Tourism and Conference Centers

The Seattle-King County area attracts more than 9.4 million overnight visitors annually who spend $4.75 billion and contribute more than $419 million in state and local tax revenues. Direct visitor spending supports 62,000 jobs in the Seattle region. The Port of Seattle has seen record cruise ship growth in recent years, with five major cruise lines and an estimated 390,040 passengers in 2007 and 434,000 projected in 2008.

The Washington State Convention & Trade Center, Seattle Center (site of the 1962 World's Fair) and local hotels have gained a reputation as exciting venues for conferences, conventions and special events. Other major facilities include the Bell Harbor International Conference Center, Qwest Field Events Center and Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue. For visitor information contact: Seattle's Convention and Visitors Bureau at (866) 732-2695 or (206) 461-5840 or www.visitseattle.org. The Seattle Visitor Center and Concierge Services is located in the Convention Center, offering Seattle information, attraction tickets and tour bookings.

Hotels

There are 11,890 hotel rooms in downtown Seattle's central business district and over 32,000 hotel rooms in the Seattle/King County area. In 2008 and 2009, some 1,500 new guestrooms are expected to open. See www.seattlesupersaver.com or call (800) 535-7071 for information or reservations at nearly 90 Seattle area hotels (the Seattle Super Saver program is a free hotel reservation service operated by Seattle's Convention and Visitors Bureau).

Source: Seattle Convention and Visitor's Bureau.

Restaurants

Cuisine in the Seattle area is famous for fresh seafood, local farm produce, and other Northwest specialties. A wide variety of ethnic restaurants are among the more than 9,000 restaurants in Greater Seattle.

(See www.seattle.citysearch.com.)

Major Attractions

Among the most popular urban attractions are the Seattle Center and the Space Needle, Pike Place Market, the Hiram Chittenden Locks, Woodland Park Zoo, Tillicum Indian Village, Seattle Aquarium, waterfront, lakeside and sound beaches, Pioneer Square, International District, and local wineries and breweries. Outdoor activities include boating, fishing, golf, water sports, hiking, biking, mountain climbing and skiing. Seattle is situated on the shores of Lake Washington, Lake Union and Puget Sound, flanked by two major mountain ranges (Olympics and Cascades), with Mount Rainier in full view and remote wilderness less than an hour away. Nearby are the San Juan Islands, Pacific Ocean beaches and major rivers.

(See www.visitseattle.org for more information.)

Arts, Culture and Festivals

According to a 2007 study by Washington D.C.-based Americans for the Arts, Seattle ranks within the top 5 American cities for arts and arts-related businesses. The arts scene includes the Seattle Symphony (performing in Benaroya Hall), Seattle Opera and the Pacific Northwest Ballet (performing in Marion Oliver McCaw Hall), numerous art galleries, the Seattle Asian Art Museum, the Experience Music Project rock and roll museum, the Seattle Art Museum and the Olympic Sculpture Park (opened on the Seattle waterfront in January of 2007). Seattle is rich in theater arts with 80 companies, 25 of which are professional. Other festival celebrations include SEAFAIR, Northwest Folklife, Seattle International Film Festival, Bumbershoot Arts Festival, International Children's Theater Festival, the Bite of Seattle food festival and Northwest Bookfest. Seattle hosts large-scale musical concerts and has gained international attention as the place of origin of trend-setting rock, pop and jazz groups. Seattle's Convention & Visitors Bureau offers a comprehensive, searchable calendar of events on its web site for convenient trip planning at www.visitseattle.org.

Professional Sports

Seattle is home to Mariners baseball, Seahawks football, Seattle Sounders soccer and the WNBA 2004 World Champion's the Seattle Storm (professional women's basketball).

* Major League Soccer Association announced that Seattle will get an official MLS Team during the 2009 season.

The Seattle team will play all home matches at Qwest Field.

Economic Impact of Travel

Seattle-King County and Washington State, 2007

Source: Report prepared by Dean Runyan Assn. for Washington State CTED

*Includes Seattle-King County statistics

Contact: http://www.deanrunyan.com/impactswa.html