Here’s why hundreds of travel influencers flocked to Mid-Columbia in Washington

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By Eric Rosane, Tri-City Herald

KENNEWICK, Wa. — About 300 travel writers, influencers, bloggers and marketing professionals converged on the Tri-Cities in April for the 2022 North American Travel Blog Exchange (TBEX) conference.

Attendees took to the streets, walkways, trails and river ways around the area to get a sense of what the Mid-Columbia has to offer.

Creators and marketers from around the globe — including from Denmark, Kenya, Spain, Thailand and Australia — went on bike tours, scenic flights, hikes along the Columbia River, and wine and beer tastings.

“It was a big, big partnership to bring TBEX here, and to show them not only how great the Tri-Cities is but Washington state,” said Michael Novakovich, president and CEO of Visit Tri-Cities, the event’s host sponsor.

The conference, according to its website, works to inspire creatives and tourism marketers, offers workshops and serves as a networking event.

From taking over the REACH Museum, to hiking Candy Mountain, to wine and bicycle tours, the travel writers were out and about around the Tri-Cities all week, seeking out unique and fun experiences to crave their sense of wanderlust.

“Yesterday I got to go kayaking here in the @TriCitiesWA I need to write all about it for Paddle Your State, and then I can add it to my Kayaking Tri-Cities guide,” wrote Rob Taylor, author of 2TravelDads, in a Tuesday Twitter post.

“Great wine and biking tour today with Red Mountain Trails outside of @TriCitiesWA before @TBEXevents kicks off,” wrote Tim Leffel, editor of Perceptive Travel online magazine and the Cheapest Destinations Blog.

Tourism impact

The community outings are funded largely by hotel-motel tax dollars, as well as from local businesses.

This kind of attention is big for an area like the Tri-Cities, Novakovich said.

The conference — and the location — generates a lot of online press and social media content that can snowball in a short time.

On a good year, about 20 travel writers visit the Tri-Cities.

“What TBEX is going to do is fund future travel,” Novakovich said.

The COVID pandemic hit tourism hard, but travel to the area has picked back up. The number of occupied rooms between 2020 and 2021 went up 46 per cent. A full recovery is expected by 2024.

In 2019, visitors to Benton and Franklin counties spent about $498.4 million on dining, overnight accommodations, shopping and recreational activities, said Visit Tri-Cities.

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