After a devastating year, tourism execs express optimism
One of the biggest economic fallouts in the North Bay from the pandemic has been the loss of tourism dollars, especially in Napa and Sonoma counties’ Wine Country — arguably the biggest draw for out-of-town visitation.
“(The) impact to hospitality employees, small business owners and our community at large was felt deeply, with significant cuts to wages and the tax base the tourism industry provides,” said Linsey Gallagher, president and CEO of Visit Napa Valley. She said the agency projects tourism improvement district revenues will be down 65% to 70% in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.
Looking further ahead, revenue for Napa County’s tourism sector is forecast to increase 75% year over year for fiscal year 2022, which Gallagher noted is still 40% below pre-pandemic levels.
“I believe this unfortunate anniversary is a time for hope,” Gallagher said. “With vaccines rolling out, travel confidence returning and signs Governor Newsom will provide guidance for the planning of events and meetings, I trust 2021 will bring the relief we all are seeking.”
In a virtual event held last month, Gallagher and her team detailed work done over the last year that includes a redesigned website; a new branding campaign; a new welcome center that opened in November; as well as research that found an emerging shift in potential visitors toward millennials and younger generations, which will help drive future advertising campaigns.
Findings also revealed heightened competition from neighboring tourism regions.
To that end, Sonoma County Tourism is reallocating more than 50% of its funds for fiscal year 2020-2021 toward marketing and public relations efforts, the agency revealed during a Feb. 24 virtual town hall. Like Visit Napa Valley, SCT’s fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30.
Sonoma County Tourism this month is rolling out a marketing campaign with a public relations push to travel journalists, and next month will launch a phased media campaign to drive overnight visitation, culminating later this year with a broader message that the county is a “must visit” destination, Claudia Vecchio, president and CEO, said during the virtual event.
Vecchio two weeks ago said she is seeing tourism recovery beginning to take shape as COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.
“We believe following a truly devastating year, our local businesses will see steady growth in customers as we continue to progress toward full reopening,” Vecchio said, “with the summer months among the busiest we’ve seen in years.”
Tim Zahner, executive director of Sonoma Valley Visitors Bureau, said he’s starting to see an upturn in visitation. He also reflected on the devastation that unfolded when shelter-in-place was first mandated in March 2020.
“I remember coming in to close up our Plaza visitors center and looking out at the businesses around the square and wondering what will happen,” Zahner said last week. “After the fires and the smoke and the power shut offs, it was just too much. I took photos of the empty parking spaces and closed-up shops.”
Now he’s encouraged by consumer sentiment research that shows increased comfort and confidence among potential travelers.
“(We) are seeing weekends returning to a more normal occupancy pattern,” Zahner said. “Our next steps will be filling midweek, which is usually filled by meetings. This will be crucial to a stable recovery."
Zahner also saw optimism where others may not have.
“The good news is that last week I got my first complaint about parking,” he said. “So that shows we have people showing up again.”
Cheryl Sarfaty covers tourism, hospitality, health care and education. She previously worked for a Gannett daily newspaper in New Jersey and NJBIZ, the state’s business journal. Cheryl has freelanced for business journals in Sacramento, Silicon Valley, San Francisco and Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from California State University, Northridge. Reach her at cheryl.sarfaty@busjrnl.com or 707-521-4259.
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Visitors begin to trickle back to Napa, Sonoma counties as pandemic metrics improve - North Bay Business Journal
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