County Spotlight: Working together to bolster the Olympic Peninsula’s tourism economy

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, January 21, 2026

By Mark Ozias

County Commissioner, District 1

Last month I highlighted the many ways that county residents can get involved in county government, from serving as an elected official to volunteering to sit on one of the many advisory boards that help inform decision-making.

Some of these advisory boards are focused on policy; others focus on making funding recommendations in a certain arena of governance. One of the most important, and most active, of these boards which makes funding recommendations is the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee.

Tourism is a significant driver for our local economy, both at the macro level (accounting for nearly $25 million in tax revenue in 2023) and at the micro level as residents throughout the county host vacation rentals to supplement income and develop businesses that rely on, and cater to, the millions of visitors who travel to our county from all over the world.

When someone spends the night in Clallam County they are charged a “heads in beds” or lodging tax.

The purpose of revenue generated by this tax is to help fund both the infrastructure to support these visitors, as well as to help market ourselves as a destination to ensure that our tourism economy remains vibrant.

Clallam County collects lodging tax for all properties within the county; the cities of Sequim, Port Angeles and Forks each collect their own lodging tax revenue that is generated within their respective city limits.

Each of these governments has its own lodging tax advisory committee and sets its own priorities, but thanks to the efforts of Commissioner Johnson, who chairs the Clallam County Lodging Tax Advisory Committee, representatives of each of these groups meets annually to share information and priorities, ensuring coordination and avoiding duplication.

The amount of revenue at play is significant: Clallam County alone allocates approximately $2 million annually in lodging tax grants. The last several years have seen increased investment from the Clallam County Lodging Tax Advisory Committee in vital infrastructure like the Olympic Discovery Trail, which is both a key transportation corridor and an increasing draw for overnight visitors.

Institutions that help draw and keep visitors in town such as the Field Arts and Events Hall and the Feiro Marine Life Center have received funding to bolster their operational capacity. Events that bring overnight visitors like the Dungeness Crab Festival, the Tour de Lavender and the Olympic Peninsula Fungi Festival have received marketing support. In all, these four lodging tax committees support many dozens of marketing efforts, festivals, organizations and infrastructure throughout Clallam County.

Tying all of these efforts together is the Olympic Peninsula Visitors’ Bureau, which is charged with marketing the Olympic Peninsula as a destination. In 2024 our region completed is first-ever region-wide destination marketing plan, which can be found at the Visitors’ Bureau webpage at olympicpeninsula.org.

While this plan is comprehensive and primarily intended to help set a vision and ensure coordination of effort, one of the major areas of emphasis is to create an “Olympic Peninsula” brand. One of the first concrete (well, actually steel) examples of this effort we will soon see is a new “Welcome to the Olympic Peninsula” sign featuring a cutout of a cedar tree to be placed in the center of the new roundabout located on the west end of the Hood Canal Bridge. This sign looks fantastic and I can’t wait to see it go up!

Most of us who live here experience the same sense of relief — “I’m home” — when crossing the Hood Canal Bridge. Soon, visitors will be officially welcomed to our home as their Olympic Peninsula adventure begins, and thanked for their visit when their adventure ends as they head back east into the rest of the world, hopefully keeping us in mind for future travel.

Thank you to the dedicated volunteers who help shape the future of tourism in our county and who prioritize their time to help determine how to best support the thousands of individuals and businesses who ensure that the Olympic Peninsula is a destination worth visiting not just today, but in years to come.