SEAVIEW — Three years ago, Katja Spitz was a top executive for Las Vegas’ official destination marketing organization, a job that demanded flying across the Atlantic on a regular basis.

Today, she is in her fourth month on the job as the executive director of the Pacific County Tourism Bureau, where her time and energy has thus far been spent on securing critical funding and restructuring an organization that, currently, only has one full-time employee — herself.

Spitz was hired to take over the county’s official destination marketing arm back in October, after founding and running her own tour company in Las Vegas for the previous two years. That foray came after she spent nearly nine years with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, overseeing all aspects of the Entertainment Capital of the World’s global brand as the organization’s international market executive.

Then, in the spring of 2020, covid-19 reared its ugly head. But for Spitz, the pandemic turned into an opportunity to take stock and evaluate what was important in her life.

“When the pandemic hit, I knew I only had a limited amount of time with my daughter at home [before leaving for college], so I took what I call my ‘two-, three-year sabbatical,’” Spitz said, stepping away from her executive position for the Vegas brand to work in EMS positions and operate her tour business. “I just needed something — while my daughter was still home — that had a flexible schedule, because I really wanted to spend time with her.”

Spitz saw the job opening for the executive director position late last year, after her daughter had gone off to college and she had what she said was too much time on her hands.

“I came up here to interview, and I had a couple of different offers,” she said. “I didn’t think this was going to be the one, but I just came here and I just fell in love with the people and the opportunity. It was so genuine.”

Fresh perspectiveSpitz, a native of Sweden, believes her newness to the area will work in her and the bureau’s favor, as she’s able to bring a fresh perspective without having been involved in any past scrums between the various groups and factions that play a role in marketing the county or having a deep-rooted emotional investment.

“I obviously have no history and no ties to anyone here, and I’m looking at it from a new perspective — I think more of a business perspective than anything else — of what needs to be done and what role we need to fill,” Spitz said. “I think when people are so emotionally invested, they start making decisions with their emotions and maybe not just business decisions.”

Her biggest task since taking over in November has been trying to secure crucial funding from the Pacific County Lodging Tax Advisory Committee to be able to hire staff and restructure the organization — Spitz made her funding pitch to the county last week. Funding for the bureau had previously lapsed, leaving Spitz as the only current full-time employee and forcing the bureau to temporarily close its visitors center in Seaview.

“The priority right now is staffing,” Spitz said, noting that the bureau currently relies on a lot of work being outsourced. “What we’re doing is we’re starting over. I have basically completely wiped anything from the past, in the sense that these are the roles that we need to operate as an organization. … We have a reorg and a restructure, and I have defined positions that are really necessary for us to operate on, and when we get fully funded I’m hoping to hire for those positions.”

When more staff is in place, Spitz said the bureau will look at redoing its marketing plan — such as putting a stronger emphasis on digital and social media marketing campaigns — and conducting an audit to determine the strength of the current “Visit Long Beach Peninsula” brand and determine whether a rebrand is needed.

“Do we need to expand it? There’s people who feel like it’s not fair that we’re called Long Beach, because Long Beach is such a small geographical location of the county,” Spitz said. “But there is value behind that name; it’s what draws people.”

She emphasized that although the visitors center is based on the peninsula, the bureau is there to represent all parts of the county, and all part of the tourism economy. “We have to be able to represent everything from basically your one-star motel to the luxury options that we have, because each one contributes to the success of tourism … Not every [visitor] wants the same experience.”

Spitz said the bureau’s also trying to nail down and define the roles that each of the various organizations — such as the Pacific County Economic Development Council and the merchants associations — play when it comes to marketing the county and its communities.

“What I’m finding here is the people of Pacific County really generally mean well and they want things for the destination, but they are also willing to pick that up if they think nobody else is doing the job,” Spitz said.

Authentic experienceIn her short time living here, Spitz said she’s been struck by the authenticity of the residents and the balance between the local governments and businesses in being tourism-friendly while also staying true to what’s made the area a destination location since the 1800s.

When Spitz first found out about the job from a recruiter, she recalled not knowing anything about the area.

“I looked at a map and I thought ‘Oh, that’s interesting. Where is that?’” she said. “And then I realized that once you look at all of the coast, this area is really unexploited and it’s kind of a secret to some extent.”

She contrasted the area with the likes of uber-popular Cannon Beach and the San Juan Islands, saying, “I came up here and I just absolutely fell in love with the uniqueness. I think that we have something that’s very different.”

“What we have is very authentic, and I think we’re probably more authentic [than other coastal communities in the region],” Spitz said. “I like that in the community there’s this balance between wanting the tourism and needing it for businesses, but also staying true and protecting the community. That’s really important here. I’ve been to the competing destinations, and I feel like they don’t really have that [authenticity]. It’s kind of like you feel like you’re going there because it’s a tourist destination.”

Pull Quote

“The characters and the people are so intriguing — but it’s real, it’s not for tourists. It’s just so charming and I was like, ‘I have to live here.’”

Katja Spitz, executive director of the Pacific County Tourism Bureau

Spitz recalled that authenticity being on full display during an early visit she had with the owner of a peninsula coffee shop, who explained while serving her coffee how they had previously been a member of a local ghost hunter team and had also trained her dog to be a part of the team.

“As I’m sitting there talking, this gentleman walks in who used to be a captain of a ship and he has a cat on his shoulder,” she remembers. “The characters and the people are so intriguing — but it’s real, it’s not for tourists. It’s just so charming and I was like, ‘I have to live here.’”

Always activeSpitz said she caught the “travel bug” early on in her life, having grown up in both Sweden and France, her mother’s home country. She traveled to the states and studied for a year in Las Vegas, which is where she made home for the next 22 years.

When she’s able to get away from the near-constant demand of her job, Spitz said she has enjoyed getting out and exploring all that the county and the area has to offer.

“I drive around a lot, to understand the area and what we [offer] a visitor,” Spitz said, adding she planned on visiting the Tokeland area this past weekend.

She “grew up on the water,” and brought her kayak with her when she made the move from Las Vegas. She hasn’t been able to get any mileage out of it yet during the few stormy months she’s been here, noting her first-hand EMS experiences has taught her to be “very respectful of the water.”

Volunteering and giving back have also been important to Spitz during her time in the states. Since moving to the peninsula, Spitz has joined the Long Beach Volunteer Fire Department and South Pacific County Technical Rescue, serves on the board of World Kite Museum & Hall of Fame and the EDC, and volunteers as a “big dog” walker with the South Pacific County Humane Society — and has two dogs of her own.

Among many previous EMS roles, she’s also helped provide disaster and humanitarian relief as a disaster responder with Team Rubicon since 2019, was a CPR instructor for the Henderson Fire Department in Nevada, and was a mission planner, field searcher and ropes rescue technician with Red Rock Search and Rescue. She’s also licensed as an emergency medical technician, aircraft rescue firefighter, and a swiftwater and flood rescue technician.

“To me, when you go out in the field like that, you encounter people that are most likely having the worst day of their lives,” Spitz said. “I think if I was ever in that situation and needed someone, it’d be heartwarming to see all of these strangers show up to help another stranger and donate their time and their expertise.”