Sometimes, ideas come from the simplest forms of inspiration.

Such as staring out at the water in Oak Harbor and catching a glimpse of the mountains.

The Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce will be unveiling a new marketing campaign for the city in hopes of attracting tourists that will focus on water, trails, mountains, birds and everything else outdoorsy and recreational that is part of the landscape of the city and Whidbey Island.

“Three things rose to the top,” said Christine Cribb, the chamber’s executive director, when discussing a marketing plan that came together with help from a 15-member committee.

“First is we are an outdoors enthusiast’s paradise. Second, we are a military town that is extremely patriotic. And third, we are a waterfront community.”

Those three points will be emphasized, along with events, when marketing Oak Harbor to tourists. The funding is a result of a $67,500 grant the chamber received from the city in November for marketing purposes through lodging tax money.

Of that, $50,000 is earmarked for tourism, while $17,500 is to be used to market the historic downtown, Cribb said.

“This is the most intentional marketing campaign Oak Harbor has ever had,” Cribb said.

The committee, made up of community members, met weekly to discuss ideas and research and to identify how best to market the city to tourists.

Based on their research, marketing will attempt to reach different generations through print and digital advertising with an emphasis on continually attracting tourists from Canada and Seattle.

With Oak Harbor no stranger to being identified as a military town with the presence of Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, the “outdoors enthusiast’s paradise” approach is more fresh.

Mayor Scott Dudley likes it.

“I think we have a lot to toot our horn about, everything from fishing to biking to hiking to bird watching,” Dudley said.

Dudley said Oak Harbor offers an escape from the nearby congestion that comes from heavily-populated cities nearby.

The idea is to lure more of the tourists who visit the Deception Pass State Park, a number that reached 2.7 million in 2014.

Skip LeMay, an Oak Harbor resident since 1992 who is retired from the Navy, said the chamber might be onto something.

“We went to Hawaii on vacation and I had to go back to work to recover,” LeMay said. “I can see coming to Oak Harbor on a vacation and actually going back to work refreshed, wishing I was still in Oak Harbor doing the things that there was to do.

“I’ve sat at a bonfire in Penn Cove and listened to the killer whales blow at midnight. Just stuff like that happens here. I think there are a lot of opportunities to make this an outdoor destination.”