Drive markets keep Chelan County tourism moving amid weather, smoke challenges

CHELAN COUNTY —- Chelan County’s tourism economy continues to rely heavily on visitors from nearby markets, but wildfire smoke is threatening to complicate the peak summer season after a slow start to the year.

According to Visit Chelan County Executive Director Jerri Barkley, a majority of the county’s visitors are from within driving distance. About 78 percent of trips originate in Washington, with 45 percent from the Seattle-Tacoma area.

“Our drive market is clearly our bread and butter and the people that come the most,” said Barkley.

According to Leavenworth Chamber of Commerce Marketing and Public Relations Director Jessica Stoller, Leavenworth’s tourism core has been the drive market, which includes cities across Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

Stoller speculates that proximity and cost play a large role in this, especially as travelers with tighter budgets gravitate toward destinations that don’t require a flight. She also believes that the strong drive-market for Leavenworth is the result of focused resources.

“If I had to point to what's working best, it's that drive-market focus. Seattle in particular stands out as by far our strongest source of actual visits, which tells us we're putting our resources in the right place,” said Stoller.

Much of the county’s visitors are also repeat guests, which make up 71 percent of visitors, according to Barkley. The average stay is about 2.2 days, spending about $223.46 per trip, up 3.6 percent from last year. Though average spending is up, visitation has remained stagnant across the county.

Tourism started the year on a weaker note, with January significantly below 2025 levels, while March was slightly lower and February and April were roughly even, according to Barkley. May saw an increase in visitation, but June began to fall slightly behind 2025 levels. Barkley said the gains have not been significant enough to make up for the weak start to the year.

“If you look at the year as it's trending, we have not been up a significant enough amount to make up for the loss in January alone, so that's kind of how 2026 is shaping up,” said Barkley.

As wildfire season picked up in July and August, wildfire smoke has complicated those recovery efforts.

“Once fire happens and smoke’s in the air, then it makes our job even more difficult to get people to come,” said Chelan Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Mike Steele.

According to Steele, one of the most challenging aspects of wildfires and wildfire smoke is ensuring that potential visitors are receiving an accurate picture of the reality.

“Right now, our messaging is “Yes, air quality is pretty hazardous right now. But our businesses are open, our activities are happening,’” said Steele.

An environmental event during the county’s short tourism windows can have lasting impacts on  Wildfire smoke can be detrimental to the area’s summer tourism season, but Steele says Chelan always bounces back. But as weather events continue to impact these short tourism windows, the county is looking at ways to better weather the storm, such as growing tourism in the shoulder season.

“We're constantly looking at ways to make tourism less dependent on certain seasons and create a year round demand,” said Barkley.

Taylor Caldwell: 509-433-7276 or taylor@ward.media