Northwest Living | Bellingham Real Estate Market

 Boise, Idaho - We recently updated the Northwest Living blog to include an entire category dedicated to the State of Idaho.  Under the Idaho State category viewers will eventually be able to find posts, links, and information on Idaho cities, towns outdoors, relocation, travel, tourism, things to do, and so much more. We will also discuss the Idaho real estate market, since this blog is about the Northwest tourism, with a real estate flavor.

Since Idaho is one of the great states that make up the Northwest we were very pleased with the thought of having topics on Idaho State.  Some future topics would include information about Boise Idaho, Sun Valley Ski Resort, Coeur D’Alene, Lewiston, Nampa, Twin Falls, Idaho Falls, Pocatello, and a whole lot more about Idaho.

Our main focus of our Northwest blog is about the Northwest area of Washington State, but felt we could provide a service by talking about other areas of the Pacific Northwest as well. If any viewer wants to suggest a topic to discuss, please add a comment below and we’ll consider it for sure.

For anyone looking for information on Idaho you might want to start with the Official Idaho Vacation and Travel Planning Guide.

Jerry Campbell - Muljat Group - Bellingham, WA 98225 - Northwest Living

 Boise, Idaho - When tourist think of Idaho, usually their first thought is about the famous potatoes that are grown there.  The state’s tourism agency would like to shift that thought and let the rest of us know about their mountains, ski resorts, lakes, and rivers as well. Instead of the question where is Idaho? and what do people do there? The tourism industry of Idaho would like to get the message out, that Idaho is a great place to visit. 

Idaho draws about a third of its tourists from within the state, and the single largest out-of-state source for Idaho visitors is Spokane, Wash.  Another 12 percent of Idaho’s visitors come from outside the country, half of those from Canada. The remaining international visitors are mostly from Western Europe.

Tourism in Idaho is growing at 6 percent or more per year, and travelers in the state spent an estimated $3.82 billion in 2005, according to a study commissioned by the state Department of Commerce and released earlier this year.

Idaho Tourism officials believe the potential is unlimited, if they can get the word out, because currently not enough people know about it.  There hope is for steady and sustainable growth in their tourism.  Their also hoping that the coming up Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics will help Idaho’s ski resorts like Sun Valley, Schweitzer, and Tamarack Resort.

Idaho has been growing about 6 to 8 percent a year, which is not a bad growth pattern at all. Idaho’s tourism center would just like to get steady growth and get the word out about the great things to do in this state.

Idaho draws visitors looking for niches within the travel market, like great snow skiing, whitewater rafting, a bunch of high-quality golf courses, camping, food and wine tours, and lots of outdoor things to do.

Back in December of 2006 we wrote an article about the securest places to live  in America. The Boise, Idaho area topped that list by being the most secure large metropolitan area (population 500,000 or more) in the Country. St. George, Utah was the most secure small town in the survey (population of less than 150,000).

Potatoes grow where there’s high elevation, clear days, and cool nights. The things that make for great potatoes are the things that make for a great vacation.