Summer 2023
Leaving behind better footprints
When traveling the world, leaving behind a better environmental legacy » More ...
Tourism
Winter 2020
Travel the VR world
Interest in virtual reality tourism has shot up during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are a few opportunities for people to “visit” and experience the world.
Read more about WSU research into VR tourism.
The WSUAA will be adding VR travel experiences for members. They recently featured a visit to Bolivia to see llamas.
The company makes commercial VR and augmented reality (AR) experiences, such as listening to a symphony and riding in an F1 race car.
National Geographic via Oculus
The stunning imagery of National Geographic takes … » More …
Winter 2020
Being there
As 2020 pandemic travel restrictions crippled airlines, cruise ships, hotels, and Airbnbs, the shutdown proved to be an unexpected boon for the virtual reality market, which reports a big spike in interest. » More ...
Fall 2020
A viral response
In the face of tough circumstances, Washington State University alumni and faculty did not merely endure, but adapted and engaged. » More ...
Fall 2020
Virtual vacations
Liven up your next Zoom call with a llama, thanks to an idea from Bolivia-based Derren Patterson » More ...
Summer 2014
Seattle sites you may not have visited
Some sites in Seattle you may not have seen, selected by Visit Seattle President Tom Norwalk.
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Summer 2014
Tom Norwalk ’75—Visit Seattle
Tom Norwalk’s office sits high above the Washington Convention Center and looks directly across the street to the guest rooms of the Seattle Sheraton. From another angle, Norwalk can see the two round towers of the Westin and the classic red brick Roosevelt then, just a bit to the left, the Hyatt. For the president and CEO of the city’s private nonprofit visitor marketing association, seeing those rooms in use every day is a good reminder of his job. Visit Seattle, supported by the convention center, hotel room surcharges, the mayor’s office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, and a number of other sources, draws new … » More …
Spring 2011
A Marvelous Hundred Square Miles: Black Hills Tourism, 1880–1941
Suzanne Barta Julin ’01 PhD
South Dakota State Historical Society Press, 2010
The faces of four presidents gaze down on the Black Hills of South Dakota, a fitting vigil for a tourist destination carved, like Mount Rushmore itself, by public policy, political machinations, and private investments.
Historian Suzanne Barta Julin has documented the rise of the Black Hills tourism industry, which grew from the efforts of state and federal politicians at the shift to automobile-driven … » More …
Fall 2005
Bounty on the bluff
The small farming community of Green Bluff lies nestled in the foothills of Mt. Spokane. Its bucolic setting belies the fact that it’s just 15 miles north of Spokane. Take a meandering drive around “the Bluff,” and you’ll pass by dozens of family farms, each with its own roadside fruit stand. Stop at any one for fresh fruit and locally made jam, wine, cider, pie, and other harvest bounty.
Green Bluff has been a production area for fruit, berries, and vegetables since the early 1900s. Back then, farmers could ship their produce from a nearby rail station to customers clear back in Eastern cities. Many … » More …
Summer 2005
Gig Harbor: Laureen Lund markets the town she loves
Laureen Lund (’82 Comm.) recently celebrated her fifth anniversary as the person who sells Gig Harbor to the world. She seems to do her job well. At least, that’s why I’m sitting in her office in Gig Harbor’s city building in mid-August.
“The best use of our dollars is public relations,” she tells me, without a trace of irony or triumph. “If I can get somebody to do an article, it costs me nothing.”
I let that sink in for a minute. So-do I feel exploited?
Nah, not a bit. I’m having a fine time.
As for Lund, she just seems very pleased that she’s … » More …