Study indicates casinos draw tourist dollars in Oregon

Sunday, April 9, 2000 | 1:56 a.m.

Tourist spending in counties with casinos grew at an 8.4 percent annual rate between 1993 - when the first casino opened - and 1998.

Elsewhere, spending grew 5 percent.

Job growth appeared to mirror spending.

In the eight casino counties, employment grew at a 6.4 percent rate compared to 2.7 percent in the rest of the state between 1993 and 1998.

In addition, the study done for the Oregon Tourism Commission indicated that four of the state's eight casinos made the list of top 10 Oregon attractions in 1999.

Spirit Mountain Casino in Grand Ronde bumped longtime No. 1 attraction Multnomah Falls as the top Oregon destination last year with an estimated 3 million visitors.

The figures indicate that casinos are competing with other visitor centers the state has worked to develop as part of its effort to expand so-called "destination" tourism that encourage people to spend more time - and money - in Oregon.

"The casinos are just something else people can do on a rainy day," said Julie Curtis, assistant director for the Oregon Tourism Commission. "It"s another thing to do. Not everyone wants to go backpacking."

In the past decade, various businesses and organizations have been aggressively building new attractions.

Between 1990 and 2000, Oregon gained seven new museums or interpretative centers, the Oregon Convention Center in Portland and the Oregon Coast Aquarium. The Oregon Garden, a 240-acre botanical garden located near Silverton, opened earlier this month, and is scheduled for its formal "grand" opening in 2001.

Destination travel has become increasingly important to the state's visitor industry.

"We are in the early stages of becoming a more diverse and sophisticated tourism destination," Curtis said. "We don't just want 'windshield' tourism. We want to provide ways for visitors to spend more money and more days here."

But it has been the eight casinos that have been packing in visitors consistently. Areas without casinos have worried that tourists would abandon their towns for the gambling meccas.

"Everyone gets nervous when an 800-pound gorilla comes to town," said Steve Lamb, owner of Catch The Wind kite stores based in Lincoln City, now home to the Chinook Winds Casino.

But even though the casinos may have diverted some visitor traffic, they have helped increase overall spending and employment in the tourism industry.

In Oregon, the tourism industry grew at a 5.6 percent annual rate from 1993 to 1998 - higher than the national average of about 4 percent.

Also, growth from the casinos is expected to slow as the gaming industry matures and its novelty wears off. Eventually, business leaders expect tourist dollars to be spread more evenly.

"With the casino, the pie grew in Lincoln City," said Guy Di Torrice, manager for the Oregon Coast Visitors Association and the Central Oregon Coast Association.

The tribes, meanwhile, are looking for new ways to attract visitors, said Bob Whelen, a senior economist with Portland-based consulting firm ECONorthwest.

"Many of these casinos are in remote areas," Whelen said. "They"ll really have to make themselves destinations to attract the non-gambling travelers. The casino lure as a destination has pretty much been maxed out."