SEATTLE — Three Canadian travel advisors got a chance to experience Seattle on a recent prize FAM trip thanks to Visit Seattle and the ‘Sell Your Way to the USA’ incentive campaign, in partnership with Brand USA.

The winning FAM participants were Yolanda Nortje with Boulevard Travel in Calgary, Carrie Gillespie with Direct Travel in Regina, and Jennifer Quinlan with Travello Travel Group in Barrie, ON.

“Canada is Seattle’s top international market and as a border city it is integral we work with the travel trade across the country to continue to inspire our neighbours to book future visits,” says Caitlyn Shearer, Tourism Manager, Visit Seattle. “Our participation in Sell Your Way to the USA is just one of several engagements we are committed to in Canada.”

Shearer welcomed the FAM participants to Seattle with a personalized sampling of her favourite stops at Pike Place Market. Guided tours are also available with Eat Seattle. The FAM also visited several of the city’s other signature attractions, such as the Museum of Pop (MoPOP), Chihuly Garden & Glass, and the Space Needle.

Next, the FAM explored Seattle both on the water and underground. An Argosy Cruises Harbor Tour provided a one-hour narrated exploration of Seattle’s history and its workings as a shipping and cruise port while providing a close-up view of the Emerald City’s historic waterfront and ever-evolving skyline, all wrapped up in the natural beauty of Elliott Bay and the surrounding Olympic and Cascade Mountain ranges.

Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture

Participants also undertook Bill Speidel’s Underground Tour. Renowned as Seattle’s most unusual attraction, guests stroll through subterranean storefronts and sidewalks entombed when the city rebuilt on top of itself after the Great Fire of 1889.

The FAM then went further afield into some of Seattle’s neighbourhoods, including Ballard, a hip waterfront neighbourhood home to the Ballard Locks and seafaring history, and Bainbridge Island, a small city in western Washington State connected to Seattle by a short ferry crossing.

And since no trip to Seattle would be complete without experiencing the city’s sports culture – the city is hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2026 along with Toronto and Vancouver, after all – the FAM participants got to cheer on the home team at a Seattle Mariners baseball game at T-Mobile Park.

Shearer notes that the Sell Your Way to the USA winners returned to Canada inspired to promote Seattle, located just across the border, as both an accessible cruise port and a West coast city boasting a sporting spirit both on and off the water.

For more information on Seattle and resources for the travel trade, visit www.visitseattle.org/travel-professionals.