VCB release - At the May 21, 2026, meeting of the Visitor and Convention (VCB) Bureau Board of Directors and Budget Committee, committee members reviewed and approved the proposed budget for the VCB and the Coos Bay Visitor Information Center for Fiscal Year 2027, with one addition. VCB staff will begin working on a new grant program for tourism related infrastructure projects within the taxing districts of Coos Bay, North Bend, and Charleston. More information on the new Community Grants Program will be forthcoming in the next few months.  “We are pleased to have six members of our community join us each year on our Budget Committee to assist us in planning for our next fiscal year,” stated Janice Langlinais, VCB Executive Director. “This year’s budget reflects a small decline in overall anticipated revenues, by 2.6%, and our expenditures were adjusted accordingly.”  The Fiscal Year 2027 budget totals $1,501,872, with $1,380,122 allocated to the VCB for their work in marketing the destination to potential tourists and $121,750 for the operation of the Coos Bay Visitor Center.  “As the designated destination marketing organization for Coos Bay, North Bend, and Charleston, we always strive to allocate approximately 75% of the VCB’s budget directly to marketing and advertising efforts. Doing so allows us the greatest opportunity to compete with our neighbors on the Central and North Coast for tourists seeking a coastal adventure,” Langlinais said. “The VCB staff and board also endeavors to be excellent stewards of the lodging tax funds allocated to the organization to meet our annual goals.”  The VCB’s funding comes from approximately 39% of the lodging taxes collected by the City of Coos Bay, the City of North Bend, the Coquille Indian Tribe, and Coos County (for an area specifically designated around the fishing village of Charleston). The VCB was created through an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) between these four governmental entities, which created the Coos Bay-North Bend-Charleston Visitor and Convention Bureau in its current form in 2010 and was updated in 2022. The Coos Bay Visitor Information Center funding comes from the City of Coos Bay as part of a separate agreement between the VCB and the City to manage the facility.  The final approval of the VCB’s Budget will take place at the regular meeting of the VCB’s Board of Directors on June 18, 2026.