Tourism booming in Asotin County
Oct. 26—ASOTIN — The tourism industry in Asotin County has bounced back from the pandemic.
At Monday's Asotin County Commission meeting, the CEO of Visit Lewis Clark Valley said lodging tax revenue has increased 63 percent since last year, and is up 30 percent since 2019.
"I have lots of good news to share," Michelle Peters said. "Isn't that a good way to start a Monday morning?"
Cruise boats, wineries, fishing and other recreational activities generated $31.4 million in Asotin County, which provides about $916 in tax relief for every resident, Peters said, along with more funding for police, fire and other community services.
The cruise boats are bringing in about $4 million a year, and Peters said her goal is to get all passengers to stay in local hotels and fly out of the Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport. Eight large vessels now dock here, she said.
The recent addition of another carrier at the airport gives people more flight options, and airfares have decreased because of the competition. Peters said she just purchased a ticket on Delta to Cancun that will take seven hours from home to a beach in southeastern Mexico, with a brief stop in Salt Lake City.
"I'll be gone in February," she said. "I booked it."
A steady stream of travel writers have visited the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley to do stories on a wide variety of activities, Peters said, and Visit Lewis Clark Valley's website is getting more hits than ever before. The region has become a popular destination, and tourism is having a positive effect on the economy, she said.
"Everything is going so well," Peters told the commissioners. "When you look at these numbers, it's easy to see tourism does matter."
In other county business, Commissioner Chuck Whitman said the Asotin County Planning Commission's recent vote to table a conditional-use permit recommendation will not affect the timeline for the new jail, which is expected to open in 2023.
The county is moving forward with the Sixth Avenue site, north of the Asotin County Regional Landfill. More information on the $13.7 million project is being provided to the advisory planning group in hopes a recommendation will be made in mid-November, Whitman said.
A conditional-use permit is needed to build a correctional facility in a public/semi-public zone. After the planning commission makes its recommendation, the issue will go before the board of commissioners for a final decision.
Sandaine may be contacted at kerris@lmtribune.com. Follow her on Twitter @newsfromkerri.
