Port Townsend City Manager David Timmons and the city’s Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) have agreed to use $20,000 from lodging tax reserves for additional marketing efforts to help bolster the winter season for Port Townsend businesses.

The money is in addition to $4,000 already budgeted for the traditional holiday marketing program, which the city does in collaboration each year with the Port Townsend Main Street Program. The LTAC unanimously recommended that the city adopt the strategy and approve the expenditure.

The city's winter marketing campaign has a different focus for each month from November 2016 through February 2017, highlighting tourism activities for one of the program's four target “personas” each month: foodies (November), families (December), adventure travelers (January) and romantics (February). The overall theme for the expanded winter marketing program is “Escape to Port Townsend: Where winter dreams come true.”

Christina Pivarnik, the city’s contracted director of marketing, stresses that the marketing money is being used to promote existing events and tie them together through effective shared advertising, not to create or host new events.

Each month's core activities center around that month's “target” group of visitors. November activities include Farmers Market Saturdays, the Olympic Peninsula Winery/Cidery Association's annual Harvest Wine Tour (early November), Thanksgiving Day dining and Key City Public Theatre's (KCPT) dinner theater.

December rolls out a holiday theme for families: “Look here first for family fun and holiday memories.” Core activities to be highlighted include the opening of KCPT's "Port Townsend Christmas Carol, A Ghostly Musical," Port Townsend Main Street's tree lighting and Santa visit, Olympic Peninsula Steam's Yuletide Salon and Father Christmas visit, and New Year's Eve First Night Celebration downtown.

For January, the focus shifts to adventure travelers. Events are still in the planning stages, but may include geocaching events to tie in with Strange Brewfest, and a possible hiking or biking excursion in partnership with the Pacific Trails Coalition.

February brings Valentine's Day and the long Presidents Day weekend, targeting tourism outreach to romantics with getaway ideas that include the Fort Worden/KCPT Valentine's Ball, KCPT Dinner Theatre, and a wine and chocolate tour.

Detailed marketing strategies for each month are still under development, but would include regional travel magazines, bus advertising in Seattle and/or Portland, and sample itineraries on the city-operated website, EnjoyPT.com. Advertising buys are currently in the works, and the campaign is expected to go live in early November.

"We’re excited to have this extra boost for tourism through a traditionally slower season and hope all of our businesses reap a financial benefit from the campaign," Pivarnik said.