PRESS RELEASE - Visitor Services Provided by Northwest Maritime in Port Townsend

Visitor Services Provided by Northwest Maritime in Port Townsend
City of Port Townsend is partnering with Northwest Maritime for visitor services at the Welcome Center on Water Street.

PORT TOWNSEND – Northwest Maritime (NWM) has entered into an agreement with the City of Port Townsend to serve visitors to Port Townsend. As part of the City’s collaborative hub and spoke model for visitor information services, NWM will provide information to visitors and residents who are curious about what Port Townsend has to offer year-round. The model also includes the Port Townsend Main Street Program’s seasonal mobile greeter and the Highway 20 event readerboard operated by Key City Public Theatre. These three non-profit partners come together with LTAC and City staff support to provide different types of information services to visitors, residents, and business operators across the city.

After the closure of the Chamber-operated Port Townsend Visitor Center on Jefferson Street in early 2024, the City’s Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) made the decision to pivot to a new, collaborative model. A key aspect of LTAC’s mission is to provide visitors and residents information about Port Townsend’s many and varied experiences across all seasons and to drive shoulder season visitation and overnight stays.

NWM’s Welcome Center is located at 431 Water Street, near the S’Klallam Welcome Pole and adjacent to Velocity Coffee. Welcome Center staff and volunteers will serve visitors and residents over the phone, via email, and in-person. In-person visitors can learn from the Welcome Center’s maritime exhibits, pick up printed resources like maps and local business brochures, ask questions about what is happening around town now or at a future travel date, and shop for gear and other goods. The Welcome Center is open seven days a week from 10:00AM to 5:00PM and offers public restrooms as part of its broader campus facilities. Additional public restrooms are located at the City-operated Cotton Building nearby.

NWM’s Campus Director, Kate Philbrick, who sits on LTAC, said: “We are thrilled to partner with the City in this way, and looking forward to a strong collaboration with the other partners in providing visitors information. We invite everyone in the community to come to the Welcome Center and check out this gateway to our campus and a hub of activity in our organization. For curious travelers and local enthusiasts, the Welcome Center is Port Townsend’s go-to destination for learning about the rich maritime heritage, arts and culture that defines our area, about activites and programs across the region, and how to get involved."

Councilmember Owen Rowe, Chair of LTAC said: “This is such a great fit! Maritime is key to our community identity, of course, and the Welcome Center is already an inviting and iconic space, easy to find and accessible. Now the staff can share their expert knowledge and guidance with everyone who visits Port Townsend.”

The Port Townsend Main Street Program will help serve visitors May through September using an innovative mobile greeter program that started in 2024 utilizing a bike cart and friendly staff to answer questions. Visitors can also find information online at enjoyPT.com, and learn about local events on the readerboard coming into and leaving town along Highway 20. Organizations are able to reserve space on the readerboard year-round at jeffcopromo.org.

For more information about Northwest Maritime’s Welcome Center visit: https://nwmaritime.org/visit/where-we-work/welcome-center/
For more information on LTAC go to: https://cityofpt.us/bc/page/lodging-tax-advisory-committee. Questions about City Lodging Tax can be sent to LTAC@cityofpt.us
LTAC’s vision of sustainable tourism is to reinvest community resources to enhance the lives of both residents and visitors. While these resources are created with visitors in mind, residents who are spending time downtown 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.