JASON E. KAPLAN Travel Portland represents a wide array of interests, and many of those interests are represented on your board of directors. How does one lead a group so diverse? It’s about making sure everybody comes together for a common purpose, and that is to create economic impact through tourism. I think that one thing that people don’t understand is that Travel Portland is an economic development agency. We happen to do it through attracting tourists as well as a lot of other fun stuff. But you know, everyone on that board is interested in having more visitors come here to make more businesses successful, to hire more people, to get the word out about Portland through products and services and beer and berries and fun. Your time at Travel Portland has coincided with tremendous growth in tourism. What do you attribute that to? How much of a factor was the show Portlandia? I’ve heard that Portlandia played a role. But you know, as far back as 40 years ago, there was a TV show in Japan called From Oregon With Love. And today Portland has a huge fan base in Japan. Huge. There’s a group that comes over every year. And culinary’s been a big driver. We’ve gotten huge press over the years for food carts, fine dining and others. I think there are lots of things that build toward attracting people to a place that’s a little different than anyplace else they’ve been. What are you most proud of at Travel Portland? I think our DEI efforts. I’m a champion of it but our whole team has embraced it. Travel Portland and Prosper Portland created My People’s Market as a way for us to support BIPOC communities and small entrepreneurs who are trying to start a business. That’s why we punch well above our weight in attracting multicultural conventions. What’s your biggest regret? That I didn’t get the job sooner [laughs]. One thing I will say is that when I first took this job, it was much more about sales and marketing, and through the pandemic, it’s become politics and finance. We are at the table now, talking to our elected and appointed leaders about homelessness, the drug crisis, all the things. What’s the biggest misconception about Portland? That Portland is the whitest city in the country. That’s a huge misconception right there. It’s whiter than many other cities. But when that phrase gets used, it negates all the people here from multicultural backgrounds, and we can’t do that. I mean just walk down the street — we are a diverse city! I don’t care what you say. Lumping us in with the whitest cities in America, it really infuriates me. Really now, what do you think of Seattle? I think Seattle is an amazing city. Truly. The CEO there, Visit Seattle head Tammy Blount-Canavan, is a dear friend, and they do a lot of really cool things. We’re good partners. We collaborate, especially on the international side. We compete fiercely on conventions [laughs]. What Portland feature do you recommend to travelers every time? The Portland Japanese Garden. I live right below it and I love it. What’s at the top of your travel destination list? I’m taking my husband to Tokyo. He’s very afraid of sushi, so I’m excited to take him there. What’s a good piece of travel advice? Pack light. 15
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