TWILIGHT VISITORS BOOST OFF-SEASON TOURISM

By Chris Cook - Forks Forum editor

Statistics released by the Forks Chamber of Commerce show a dramatic boost in visitor arrivals in the off-season months of October, November and December.

The boost comes from visits by fans of the Forks-set Twilight book series, said Marcia Bingham, executive director of the Forks Chamber of Commerce.

Final December counts showed 1,284 visitors arriving at the chamber’s Visitor Information Center. That compares to 218 visitors in the same period in 2007. October showed almost a 130 percent boost in the numbers of visitors arriving at the chamber’s Visitor Information Center in Forks when 2007 and 2008 arrivals are compared. The actual counts showed 374 October visitors in 2006, 550 in 2007 and 1,252 in 2008.

November counts showed an amazing 974 percent increase comparing 2008 to 2007. In 2006 the count was 74, in 2007 it was 178 and in 2008 there were 1,913.

The steep boost came in part from the Nov. 21 release of the film version of Twilight, the first book in the four-book Twilight series by Phoenix-based author Stephenie Meyer.

The chamber expects the high counts to continue next spring and summer. The Twilight film is being shown in over 30 countries this holiday season, and over 10 million copies of the books have been sold.