Opportunity

Why is there a decline in tourism to this county, despite the abundant opportunities and available land? We have the potential to attract visitors from around the world through strategies such as developing cruise ship ports or amusement parks on the unused sawmill sites. Humboldt County could become a destination similar to a beach boardwalk, with much undeveloped land available for growth. By attracting these types of industries to our community, we can also address some of the homelessness issues by providing employment opportunities in sectors such as logging and fishing, which are currently underutilized.

Perception can be misleading. Visitorship and revenue are up when based on the numbers. When we look at the projected revenues compared to our actuals for 2024-2025 and then again for 2025-2026 these matrix tell a different story. In budget year July 2024-June 30, 2025 our Transient Occupancy Tax(TOT) revenue projected was $3.25 million. Our actuals for that same time period were $3.39 million exceeding our projections. Budget year July 2025-June 30,2026 had a projected budget once again of $3.25 million. Our July 2026 audit actuals reported $3.59 million exceeding our projected budget, and an all time record high for Eureka. Our numbers don’t lie. As for visitor growth, the city uses a software called Placer AI. These numbers are generated from where your phone spends the most time, not based on area code. Attendance numbers in Old Town Eureka for the 4th of July increased from 22,200 in 2025 to 25,000 in 2026. Humboldt Made’s Friday night markets touted 47,600 visitors in 2025 and 48,200 visitors in 2026. We are having more cruise ships, more people, and more tourism! These numbers don’t mean that we shouldn’t do more or expand on our successes. The opportunity is ripe to expand our facilities and programs to host more cruise ships as well as tourists in our region and expand our branding to other parts of the world. We have already recently hosted the largest cruise ship ever to visit Humboldt Bay this year!

 I appreciate everyone who  has made this a reality for our city. Eureka is in the golden age of tourism. I look forward to our  continued growth numbers.  Let’s keep this energy moving forward! Thank you Ty for the question and a moment to address this incredibly important topic in our community. Please feel free to call me with any questions. 707-616-2178