Focus on Tourism: Portland Prepares to Host 2024 Sports ETA Symposium — Sport Oregon Voices

Sport Oregon receives 2022 Portland Award in recognition of outstanding work in elevating city visitor’s industry

For representatives from Portland’s hospitality and tourism industry who recently attended this year’s Sports ETA Symposium in Kansas City, it was a little more involved than usual.

The Sports ETA Symposium is the annual meeting of the Sports Events & Tourism Association, the non-profit trade association for the sports events and tourism industry. Throughout the week, sports destinations meet with hundreds of decision-makers responsible for organizing sports events.

The Portland contingent that traveled to Kansas City included representatives from Sport Oregon, Travel Portland and the Oregon Convention Center. This year, though, they had a bit of a split focus.

Two years ago, Portland was chosen to host the Sports ETA Symposium in April 2024. Aside from the opportunity to host hundreds of event decision-makers in Portland for the week, there is substantial economic impact related to hosting the event. With upwards of 1,000 attendees expected, Sport Oregon officials estimate 3,000-plus hotel room nights will be occupied over the course of the week, with additional economic impact expected in the form of increased business for area restaurants, bars, retail shops, transportation and others.

Hosting the symposium, though, is really more about an investment in the future for tourism in the state. Certainly the event will produce immediate economic impact next April, but organizers see the potential for much greater rewards, in the form of added events and resulting tourism for years to come.

“As an industry event where half of the audience are decision-makers who could potentially bring their event to Portland, the return on investment related to hosting next year’s Sports ETA could be tremendous,” said Cathy Kretz, national account director for Travel Portland. “Typically we create a bid and bring clients to Portland one at a time to showcase our city. But with Sports ETA we have most of our audience here at one time, and we are very excited to welcome the annual event to Portland next year.”

Sport Oregon COO Matt Reed said the Portland contingent – with an eye on best practices and Oregon-centric twists – focused on different elements of the Kansas City symposium. Sport Oregon representatives met with prospective clients to gauge their needs for the 2024 Portland event. Travel Portland reps studied the event through a hotel and hospitality lens. Oregon Convention Center officials centered on food and beverage arrangements, shipping and detailed logistics of hosting the event.

The goal is to showcase all the attractive qualities of the city and state to attendees while they are here next year, with hopes that having so many decision-makers in Portland for the week will result in a significant tourism boost for Oregon.

“The show, itself, is going to create a big impact and produce a great experience,” said Reed, “but we are going to be measured after the show over the next 5-10 years from how we leverage hosting it here in Portland.”

With work already well underway for the 2024 symposium in Portland, the group was busy promoting next year’s event during their time in Kansas City. Reed says they hosted a VIP happy hour for prospective clients, supplied gift cards from area businesses, provided beer tastings from Portland breweries on the show floor and sponsored the closing luncheon, complete with Portland-related gifts and goodies.

Upon their return to Portland, Sport Oregon representatives were on hand for the Travel Portland Annual Tourism and Hospitality Awards Celebration, held at the Oregon Convention Center on May 11. Gov. Tina Kotek presented Sport Oregon CEO Jim Etzel with the 2022 Portland Award, awarded annually to the organization that made the greatest overall contribution to the Portland visitor’s industry during the year. During the presentation, Gov. Kotek recognized Sport Oregon for serving as a “rising tide to lift all boats” in its efforts, and for its significant work to “drive economic growth and enhance positive social impact through sports.”

There were many highlights to celebrate in 2022, including Portland being chosen to host the 2030 NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four, bringing NASCAR events back to Portland International Raceway for the first time in nearly two decades and hosting first- and second-round NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament games once again in Portland.

“We are all very proud of the accomplishments we were able to achieve last year, and receiving this award was a huge honor for us,” Reed said.

It’s all the more reason to look forward to the 2024 Sport ETA Symposium, and the prospect of exposing even more event organizers to the many attractions of the region. Featuring one of the top food cities in the country, unmatched outdoor recreation opportunities, its popular wine country and craft beer industry, and its scenic mountain areas and coastlines, Oregon, indeed, is an attraction unlike any other.

“We want people to come here and experience these things,” Reed said, “and show them how amazing it really is.”