PORT TOWNSEND — Port Townsend’s marketing workgroup and its lodging tax advisory committee have announced a collaborative approach to providing visitor information services following the closure of the Port Townsend Visitor Center in March.
Three nonprofits, Fort Worden Hospitality, the Port Townsend Main Street Program and Key City Public Theatre, will each provide a portion of the visitor information service.
Fort Worden Hospitality will provide a brick-and-mortar hub for visitor information at the Commons at Fort Worden State Park.
The reservations staff at the Commons front desk will be available in person and over the phone seven days a week to help direct visitors to accommodations, event information and other resources to plan their visits.
Maps and brochures will be available at the Commons along with public restrooms.
The Main Street program will help serve visitors through a mobile greeter program in the the form of a staff member with an electric bike cart at key downtown gathering places on weekends through September to welcome visitors to the city and answer questions.
Key City Public Theatre will manage the event readerboard on state Highway 20 as travelers head into and out of town.
The popular readerboard service helps nonprofit organizations to share dates of the many events and festivals that happen in the city.
Organizations will be able to reserve space on the readerboard beginning in mid-June.
“Fort Worden Hospitality embodies a spirit of community hospitality,” said Natalie Maitland, the director of operations at Fort Worden Hospitality. “We are partnering on visitor services with the Port Townsend Main Street Program, Key City Public Theatre and the city of Port Townsend to ensure visitors have the information they need and help support the Port Townsend visitor economy. We will also build shared resources for the community and data collection systems that will serve LTAC and tourism collaborators in the future.”
The new information services are oriented toward visitors, but residents who spend time downtown or at the fort can use the maps and information provided by these free services to connect family and friends with information or use them to explore the community in a new way.
Online information services are available at www.enjoypt.com.
