MUKILTEO — Thirty-nine years ago, the Boeing Co. gave the first tour of its factory in Everett. On Monday, the 3 millionth person visited the place where Boeing builds its wide body jets.
Nearly four decades ago, people flocked to Snohomish County to catch a glimpse of Boeing’s new 747, which held the title of the world’s biggest passenger jet until this year. This year, as Boeing unveiled its latest plane, the 787, the county and tour also saw a bit of a bump in visitors. While the 787 may have created some extra buzz for the center, a lot of people just “want to see Boeing,” said Sandy Ward, marketing director for the Future of Flight Aviation Center, where the Boeing Tour begins.
That’s how Al Varness and his two grandsons started out Monday — with the plan to see Boeing and Future of Flight museum.
The grandfather from Kirkland says he takes 7-year-old Adam Pette and his brother Michael, 11, to many attractions around the Puget Sound region.
“We’ve been to the Museum of Flight,” Varness said. “I thought it would be a good idea to come here.”
The family’s tickets pushed the Boeing tour over its 3 millionth visitor mark Monday morning. To mark the occasion, Boeing took the family on a VIP tour of the factory where Boeing builds its 747, 767, 777 and new 787 jets.
In 2005, Boeing paired its tour with the Future of Flight Aviation Center in Mukilteo. In its first full year of operation, the museum and tour brought in about 148,820 visitors.
So far in 2007, more than 170,000 people have gone on the tour.
“We’ve had a very outstanding year this year,” said David Reese, who oversees the tour for Boeing.
August turned out to be a great month for the museum and tour. More than 8,000 people visited during the first week of the month. Later in the month, on Aug. 20, 1,655 people poured through the Future of Flight’s doors and out to the Boeing factory.
That’s a long way from the tour’s beginnings.
Boeing estimates 13,000 people visited the site by the end of 1966 before the factory had even opened for business. The company established an official tour in 1968 and guided roughly 39,000 visitors through the factory that year. By 1998, Boeing’s tour had been in business 30 years and saw its 2 millionth visitor.
Both the Future of Flight and Boeing personnel are working to draw even more people to the site. Boeing is introducing a new video for the tour, which emphasizes the importance of the Everett factory in world trade and tourism.
Typically increased tourism to Seattle means more visitors to the Future of Flight and Boeing Tour. Center officials have seen increases from different regions as airline service expands there. For instance, Ward said, when Air France introduced a nonstop flight to Seattle, the center saw a boost in its French visitors. A similar increase came from Mexico when AeroMexico began flights into Seattle.
Attendance tends to decline in winter months as fewer people visit the region. The center and tour hope to reach out to our friendly neighbors to the north, in Canada, as a new source of tourists for the off-season.
The off-season, however, has been shortened due in part to the cruise industry. Cruise lines are gearing up earlier in the year and running later. Some lines offer short cruises from Seattle to Vancouver Island or southern British Columbia.
“We saw a lot of cruise ship business even into October,” Ward said.
Reporter Michelle Dunlop: 425-339-3454 or mdunlop@heraldnet.com.
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