The Community Tree Lighting, hosted by the Downtown Bend Business Association (DBBA), and the Bend Christmas Parade, hosted by the Christmas Parade Committee, are annual events in historic Downtown Bend, Oregon that take place the first weekend of December.

Thank you, Miguel Edwards Photography, for the great photos of this lovely community event! 

​Bend, Oregon –
The Downtown Bend Business Association (DBBA) is a small nonprofit dedicated to increasing the vitality of Downtown Bend by enhancing the experience, image, and lifestyle of the Downtown Bend Economic Improvement District (EID).  This includes everything from the daily sweeping of sidewalks and removal of debris and graffiti to large-scale advocacy and grant writing. 
 
Recently the DBBA submitted a grant to Greetings Tour for a large-scale ‘Bend’ mural to be installed in the historic downtown core of the City of Bend.  For more information on this grant selection process, click here.

​“We are incredibly excited about this partnership,” says Mindy Aisling, Executive Director of the Downtown Bend Business Association, “Tourism is the catalyst that transformed our community when we set aside the historic resource extraction trades, and we rely on it to this day for the well-being of our Bend residents.  This mural will directly impact the draw to visit our historic downtown and it will help our small business community thrive for years to come.”
 
Bend City Council recently changed City of Bend code to allow for murals throughout the City of Bend, paving the way for this project.  This was made official by a vote of City Councilors on June 5th, 2019.
 
Teafly Peterson said, in her 2019 Source article, “Murals give us a platform to speak to each other and to our visitors, telling the story of the people who live here and their dreams for the future.”  The Downtown Bend Business Association is eagerly awaiting the collaboration of this new art piece, and thrilled to be able to connect to our community residents and visitors through art.
 
In Visit Bend’s 2017 report, they noted, “Respondents were asked to indicate which attractions or locations they had visited or planned to visit during their winter visit to Bend. Downtown Bend (74 percent visited), the Old Mill Shopping District (57 percent), and breweries (54 percent) attracted the greatest proportions of visitors, the same top three attractions visited historically. Other notable locations include Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort (31 percent), Sunriver (27 percent), Sisters (18 percent), Bend Factory Outlets (16 percent), Deschutes River Trail (15 percent), High Desert Museum (12 percent), Smith Rock (12 percent), and local Sno-Parks (8 percent).”
 
As the number one tourist destination, his makes Downtown Bend the ideal placement for a Greetings Tour Bend mural. Tourism is a huge industry, and it has been an integral contributor to the growth of many cities, including Bend. 
 
One of, if not the biggest benefit, that tourism offers is that it provides a way for the economy to receive an influx of wealth. Money is spent on popular tourist attractions and activities that help to fund local tour operators, small businesses, events, vendors & makers.

In turn, this influx of wealth into the community allows for the construction and improvement of a city’s infrastructure.  Due to the flow of wealth gained from tourists, local communities can afford to upkeep and build upon their roads, community areas, schools, hospitals, and parks.  Additionally, as most tourists want an authentic experience, this means that the locals can showcase and celebrate their traditions and culture.  Local history can be celebrated & our community stories can be shared.

Tourism is one of the industries that is reasonably reliable and it offers a constant flow of income into the city. There are a handful of industries that make up the backbone of most cities, and when these industries fall short, the entire economy becomes strained. Tourism can, in some cases, even be considered somewhat of a safety net that allows for communities to become increasingly more recession proof.

​When it comes to the massive amount of opportunities that tourism offers, the best of them is the opportunity for local businesses. Entrepreneurs get the chance to start up their own new businesses or sell their own unique products to tourists. This is something that comes only with a booming tourism industry, as more often than not, the businesses would not be able to sustain themselves without the flow of tourists.  This, of course, also creates a multitude of job opportunities for locals. Job creation is perhaps the most obvious benefit of tourism within every city.  As the entrepreneurial hub of the city, and the largest employer in Bend, Downtown Bend celebrates this opportunity. 
 
If you're passionate about the vitality of Downtown Bend and would like to donate to DBBA non-profit 501c3, please visit their website, www.downtownbend.org.