Did you know that Oregon's economy is bolstered in large part by international nonstop air service? It's true! Every year, international flights generate $4.9 billion in direct business revenue, 59,000 jobs and $176 million in state and local taxes. Travelers to and from Europe and Asia have nearly doubled in our region since the nonstops began - a trend we are working to continually grow.

Portland currently has two non-stop international flights, to Amsterdam and Tokyo, each served by Delta Air Lines.

The International Air Service Committee has launched the "I Fly Nonstop" campaign to raise awareness in our community about the importance of the flights and demonstrate to Delta and other carriers that Portland is committed to keeping the "International" in Portland International Airport. You can contribute your support by doing three things.

Become a fan of "I Fly Nonstop" on Facebook. If you already have a Facebook account it is easy, simply click here, sign in and click on the "Become a Fan" button. Also, don't forget to tell us why these international flights are important.

If you don't have a Facebook account, you’ll need to register first, but the process is the same after that.

Click here to read the "I Fly Nonstop" blog: hear from local voices on how these international nonstop flights impact their businesses, learn local insights on traveling in Amsterdam and Tokyo, and share your thoughts on retaining nonstop international flights in Portland. Be sure to share this website and the importance of nonstop flights from PDX with others.

Your support is incredibly important and we greatly appreciate your efforts to keep Oregon's economy strong.

Talk Travel's online magazine highlights Oregon this month in an article by Canadian journalist Wayne Hansen.

The spread appears on page 31 of the online edition, focusing on Amtrak, the Columbia River Gorge, Oregon Coast and Portland Saturday Market.

Click here to check out the complete article

A feature on Amtrak's service from Vancouver, B.C. to Portland (the Cascades Route continues south to Eugene) also appears on page 5.

The Oregon National Tour Association (NTA) delegation invites you to tune in November 11 starting at 9 a.m. while they update their travel blog - Reno Roadtrip 2009 - live from the road.

Click here to check out the Reno Roadtrip 2009 blog on Portland Spoke and follow the live updates from the motorcoach

The group will board the OC&W Coachways motorcoach and blog live - every few hours - from the road as they travel to Reno, picking up their entire delegation of NTA suppliers and DMOs along the way.

A recent article from AdAge.com focused on the idea that China is the world's fastest growing outbound travel market.

An exerpt can be found below of the piece titled: Chinese Tourists to U.S. Come Often, Stay a Long Time and Spend Heavily

Nearly 500,000 mainland Chinese traveled to America last year, said the U.S. Travel Association. Visitors from China tend to come frequently and spend an average of 23 nights in the U.S.

Chinese travel to America has grown quickly. China only added the U.S. as an approved destination in December 2007, and recently expanded international marketing for Chinese group leisure travel from six provinces to 21, more than tripling access to America by its citizens.

Click here to read the entire article as provided by AdAge.com

Last December four of the top United Kingdom ski journalists were in Oregon with the largest ski tour operator in the U.K., Ski Dream. Unfortunately on their visit, there was NO SNOW!

It turns out that the trip was still a success as Oregon has created quite a buzz in the UK.

The Times newspaper recently ran an article by Belinda Archer titled: Oregon outshines its rivals in US ski stakes.

Click here to read the complete article which features Mount Hood and Mount Bachelor

The Times newspaper also produces a yearly ski supplement that runs in mid-September which is included in the main newspaper. Oregon had the center spread! The daily circulation of The Times is 800,000.

Ski Dream currently sells Timberline Lodge/Mt. Hood and Sunriver Resort/Mt Bachelor exclusively (Travel Oregon is hoping to grow their product, but this is a start). Travel Oregon and its partners happened to be in the Ski Dream office in London the Monday following the ski insert. First thing that morning there had already been numerous calls inquiring about ski packages to Oregon.

Exciting news as the weather changes...