SILVERDALE – Twenty years ago tourism wasn’t much of an economic factor on the Kitsap Peninsula, said Patricia Graf-Hoke, executive director of Visit Kitsap Peninsula.

Kitsap was seen as a gateway to other places, she said, not as a destination unto itself.

But “that’s changed,” Graf-Hoke said, in part due to the growth of the Puget Sound region.

“We have really, truly become a major destination.”

“It’s estimated that the tourism industry in Kitsap County is $500-$700 million dollars. It’s responsible for about 6,700 jobs and it is a growth industry,” she said.

Graf-Hoke spoke about the outlook for tourism in 2015 at the Silverdale Beach Hotel on March 12.

Leisure travel and lodging has increased in Kitsap, as has competition with other Puget Sound areas for tourist dollars. Graf-Hoke said Kitsap residents needed to work hard to make sure potential visitors knew about what Kitsap had to offer.

Graf-Hoke said some Kitsap folks have envisioned creating their own version of an “I-5 corridor” where tourists would cross the Tacoma Narrows Bridge or take a ferry ride to Kitsap as a longer-term vacation destination.

Kitsap had a lot to offer, Graf-Hoke said, “especially in regard to our natural resources.”

Encouraging tourists to cross the Tacoma Narrows Bridge was necessary because the ferries are often packed during the summer.

Graf-Hoke said the most successful branding message is the concept of “Kitsap Peninsula” as a whole. She pointed to a recent edition of China Airlines’ in-flight magazine which featured an article titled “Relaxing retreat: Kitsap Peninsula, Washington State” as an example.

“More and more and more [on the Internet and in other media] we are being referred to as the ‘Kitsap Peninsula,'” she said.

The Kitsap-wide branding message was important because smaller, unincorporated areas such as Colby and Manchester could ride the “Kitsap Peninsula” unified branding message coattails rather than having to try and send out a message on their own.

“They get to say, ‘Yeah, I’m on the Kitsap Peninsula,’ and people will know where that is,” she said.

The 371-mile Kitsap Peninsula Water Trail, the only one in the U.S. that was a saltwater water trail, has proved to be a popular draw she said.

“Beyond,” the in-flight magazine for Alaska Airlines featured a six-page article on the trail titled “Liquid Assets: National Water Trails System promotes and protects exceptional waterways.” The article is in the March, 2015 Horizon edition.

Port Orchard and Bremerton are featured in the article.

The article could reach 1.4 million readers, Graf-Hoke said.

She also referred to a recent study titled “Earth Economics.”

In it, “Kitsap was ranked number four out of 39 counties for employment related to the outdoor recreation. They estimated $700 million of revenue generated. We were ninth out of 39 counties for revenues generated related to expenditures for outdoor recreation. So we are right on target with our liquid assets, our water trails and all of our other outdoor adventure marketing,” she said.

Tourism also accounted for an increase in tourism-related construction projects, she said, including Point Casino’s plans to build a hotel to be able to meet demand.

“They turned away 18,000 room nights last year because they didn’t have capacity,” Graf-Hoke said.

“Tourism is a huge growth opportunity for Kitsap County and generates about $37 million just in taxes that the [county] commissioners get to use for projects.”

Graf-Hoke said the goal was to keep tourists on the peninsula for longer periods of time.

“We can really have an opportunity here to create our own little internal I-5 corridor between all our various communities and keep people here longer and overnight.”

Kitsap can also roll out red carpet for international travelers, she said, and modify the county’s comprehensive plan to better address tourism.

County Commissioner Charlotte Garrido also spoke at the meeting.

Garrido said Kitsap needed to tell the Kitsap story and that its residents were the ones best-equipped to do so because they love living here and know the area.

“We live here. We don’t have to be tourists. We can invite other people to visit what we can see every single day,” Garrido said.

Garrido said the peninsula had a lot to offer including 79 county parks, agri-tourism, clean air, mountains and trees.

“What’s good for environment is good for the economy,” Graf-Hoke said. Graf-Hoke said the county’s large areas of publicly accessible shoreline was also attractive to tourists.