Orange County hotels, visitor bureaus and theme parks are asking local residents to play tourist in their own backyards.
They’re courting residents and tourists with discounts, packages and promotions to try
to offset the expected decline in summer travelers.
“We can’t take anything for granted, even in high season right now,” said Gary Sherwin, chief executive of the Newport Beach Conference & Visitors Bureau.
Tourism businesses can’t count on long-distance or global visitors much with international travel to the U.S. still 17% (633,000 people) below the number of visitors who came in 2000, according to the U.S. Travel Association.
Last week, concerns about swine flu added to those woes, with the top official of the European Union advising Europeans to postpone any nonessential travel to the U.S. and Mexico.
Domestic air travel is down, too, as many business travelers are taking fewer trips. Through March, John Wayne Airport traffic was down 15% compared to a year earlier.
So, more than ever, local theme parks and other attractions are targeting those within driving distance instead of making a global advertising push.
According to the most recent Travel Horizons survey by Orlando-based Y Partnership and the U.S. Travel Association, roughly two-thirds of Americans say they’ll take to the roads for a getaway instead of flying.
That leaves 21 million people in the group that lives less than a day’s drive from OC.
“We’re targeting the big drive market more than ever,” said J.D. Shafer, general manager of the Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort in Huntington Beach.
About 63% of travelers still intend to travel this summer, according to the Travel Horizons survey. But 51% say they’ll trim the length of their stays or take shorter trips to account for economic worries.
Last year, nearly 45 million people visited here, down some 2.9 million from 2007. Spending also was down about 5% compared to 2007 to $7. 9 billion.
Last year’s attendance fell by about 5% at Walt Disney Co.’s Anaheim parks.
With people taking shorter trips, both occupancy and visitor spending could fall even further this year, so local hotels and attractions are devising ways to get people to stick around.
Special events such as the food and wine festival at Disney’s California Adventure (running now until June), this month’s food and wine festival at the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach and the centennial events in Huntington Beach are intended to entice visitors to stay longer.
Disney also is bumping up marketing,since April it has been touting a new light show, a new parade and a three-day pass to both Anaheim theme parks for Southern California and Northern Baja residents for $99.
Knott’s Berry Farm has its annual Fiesta Mexicana running until Sunday and launched a promotion for annual passes at $79.99. A single day admission special is $29.99.
Knott’s also will debut an ice show in June, the same month that the All Wheels Extreme sports show is held.
Packages
Tom Smalley, general manager of the Wyndham Orange County at the Performing Arts Center and president of the Costa Mesa Conference & Visitor Bureau, said he sees every hotel putting packages together to draw in locals or outsiders.
Smalley said these methods aren’t necessarily new, but consumers now are looking for packages.
“In a good economy, people just buy on room rate, go to the spa, golf and get the money back on their expense reports,” he said.
Now, customers are doing more investigating and companies are asking business travelers to do that, Smalley said.
The OC Fair is getting in on the action in Costa Mesa. The fair added an extra weekend this year and will feature a 3-D movie called “Al’s Brain” about singer, songwriter and satirist Weird Al Yankovic that could be a hit. They also will have lower concert pricing and will offer a season pass for the first time. For $25, buyers get entry to the fair on any day, two-for-one tickets to five concerts,
a coupon book for the carnival and other perks.
“It’s a lot of bang for your buck,” said Robin Wachner, director of public relations for the fair.
Besides hotels and theme parks, local convention and visitor bureaus have devised packages and promotions to entice people to visit the county.
– Anaheim/Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau: There are printable coupons on the Web site for a variety of attractions and restaurants. A “free and al-most free” section was added to the Web site to attract those on lower budgets with a list of “16 OC Sweet Spots” that provides ideas for budget-friendly activities for visitors.
– Costa Mesa Conference & Visitor Bureau: The popular Fly/Drive and Dine promotion is back again this year, offering visitors $25 gas certificates and a $25 coupon good at participating restaurants when they book the package at Costa Mesa hotels. Jennie Hoffman, director of sales at the Westin South Coast Plaza, said there’s “some concern about how the leisure market will turn out” this summer and packages aren’t selling as abundantly as they did in the past.
– Huntington Beach Conference & Visitors Bureau: The city expects to benefit from the new Shorebreak Hotel by Joie de Vivre Hospitality, which opens next week. The bureau president and chief executive, Steve Bone, said that new family features such as the Slyders pool complex at the Hyatt also will help draw families to the city. “We think we’re positioned very well for the staycation that has grown over the last two years,” he said. Huntington Beach also turns 100 this year, so centennial events are likely to draw some additional visitors.
– Irvine Chamber of Commerce Visitors Bureau: As in years past, the city is partnering with Irvine hotels and restaurants to offer discounts to visitors and puts together local tours such as the Wildlife and Beach tour, excursions on dining yachts in Newport Harbor or golf packages.
– Laguna Beach Visitors Bureau: Laguna got an early jump on its summer promotions this year. For the first time, the visitors bureau, city and the three art festivals partnered to launch a season pass for all the festivals. The $19 Passport to the Arts includes unlimited admission to all three festivals, one-time free parking and other discounts. Those who purchase by June 1 will be entered to win a fall getaway package in Laguna. “It’s a response to the new economic climate and something guests have been asking for: a unique and viable excuse to come to Laguna Beach,” said Sian Poeschl, cultural arts manager for the city.
– Newport Beach Conference & Visitors Bureau: Newport wants to get typical day trippers to extend their stays. The city’s also planning a “get out of the heat” campaign for inland areas that’s being tested this week. Like other cities, Newport Beach is even targeting locals for business. “It’s very much a viable market to target if we give them a compelling proposition,” Sherwin said.
Local hotels, theme parks and visitors bureaus have good reason to develop their special offers.
For the first two months of the year, overall hotel occupancy in OC dropped to 59% compared to 68% in 2008, according to the most recent data from the Los Angeles office of PKF Consulting Inc., which tracks the hotel industry.
In a national measure of first-quarter performance released recently by Henderson-ville, Tenn.-based Smith Travel Research, the Anaheim area ranked No. 10 among the top 25 markets in occupancy at 60% year to date. Of the markets that did better, only Phoenix is a major competitor to OC. Its first quarter occupancy was 63%.
In on the Game
The OC marketing machine isn’t the only one ratcheting up.
In late April, the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau announced it would spend $8.7 million on an advertising campaign, which will primarily target the Southern California market. That’s almost as much as the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau’s total operating budget.
Las Vegas, despite its recent struggles, typically spends more than $100 million on marketing each year.
In Los Angeles, the new Terranea Resort at Palos Verdes will open next month amid strong marketing campaigns, and a host of new and remodeled hotels and restaurants also will seek to attract local visitors.
According to industry insiders, these local marketing campaigns now are more important than ever.
“I see a significant challenge for the tourism industry in 2009,” said Skip Hull, vice president of CIC Research Inc. in San Diego in presenting 2008 results for Anaheim’s visitor industry. “Visitors from close drive markets throughout Southern California and neighboring states will become even more important to Anaheim and Orange County’s visitor mix until an anticipated economic recovery takes hold in 2010.”
