Live From IPW: Visit Seattle's Tammy Canavan on a New Waterfront and a Big Summer
Episode description
Welcome to a special IPW 2026 series of View From Afar. In this episode, recorded live from the conference floor, Visit Seattle president and CEO Tammy Canavan sits down with Afar deputy editor Michelle Baran to talk about what it takes to put a city on the world stage—and what visitors will actually find when they get there.
Tammy has led Visit Seattle for four years, during which the city has opened the Summit building at the convention center, completed an $800 million, 15-year waterfront overhaul, expanded international air service through Sea-Tac, and welcomed a record cruise season. This summer, Seattle will host six FIFA World Cup matches and an estimated 750,000 visitors—a moment that's been functioning as an artificial deadline for years of infrastructure work.
In this conversation, Tammy and Michelle discuss
- Why Seattle's "low-key joy"—coffee shops, bookstores, the water, an Evian-mist-style rain—keeps surprising first-time visitors
- The completion of the waterfront, after 15 years and what it means for a port city to finally reconnect with its shoreline
- How Visit Seattle is rolling out the "Unity Loop," several World Cup fan zones across the city, and a strategy that asks visitors to explore beyond the stadium
- The honest conversation about downtown safety, perception versus reality, and how Seattle is reframing its narrative without running from it
- What Tammy is telling federal officials about Brand USA, the proposed visa integrity fee, and the rumors that are quietly keeping international visitors away
Resources
- Visit Seattle
- A guide to Seattle's waterfront reinvention
- Afar's guide to Seattle
Chapters
00:00:00 Welcome to View From Afar
00:01:30 Why Seattle, Why Now
00:04:00 The World Cup Surprise
00:06:30 What Travelers Need to Hear
00:08:00 A Waterfront, Reconnected
00:09:30 Beyond Pike Place
00:11:30 The Perception Problem
00:14:30 A Civic Renewal
00:17:30 Seattle's Quiet Joy
Stay Connected
- Subscribe to View From Afar to catch all our IPW 2026 episodes this week.
- Follow @AfarMedia on Instagram and TikTok for behind-the-scenes IPW content.
- Sign up for our travel industry newsletter, Afar Advisor.
- Rate and review the show to help other travel professionals discover these insights.
- Explore our other podcasts, Travel Tales and Unpacked.
This IPW 2026 special series was recorded live. View From Afar is a production of Afar Media and a part of Airwave Media's podcast network (email advertising@airwavemedia.com if you would like to advertise on our podcast). The podcast is produced by Aislyn Greene and Nikki Galteland, with assistance from Michelle Baran and Billie Cohen. Music composition from Epidemic Sound.
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