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Niva tapped to head Travel Southern Oregon Brad Niva, former owner of Rogue Wilderness Adventures, is the new executive director of Travel Southern Oregon. [Photo courtesy of Brad Niva] Thursday Mar 23, 2017 at 4:47 PM Mar 23, 2017 at 4:55 PM Greg Stiles Mail Tribune @GregMTBusiness Brad Niva touted the Rogue Valley as a rafting outfitter and wine-tour operator. Now he's applying his entrepreneurial skills as the new head of Travel Southern Oregon. Niva plans to be just as aggressive in marketing the region as he was in expanding Rogue Wilderness Adventures during a 10-year run. Armed with enhanced funding from Travel Oregon, allowing the agency to more than double its budget to almost $600,000 from $279,000 last year, Niva plans to transform a part-time organization that farmed out many of its duties into one with a full-time staff of three. When former Executive Director Carolyn Hill retired last December, several Travel Southern Oregon board members encouraged Niva to apply for the position. Already a known quantity to his peers, Niva submitted a 40-page business plan outlining his vision for Travel Southern Oregon for the next six months, year, three years and 10 years. “Niva brings his business sense and his knowledge of tourism to our members and will be expanding our tourism marketing efforts for years to come,” said Dani Raines, Travel Southern Oregon's board president. Although he's spent much of his adult life in tourism-related endeavors, the role is a new one for him. "I've never worked in a board structure before or in the nonprofit arena," Niva said. "I know I can run a business and am familiar with tourism. I still own the Wine Hopper company, so I thought if I get it, great, if not, no big deal." After tripling sales at Rogue Wilderness Adventures, a rafting, hiking and fishing service, Niva agreed to a deal worth $1 million to sell the rafting company to Morrison's Rogue River Lodge a year ago. He sold another of his companies, Northwest Brochure Service, as well. "I was a mosquito to one of those big national companies," he said. "They wanted me out of the way and wrote a check for more than the company was worth." Niva sees Travel Southern Oregon as an economic engine to boost activity in Coos, Curry, Douglas, Jackson, Josephine, Klamath and Lake counties. "As people come to the area, we'll increase jobs, sell more wine, we'll have more people at Shakespeare and more visitors at Crater Lake," he said. The organization has been hindered because it has relatively few dollars to promote the region, Niva said. "Right now Travel Southern Oregon is one of the weakest financially compared to the other regions," he said. "We're not competing equally with other regions around the state due to lack of funding. Central Oregon has a $2.2 million budget, but we don't have the same regional support." Hotels, restaurants and tourism-related businesses don't have the same marketing leverage as their counterparts in other parts of the state, he said. "Right now, any Southern Oregon business wanting to market in San Francisco or Sacramento has to do it on their own." Niva said the region should market itself to the northern Willamette Valley as well as Northern California. "We need to remind people in Portland if they're wanting to get out for the weekend, why not come to Southern Oregon for wine, Shakespeare and Crater Lake," he said. "I see the Oregon Wine Experience as something that will become a destination event." The 32-year-old organization is beginning a new two-year contract with Travel Oregon, then will have to rebid for a six-year extension. "One of the things we're going to do is increase our membership," Niva said. "I think tourism touches a lot of businesses. Travel Oregon has a huge impact on our state, but it doesn't always filter down here. Our job is to be an extension down here and use that horsepower."  — Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 541-776-4463 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GregMTBusiness, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/greg.stiles.31.