Travel Portland CEO on Acting Like a First-Tier Destination
Photo Credit: Japanese media are showing a ton of love for Portland. Popeye Magazine
Skift Take
Portland's indie spirit is paying dividends to help position the city in the global travel market as a place where creativity and innovation is valued and fostered to help connect visitors and locals.
Portland might not actually be a first-tier city in terms of population and urban infrastructure, but Travel Portland CEO Jeff Miller says the destination marketing organization acts like it anyway.
Part of that includes developing the city's international visitor base. Portland is the smallest U.S. gateway with direct flights to Tokyo and Amsterdam, via Delta Air Lines. This year, it secured direct routes to Frankfurt aboard Condor Airlines and Reykjavik with Iceland Air.
The DMO is projecting a 21 percent increase in international arrivals for 2015.
Japan is especially enamored with Oregon. If you're using Google Chrome, for translating purposes, check out these media outlets in Tokyo with Portland travel stories: Popeye, Brutus, Delta Sky Japan and Sotokoto.
According to Travel Portland, the city generated 194 placements in international media last year with a combined circulation of 178,963,423 and $6.1 million ad value.
Portland is also contracting Airbnb to
