Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
Tucked away on the edge of Forest Park, Margie Rikert operates a quiet bed and breakfast from her home in Northwest Portland. She's one of a just a few homes listed on the website KushTourism.com that markets itself as being pot-friendly to tourists.
"Thirty percent of our population was coming in through the website," Rikert said. "It slowly built."
But Rikert says she hasn't had anyone book through the site in more than six months.
"They're not coming," Rikert said. "They were initially really disappointed in what was available in Portland and so they've been going perhaps to Washington state."
On KushTourism.com listings for Washington, there are a handful of hotels offering pot-friendly lodging, while in Portland, the options are drastically limited.
At Oregon's Finest, a dispensary near the Oregon Convention Center in Northeast Portland, the store is in a prime location to cash in on tourists visiting Portland.
Megan Marchetti, the human resource and compliance manager at the store, says before edibles became available it "was just a museum to tourists."
"It's very hard for them to understand that they have these welcoming laws, you can come in, you can purchase this product," Marchetti said. "But there's no place for you to consume it."
The Oregon legislature is considering a bill which would create a taskforce to explore the feasibility of marijuana social clubs which would give people a place to safely, and legally, smoke marijuana.
For tourists like Mark Uyeno, who visited Portland in April for a Golden State Warriors playoff game, that would be a welcomed change.
"It would be nice to have a place but at the same time, you understand why you don't have it," he said.
Uyeno and two fellow basketball fans visited Oregon's Finest immediately after checking into their hotel.
"First time in Portland so we're excited to be here," Uyeno said.
He's a native of California and is looking forward to when recreational cannabis is available there.
Senior state economist Mazen Malik says initial estimates showed tourism wouldn't contribute at all to Oregon's marijuana sales. Now he says it may make up to one percent of all sales. Projections out of Colorado show that number is four times higher.
Malik says part of the reason marijuana tourism isn't a bigger chunk of Oregon's sales is that neighboring states have legalized it in some form. He adds Colorado is closer for East Coast tourists to visit.
Travel Oregon says it doesn't highlight the state's legal marijuana businesses because people visiting the state focus on the nature, food, and drink.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Oregon's pot tourism industry off to a slow start | KATU
Author: Reed Andrews
Contact: Portland Contact | News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KATU
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Portland News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KATU
"Thirty percent of our population was coming in through the website," Rikert said. "It slowly built."
But Rikert says she hasn't had anyone book through the site in more than six months.
"They're not coming," Rikert said. "They were initially really disappointed in what was available in Portland and so they've been going perhaps to Washington state."
On KushTourism.com listings for Washington, there are a handful of hotels offering pot-friendly lodging, while in Portland, the options are drastically limited.
At Oregon's Finest, a dispensary near the Oregon Convention Center in Northeast Portland, the store is in a prime location to cash in on tourists visiting Portland.
Megan Marchetti, the human resource and compliance manager at the store, says before edibles became available it "was just a museum to tourists."
"It's very hard for them to understand that they have these welcoming laws, you can come in, you can purchase this product," Marchetti said. "But there's no place for you to consume it."
The Oregon legislature is considering a bill which would create a taskforce to explore the feasibility of marijuana social clubs which would give people a place to safely, and legally, smoke marijuana.
For tourists like Mark Uyeno, who visited Portland in April for a Golden State Warriors playoff game, that would be a welcomed change.
"It would be nice to have a place but at the same time, you understand why you don't have it," he said.
Uyeno and two fellow basketball fans visited Oregon's Finest immediately after checking into their hotel.
"First time in Portland so we're excited to be here," Uyeno said.
He's a native of California and is looking forward to when recreational cannabis is available there.
Senior state economist Mazen Malik says initial estimates showed tourism wouldn't contribute at all to Oregon's marijuana sales. Now he says it may make up to one percent of all sales. Projections out of Colorado show that number is four times higher.
Malik says part of the reason marijuana tourism isn't a bigger chunk of Oregon's sales is that neighboring states have legalized it in some form. He adds Colorado is closer for East Coast tourists to visit.
Travel Oregon says it doesn't highlight the state's legal marijuana businesses because people visiting the state focus on the nature, food, and drink.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Oregon's pot tourism industry off to a slow start | KATU
Author: Reed Andrews
Contact: Portland Contact | News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KATU
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Portland News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KATU
