Portland Media Update: December 2006

Greetings from Portland, Oregon. Below is an update on the area’s newest travel-related developments. We hope you will find this information useful. If you prefer not to receive future media updates on Portland, please click here.

DECEMBER TOPICS

What’s New – Portland’s Aerial Tram Debuts

Kudos – Frommer’s Picks Portland as a Must-see Destination for 2007

Offbeat – Faux Fans Unite for Portland’s Faux Film Festival

Portland’s Aerial Tram Debuts

Testing is well underway on the gondolas for Portland’s new Aerial Tram. Come January those gondolas will be carrying both local residents and visitors between downtown Portland’s South Waterfront District and Marquam Hill, where the Oregon Health & Science University campus is located. Designed primarily as a neighborhood connector that will allow commuters to forgo using cars, the $57 million tram – much like the hugely popular Portland Streetcar – should prove to be an equal hit with tourists. As the gondolas make their three-minute journey from the South Waterfront to Marquam Hill, riders will enjoy views of the Willamette River, Mount Hood and downtown Portland. Each bubble-inspired tram car is designed to hold approximately 78 passengers. The tram plaza at South Waterfront is adjacent to the Portland Streetcar’s southern terminus. For more information on the Portland Aerial Tram, click here.

Media Contact: Gerri Lutes, Media Manager, OHSU, 503.494.4156, lutesg@ohsu.com, www.ohsu.edu/tramupdate/

Frommer’s Picks Portland Region as a Must-see Destination for 2007

Portland, Oregon, was one of just 12 destinations worldwide chosen by Frommer's editors for their annual list of “Top Travel Destinations.” The 2007 list, which was released Nov. 21, touts both Portland’s environmentally-conscious focus and its growing reputation as a culinary destination. Frommer’s editors went on to extol Portland’s proximity to nearby natural landmarks and amenities, including Mount Hood (skiing, snowboarding and other outdoor recreation), the Columbia River (kayaking and fishing), and the Northern Willamette Valley wine country (wineries and SakéOne). Other destinations on the Frommer’s list include Krakow, Poland; Panama; Tokyo; Zurich; and, coincidentally, Portland, Maine. Destinations cannot apply for or solicit inclusion on the Frommer’s “Top Destinations” list; all choices are voted on independently by the Frommer’s staff.

Media Contact: Deborah Wakefield, Portland Oregon Visitors Association, 503.275.9795, deborah@travelportland.com, www.travelportland.com

Faux Fans Unite for Portland’s Faux Film Festival

For those who love counterfeit commercials, phony movie trailers, mockumentaries and other celluloid spoofs, Portland’s Faux Film Festival (March 29-April 1, 2007) offers just the ticket. Entries from previous years include a theatrical trailer for It Came from the Lint Trap (you'll never trust your dryer again); the film Nundercover, about a nun with a “habit” for busting bad guys; and spoofs of those already surreal Mentos commercials. The festival, whose dates annually fall over or close to April Fools’ Day, was started three years ago by Mike Shkolnik, a director who couldn’t find a film festival with a category suitable for his faux movie trailer for Zombie Vegetarians. The festival is one of several offbeat film festivals that take place at Portland’s historic Hollywood Theatre. For more information on the Faux Film Festival, click here.

Media Contacts:

Mike Shkolnik, Faux Film Festival, www.fauxfilm.com/contact.htm, www.fauxfilm.com

Ellen Bergstone Beer, Hollywood Theatre, ellen@hollywoodtheatre.org, www.hollywoodtheatre.org