Tourism in Oregon is a hefty, lucrative industry. Year after year, more people, often from the East Coast or foreign countries, visit this lush state. In 2018, Oregon saw more than 29 million overnight visitors arrive.
Unfortunately, Oregon’s travel industry is not without controversy. A recent state audit of the marketing agency Travel Oregon found that the company paid its top executives handsomely. As a state agency, the audit criticized Travel Oregon as having some of the “highest-compensated compared to state agency managers.” Travel Oregon CEO Todd Davidson earned $381,423 as of June, and managers’ salaries have increased by 76% since 2012, according to the audit.
But the agency is also known for its ad campaigns, such as “Only Slightly Exaggerated,” of which the first part garnered more than 38 million views, according to KGW News. It has also been responsible for spikes in tourism. Although these salaries are excessive, Travel Oregon managers deserve high compensation for boosting Oregon’s tourism.
Doing business as Travel Oregon, the Oregon Tourism Commision supplies information and resources to tourists in order to improve tourism in Oregon. The agency also uses marketing and advertising while collaborating with local communities, governments and private businesses to bolster tourism and its economic effects. A nine-member, governor-appointed board helps oversee the operations and staff of Travel Oregon.
The executives of Travel Oregon deserve high salaries for their contributions to Oregon’s tourism industry. From 2003 to 2017, money spent by visitors in Oregon surged by 107%, the audit found. Moreover, according to the agency’s annual report, direct travel spending increased by 4.7% and caused a 5.5% spike in visitor air arrivals domestically. These successes were notable enough to be acknowledged in Oregon’s audit. From 2003 to 2018, visitor spending leaped by 89%, according to state documents. There are currently 115,000 employees working in the tourism industry, according to Travel Oregon, which the company hopes to expand. To claim that tourism increased under Travel Oregon’s efforts would be an understatement.
Additionally, the state’s audit criticizes Travel Oregon for its much higher compensation compared with other state agencies, but Travel Oregon is more autonomous than those agencies. Although Oregon funds the Oregon Tourism Commision from a 1.8% lodging tax, the agency remains semi-independent as of 1995; however, the state no longer directly funds Travel Oregon, which is also exempt from Oregon’s contracting rules. One of the only main stipulations which makes the agency semi- and not fully-independent is that the governor appointed nine members to head the commission’s board and must file budgets and financial statements to Oregon’s Legislative Fiscal Office. It is therefore irrational to expect Travel Oregon’s managers to be compensated equally to state-dependent agencies.
Even though the agency’s managers are compensated much more than other state agencies’ managers, Travel Oregon is more independent than those companies and has significantly improved tourism. The company’s contributions to overnight visits, visitor spending and employment justify these increased salaries.
