Towns across the United States that are popular with tourists, like Bend, Oregon, are experiencing the amenity trap. The very qualities that make Bend a popular tourist destination—natural beauty, abundant outdoor recreation—have also led to rapid growth and accompanying challenges like skyrocketing housing costs, traffic congestion and an overall concern that the local quality of life is eroding.
Like many cities with strong tourism economies, Bend has a destination management organization (DMO), known as Visit Bend, that is tasked with promoting and supporting tourism. Leaders at Visit Bend are keenly aware that rapid growth has brought serious challenges to their community. They recently coordinated with researchers from Headwaters Economics and ECONorthwest to evaluate potential solutions. The results are detailed in a report, “Tackling the amenity trap in Bend, Oregon: Strategies for Visit Bend to support long-term community vitality.”
The analysis shows that Visit Bend and other DMOs can adopt strategies to help ensure the city’s appeal for both tourism and long-term livability. Among the recommendations in the report:
Destination management organizations must champion programs that directly support livability.
Tourism-related tax revenues that are collected by Visit Bend can be reinvested to improve the tourist experience and the lives of residents. For example, the Bend Sustainability Fund, implemented in 2021, uses Transient Room Tax (TRT) revenue to fund grants to organizations to develop tourism-related facilities in the city. While these projects are required by law to benefit visitors, investments in projects like improved parks and trails, new museum facilities, and river restoration can also improve the quality of life for residents.
Visit Bend can also consider using TRT revenues to support critical local needs like housing for the tourism-related workforce, transportation to destinations popular with tourists, or hazard preparedness planning and outreach for visitors.
Tourism revenues must be stabilized to ensure locals can benefit from essential services.
To help ensure stable revenues the report examines options such as investing in economic diversification, and advocating for additional tax mechanisms such as real estate transfer taxes, tourism improvement districts or local option taxes. Without such strategies, the city of Bend’s reliance on revenues from tourism could hinder some solutions to the local livability crisis due to the tourism industry’s inherent volatility. When tourism declines city revenues are also diminished, possibly leading to cuts in important services.
Amenity trap challenges can seem daunting and complex, but many solutions are being pursued around the country. Destination management organizations like Visit Bend have an essential role to play, alongside other community leaders, to ensure that a thriving tourism industry can coexist with a high quality of life for residents.
