2025 Q1 Update
2024 recap
Love Kitsap represents a fresh, unified effort to bring out the best in our communities and share them with the world. We are committed to fostering a deep connection between visitors and the authentic experiences that make Kitsap so special. We are committed to dedicating our time & resources exclusively to tourism.
To ensure we make the most of our LTAC funding, we operate with minimal overhead. This allows us to allocate as much funding as possible towards creating impactful marketing and PR assets, which in turn boosts Kitsap’s overall tourism economy.
✔️ Launched the Love Kitsap Website – A go-to resource for visitors and locals alike.
✔️ Developed a Stakeholder Photo Library – Now housing 3,000+ high-quality images.
✔️ Invested in Print & Digital Ads – Targeting audiences 50+ miles away to drive tourism.
✔️ Introduced the ‘Secret Summer’ Article Series – A collaboration with local community leaders.
✔️ Created the Digital Exploration Guide – ExploreKitsap.org simplifies trip planning.
✔️ Brought Our Vision to PBS – Resulting in the production of Northwest Explorers.
✔️ Secured a Prime Banner Placement in the Port of Seattle – Positioned at the International Terminal, greeting arriving travelers.
✔️ Earned Local Media Coverage – Showcasing Kitsap’s vibrant communities.
✔️ Amplified Local Events & Festivals – Strengthening Kitsap’s cultural presence.
✔️ Launched Interactive Maps – Making navigation easier for travelers.
✔️ Published Kitsap’s Holiday Gift Guide – Promoting local businesses.
✔️ Debuted ‘Tails & Trails’ – A pet-friendly guide to outdoor adventures. ✔️ Created & promoted ‘Event Guides’ for several annual events including Viking Fest, Mosquito Fleet Fest, Pirate Fest and more.
Q1 2025 projects
Our in-house creative and technical teams continue to be nimble and creative as we enhance and expand the LoveKitsap website. The platform has achieved record engagement, showcasing each area of Kitsap individually and introducing new tools that make it easy for visitors to find resources based on when they plan to visit and which areas they want to explore.
Digital Exploration Guide
Our digital exploration guide—the only one of its kind in Kitsap—perfectly complements the LoveKitsap platform. Looking ahead our goal is to evolve the guide into a printed “Official Visitor Guide,” a vital resource as Kitsap prepares to host one of nine designated “Official FIFA World Cup” Fan Zones. Beyond 2026, our vision remains focused on welcoming visitors from around the world and inspiring them to return and explore more of Kitsap’s unique offerings.
Event and Activity Engagement
We remained actively engaged in events and activities that visually tell the stories behind Kitsap’s vibrant experiences. We launched an original guide series featuring local experts sharing insider tips on how to "travel like a local," while spotlighting residents’ favorite, "Secret Summer," activities and hidden gems. We will continue to develop and promote event guides that help visitors and locals make the most of Kitsap’s dynamic event calendar.
Partnership with Maritime WA
We continued our partnership with Maritime WA to produce a “Story Sailings” series with local writer Josh Farley. During the Mosquito Fleet Festival, hundreds of visitors will sail aboard the historic museum vessel Carlisle II and enjoy captivating storytelling bringing Kitsap’s maritime history to life.
Stay Features: Highlighting Local Lodging
We launched a new “Stay” series, highlighting over 30 local hotels and Airbnbs. Our efforts are focused on driving travel during the shoulder seasons, with targeted summer promotions to help our lodging partners maintain strong occupancy rates in line with evolving travel trends.
Expanding Kitsap’s TV Presence
We are actively developing new content to expand our Kitsap-focused TV series in partnership with PBS Cascade continuing to build immense exposure for Kitsap County.
Media and Marketing Coordination
With county funding expected to be officially approved by the end of April, we will update our print and media calendar next month. We will work closely with Visit Kitsap Peninsula (VKP) and the Greater Kitsap Chamber to ensure media purchasing and messaging efforts are aligned, preventing duplication and maximizing the impact of our collective marketing efforts.
FIFA UPDATES
As part of our collaboration with in-house developers, under the oversight of the county, our strategic team, and task force, we are proud to play an integral role in the Kitsap FIFA 2026 World Cup Team. From the announcement of the Fan Zone and the kickoff experience at Lumen Field to the creation of the communications website, we are working closely with key stakeholders to build a strong foundation for advising visitors. Our messaging highlights Kitsap as an easily accessible "neighborhood" to Seattle—offering visitors the convenience of Seattle access paired with the unique experiences and charm of the Kitsap Peninsula.
Kitsap FIFA World Cup ’26 Web Site
In Q1 we began our work doing the Discovery and Planning for a site that will be enticing visitors traveling for FIFA World Cup Seattle, to stay on the Kitsap Peninsula. Presenting and getting alignment with the Steering Committee, we developed the Creative Strategy, Customer Profiles, Audience Journeys, and more, in order for us to develop and launch the online presence and upcoming marketing. Some of the elements we delivered were:
- Project Brief
- Audience Journey
- Experience Flow Map
- Site Map
- Wireframes
- SEO Strategy
website updates
new features:
Spring Refresh | March
The Home page and additional main navigation pages - like the Spring page - were refreshed to reflect spring adventures, events, and environments.
The Spring Events Guide curates information about all Kitsap annual events and eliminates the need for locals and visitors to spend hours searching for event details. Now they’re listed in one place, easy for the user to research, with links to additional information and ticket sales.
Specific Event Guides offer further information on local events, like Viking Fest and Mosquito Fleet Fest, as well as guides regarding Farmers Markets, Gardens & Nurseries.
BRAND NEW Articles in q1!
Kitsap Annual Events Calendar 2025 - Mark your Calendar with this Kitsap County community events overview for 2025! Featuring events on Bainbridge Island, Kingston, Poulsbo, Bremerton, Silverdale, and Port Orchard this guide will help you plan your Kitsap Peninsula travels, road trip, weekend or staycation. Farmers Markets, Summer festivities, Holiday fun and so much more!
All the spring events, festivals, gardens, and farmers markets on the Kitsap Peninsula. Spring events and activities in Bainbridge Island, Port Gamble, Poulsbo, Kingston, Bremerton, and Port Orchard.
TAILS & TRAILS (2ND OF THE SERIES):
The Kitsap Peninsula is an especially pet-friendly place to travel. Let’s catch up with Moby & Tim as they explore their favorite spots on the Port Orchard waterfront!
PORT ORCHARD RAIN OR SHINE (3RD OF THE SERIES):
Keep reading for a list of fun, family-friendly activities & things to do in Port Orchard, Washington, rain or shine!
THE PERFECT WEEKEND ITINERARY FOR KINGSTON:
Gamble Bay House | Kingston - Nestled on the shores of Port Gamble Bay is an escape that is perfect for groups, families, and anyone who wants to escape the noise and connect with PNW perfection in North Kitsap.
LOCAL VIBES ON THE PORT ORCHARD WATERFRONT:
Written for Scenic WA in collaboration with the Port Orchard Waterfront Alliance, this article perfectly captures Port Orchard’s small-town charm. Read it here!
25 adventures in 2025 | 2025 Marketing campaign
This is your year for adventure! It's your year for beach walking, coffee sipping and sailing. It's your year for incredible food, farmers markets and festivals.
2025 is your year to explore the Kitsap Peninsula.annual events calendar
Kitsap cities host tons of great events every year. But there wasn’t ONE SINGLE SPOT to see all the information in one place. UNTIL NOW! Our ANNUAL EVENTS CALENDAR shines a huge spotlight on every annual event from Olalla to Hansville and everything in between. You’ll see various event calendars sprinkled all over our website, and we’ve listed them by city and by season, making it super easy for visitors to plan what events to attend during the time of their visit. View the EVENTS CALENDAR here. 👈👈👈
NEW! Space Needle Partnership!
In October ‘24 we began a dialogue with the team at the Space Needle around a marketing partnership for the Kitsap Peninsula. The Space Needle is thrilled to shine a spotlight on Kitsap. Love Kitsap is supporting the tourism team with trainings for Kitsap history, designing of marketing materials and marketing support of local tour operations.
Launched: Bainbridge Island Top Tix
In Q1, we launched our first of many tour partnerships with the Space Needle through Bainbridge Adventures. Now a tour of Bainbridge Island is available for purchase through the Space Needle website and is being offered on site to all visiting the Space Needle.
Next up: A Seattle Space Needle Top Tix tour for Bremerton
Ongoing Partnership
WestSound Magazine
WestSound Home & Garden Magazine has partnered with Love Kitsap to help share tourism news, updates, and FIFA 2026 information across Kitsap County. Every issue now features an original Love Kitsap article—sometimes even two—available in both print and digital formats. We are deeply grateful for this reciprocal partnership and the continued support of WestSound Magazine in helping us amplify the Love Kitsap message.
The February issue showcased our Tails & Trails article series and exploration guides in a special four-page spread, along with the official announcement that Bremerton has been selected as an Official Fan Zone for the 2026 Seattle World Cup. Moving forward, each issue of WestSound Magazine will include updates on World Cup news and developments leading up to summer 2026.
Advertising projects
state of Wa tourism
Full page ad in the State of Washington’s annual Visitor’s Guide. The campaign for this year is “25 Adventures in ‘25”. Let Love Kitsap help you plan out your year of adventure.
Scenic WA
In Q1, the Port Orchard Waterfront Alliance (downtown business association) partnered with Love Kitsap to produce a digital marketing campaign with Scenic WA. Love Kitsap wrote the article and supplied the photography. This email was sent to over 20,000 inboxes on the Scenic WA distribution list and is hosted on their website.
Kitsap content Library
We are so pleased to report that our content library is supporting several local partnerships. This quarter, we supplied photos to the Space Needle(!!), South Kitsap Chamber, Port Orchard Bay Street Association, Scenic WA, Marina Square Suites, Plisko Place Apartments, Bill Mahan Apartments, Viking Fest and Visit Poulsbo.
We also supplied two out of area writers from the State of Washington Tourism and Seattle Met with photos needed for their articles.
Events Covered:
Valisblot (Poulsbo)
Beer Run (Poulsbo)
The Found Market (Fairgrounds)
St Patricks Day Parade (Bremerton)
Quincy Square Groundbreaking (Bremerton)
Photos Added:
PORT ORCHARD:
Southworth Ferry
Downtown Port Orchard
Olalla Bay
Banner Forest
South Kitsap Regional Park
BREMERTON:
Downtown Bremerton
Cherry Blossoms
Kitsap Forest Theater
NAD Park
Kitsap History Museum
POULSBO:
Downtown Poulsbo
Urban Path Trail
KINGSTON:
Downtown Kingston
The Point Casino
S’kallam Tribal areas
Hansville
Point No Point
Buck Lake
BAINBRIDGE:
Bainbridge Japanese Memorial
Seattle > Bainbridge Ferry
Pleasant Beach Village
Halls Hill Labyrinth
new Photos added to flicker: 500+
Original Social Posts: 70 (90 days)
Videos Created: 25 (90 days)
coming soon for Q2
story sails are back - May 24+25
A partnership with Maritime WA allowed us to set sail aboard the historic Carlisle II with the one and only Josh Farley in a guided tour we call ‘Story Sails’. Hundreds of visitors to the Port Orchard waterfront enjoyed sailing on the water & learning local history and lore!
Guide to summers live music
Our summer live music guide is back in 2025!
In partnership with PBS, our new TV series explores the Kitsap Peninsula.
The Love Kitsap Exploration Guide ~ the only exploration guide for the Kitsap Peninsula
11. newsletters
‘Eat, Explore, Experience’
15.5K recipients
101,000 emails delivered
27.5% average open rate
18,100 total link clicks
Our ‘Eat, Explore, Experience’ newsletter delivers a curated selection of three monthly recommendations—one for dining, one for exploration, and one for a unique experience. Each edition is designed to provide subscribers with easy-to-follow adventures that align with the current season, ensuring fresh and timely inspiration every month.
Keep reading for a list of fun, family-friendly activities & things to do in Port Orchard, Washington, rain or shine!