Visit Bend reported to the Bend Business & Development Advisory Board that summer marketing and a strong concert season produced record room-tax receipts and measurable increases in visitation and spending. Presenters said August room-tax collections exceeded $2,000,000 citywide for the first time and that attribution modeling tied part of that gain to Visit Bend's advertising. "Those who were advertised to were 10 times more likely to actually visit Bend than people who weren't advertised to," Nate White, senior vice president of strategy at Visit Bend, said.

White told the advisory board Visit Bend estimated the marketing-driven economic impact at about $11,700,000 and said the organization altered messaging and timing in response to weather and air-quality events; staff said about 30 days in 2024 had an Air Quality Index above 200, which depressed visitation. White said Visit Bend used location and attribution technology to measure which ads led to visits and where visitors spent money once in market.

The presentation noted several supply-side changes that contributed to higher room-tax collections: a new RV resort at the south end of town generated about $80,000 in room-tax revenue in August, and the city's inventory of short-term rentals has remained at roughly 1,100 units. White said hotel-room capacity in Bend had grown only modestly in recent years ("about 200 to 250" rooms over five years) and that some rooms have been converted to non-hotel uses, including transitional housing.

Visit Bend also announced a 12-week feasibility study, led by Convention, Sports & Leisure (CSL), to evaluate a potential "public assembly venue." "We're not calling it a convention center. We're not calling it an event space. We're calling it a public assembly venue because we don't know what it's gonna look like or what it has potential to look like," White said. CSL will interview local stakeholders, analyze market demand, consider possible locations and examine funding options; the study was described as scheduled to deliver findings in January 2026.

On grants and reinvestment, Visit Bend said the Bendstandability Fund application window will open on Nov. 12 and that it expects to award at least $500,000 in visitor-tax dollars to tourism-related facilities and projects; the fund is intended for investments in facilities with useful life spans of 10 years or more. White said Visit Bend also operates a Cultural Tourism Fund that focuses on marketing and promotion for off-peak cultural events.

The Visit Bend presentation concluded with a round of questions from advisory-board members on capacity, inflation adjustment for spending figures and winter forecasting. White said the spending figures he cited were not inflation-adjusted and that Visit Bend is watching pacing into the fall and winter closely.

Votes at a glance: The meeting approved the October 20 meeting minutes by voice vote prior to the Visit Bend presentation.