Ten resorts have formed a marketing group to sell coastal Orange County to wealthy travelers under the name “The Oceanfront.”
The unusual partnership includes half a dozen major hotels as well as several independent ones.
Within the next few weeks, the group plans to send out direct mail advertising to 70,000 homes across the country. The goal: convince folks that OC is a premier coastal spot and the best place to vacation, according to Cormac O’Modhrain, general manager of the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort & Spa.
“We want people to understand what a jewel we have here,” O’Modhrain said. “We want this (effort) to succeed and to present (coastal) Orange County properly,” he said.
Others in the group include Balboa Bay Club & Resort, Four Seasons Hotel Newport Beach, Hyatt Regency Newport Beach, Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort in Huntington Beach, Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort & Spa, Montage Resort & Spa in Laguna Beach, Newport Beach Marriott, St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort & Spa in Dana Point and Surf & Sand Resort in Laguna.
Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, the county’s original coastal luxury hotel, isn’t part of the group.
Ritz-Carlton director of sales and marketing George Munz said that the Ritz-Carlton has a longstanding corporate policy against most partnerships in order to protect its brand.
In a prepared statement, the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel also said that it “is in the final stage of a $40 million renovation and at this time all of its resources are being driven toward marketing the redesigned resort” and that for 20 years it has been a leader in promoting Orange County as a destination.
