Astoria City Council hears from local groups seeking TLT funding

Published 8:19 am Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Ahead of the tourist season, business associations share their plans for the future.

On Monday, City Councilors heard presentations from three local business and tourism associations about how they have used grant money awarded to them from the Promote Astoria fund and what they have their sights on ahead of the tourist season. Those organizations included: the Astoria Downtown Historic District Association, Astoria Uppertown Business Association and the Astoria Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce. Another group, the Astoria-Warrenton Travel Alliance, presented a mid-year update.

The reports are important, said Ryan Quigley, assistant to the city manager, because they help city councilors gain a better understanding of how the appropriated funds are being used.

The Promote Astoria fund uses money collected from transient lodging taxes, which, per state law, is primarily spent on tourism related expenses such as the business associations, with 70% of the TLT going to tourism and 30% going to unrestricted local government use.

All four groups who presented at Monday’s meeting reapplied for their respective grants, which cycle yearly.

Astoria Downtown Historic District Association

In the last cycle, the ADHDA was awarded $120,000 in funds. According to Executive Director Quinn Haase, the money was spent on in-house expenses such as program fees, advertising and marketing, with the biggest focus on the Astoria Sunday Market.

“These past two years have had a huge increase in sales for the Sunday market,” said Haase, adding that an “overwhelming majority” of visitors to the market come from out of town.

Looking towards the future, Haase said that future projects may include more events.

“We want to do quarterly, family-friendly events.”

Astoria Uppertown Business Association

The Uppertown’s business association was represented by its president, Stacey Stahl.

She said with the $69,000 awarded to the association, they created marketing materials to benefit its 90 businesses. One promotional example is the Uppertown Field Guide. According to Stahl, the marketing works.

“We’re noticing already that there’s uptick in sales of Love Locks,” Stahl said, “even though it’s not Valentine’s Day.”

In future, Stahl hopes to promote off-season events to keep the community engaged and encourage visitors year-round.

“We focus on months where there’s not a lot of tourism,” Stahl said.

Astoria-Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce

David Reid, executive director of the Astoria-Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce presented what the chamber did with its share of the funds, totaling out to $183,653.

According to Reid, this all went into running the visitor center, including maintaining a community calendar, creating maps and guides and engaging with tourists directly.

Reid described this as a reception desk for the city.

“We convert (tourists) into shoppers,” said Reid.

According to Reid, the visitor center has helped promote off- and shoulder-season travel, which “makes venues, restaurants and retails viable year-round,” he said.

Looking towards the future, Reid said that he hopes to use the next round of grants to fund building maintenance as well as creating a new visitor guide with statewide distribution, plus creating a digital trails program.

What’s Next

In upcoming Astoria Budget Committee meetings, committee members will review each group’s grant application to determine recommendations for next year’s grants.