Get ready, because the Pacific Northwest is about to experience a renaissance. In fact, it's already happening.
Don't look now: we're back.
Not quite at full-bore status, but all the signs are there. Starting with Seattle's pace-setting vaccination rate.
Was there suffering and hardship over the past 15+ months? Definitely. Did businesses go under, never to return? Unfortunately, yes. Was it an unprecedentedly difficult time for our city, in which the lasting effects may not be fully known for a long time to come? Almost certainly.
But right now, it feels like things are trending upward.
Many downtown hotel occupancy numbers from Memorial Day weekend were back up to near-capacity levels. Cruisers are preparing to cruise again in July, with 75-80 sailings expected this season. And there's also this recent news, courtesy of the Seattle Times: somehow, some way, pandemic and all, out of the 50 biggest cities in the U.S., Seattle was number one for growth in 2020.
What's more, anecdotal evidence from feet on the warming ground suggests full-on tourist season in and around Pike Place Market. Plus, much of the downtown core, if not quite yet hustly-bustly, is at the very least feeling more populated, more vibrant and more...less completely dead.
At Copacino Fujikado, we feel quite lucky to be part of it. CF opened shop 23 years ago with the Seattle Mariners as our first client. Since then, we've come to be known as "Seattle's Ad Agency" for our work with local and regional clients. We're proud of several decades-long agency-of-record relationships for some of Seattle's best-known brands. And in that time, we've seen lots of ups and downs in our fair city. Now, we're excited to look ahead to the next chapter, assisting clients like the Downtown Seattle Association and Visit Seattle with robust new campaigns geared toward bringing locals and tourists alike back out. Back to restaurants. Back to art walks. Back to life.
We're excited to see you out there, Seattle. If you see a CFer in the wild, please do say hello.
