers increased dramatically this year, DiGiammarco said.

Silverwood has also started advertising on Spanish radio stations, in an effort to reach central Washington’s growing Latino population. Those families represent an attractive demographic for the park, because of the cultural emphasis on extended families.

“Our average party size is four to five people,” DiGiammarco said. “That sometimes can double with a Mexican-American family, because they’ll bring along the grandparents and the cousins.”

At the Coeur d’Alene Casino in Worley, meanwhile, the summer’s surprise was the large number of visitors from afar, said Bob Bostwick, public relations director.

“You’d have thought that the way gas prices went, everything would have gone down the tube, but it didn’t,” he said.

Bostwick talked to tourists from Phoenix, Toronto and Houston this summer at the tribal-run casino, hotel and golf course. Some were passing through. Others were vacationing in the Inland Northwest.

“They told me they came specifically to get away from the heat,” Bostwick said. “That’s a market opportunity for all of us. We’re blessed with one of the best summer climates in the world, and people in the Sunbelt, especially, appreciate it.”

Canadians were another surprise group.

“For the first time in a very long time, British Columbia and Alberta are the largest percentage of visitors signing the guest registration,” said John Brewer, president of the Spokane Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Canadians were once frequent tourists to Spokane and North Idaho. Their numbers dropped off in the early 1990s, when their dollar weakened. Last year — amid a strengthening Canadian dollar — the CVB began a campaign to woo them back.

The Canadian dollar currently trades about 29 percent below the U.S. dollar.

Brewer said more businesses are also reaching out to Canadians.

Sterling Hospitality trains its clerks to convert Canadian currency to U.S. dollars at its three Spokane hotels. It’s a little gesture, but Canadian guests appreciate it, said Harry Sladich, Sterling’s vice president of sales and marketing.

Most Canadian merchants accept U.S. dollars. “But here, no one will take their money,” he said.

Sterling’s properties also offers periodic room rate discounts, accepting Canadian dollars at par.

“Our company recognizes the potential of that market, and we’re catering to them,” Sladich said. “When Canadians visit our properties, they come back with bags and bags of shopping. They want to know what the newest restaurants are. …They’re a very affluent group.”

Back the Resort Plaza Shoppes, Percival was contemplating his purchases. A lamp from an antique store had made its way into his shopping bag.

“I was, then I wasn’t, then I decided to buy it,” he said. “Today’s my birthday.”

After dinner in Spokane, Percival planned to browse at Auntie’s.

“I collect old editions of Steinbeck,” he said. “Nothing first edition, but second, third or fourth….whatever I can afford.”

Becky Kramer can be reached at (208) 765-7122, or by email at beckyk@spokesman.com.