Susan Bryant Thomas
Chief Marketing Officer Visit Huntington Beach
Day visitors have a significant impact on the annual volume of visitors to Huntington Beach. In 2014, the latest data we have, of 3.8 million visitors to Huntington Beach, three out of four—76%, or 2.91 million people—came for the day, and 24%, or 890,000, stayed overnight in Huntington Beach.
Interestingly, of those nearly 3 million day-trippers, almost a third are visitors who stay overnight somewhere in Orange County and visit several destinations on a single trip. Even if a city gets a day-tripper, that person often stays overnight somewhere in the county. The data show about 32% are day-trippers, another 32% have overnight lodging in a hotel or motel somewhere in Orange County, and 34% stay with relatives or friends. The remaining 2% reported other accommodations.
In another interesting twist, people who check the Surf City USA website first are far more likely to stay overnight in Huntington Beach. We want to drive overnight stays as we serve all visitors through our website, social media, visitor kiosk, the Surf City USA Shuttle, and collaborating with other city and community organizations.
Ashley Johnson
President, Chief Executive Visit Laguna Beach
About 93% of our 6 million annual visitors are day-trippers. They spend less—$40 a day compared with $262 for the overnight guest in a room—but there are 13 times as many of them. Laguna Beach is a culinary mecca, and we see a high percentage of these visitors coming from neighboring communities for that and for shopping. More than $159 million annually is spent on dining out, with retail spending at about $145 million. Laguna Beach also has 30 coves and beaches, which allure day-trippers to discover the city.
When they’re here, we want them to know all there is to do—which could drive overnight stays. Visit Laguna Beach has a visitors center and a hospitality employee training program for businesses called “Insider’s Laguna” to train front-line workers in what Laguna Beach offers—attractions, landmarks, events and so on, so they can offer guests ways to create unique experiences. The city has more oceanfront lodging than any other in California; the walkable downtown; 80 public art works, and many art galleries, day spas—and sunsets every night. School groups that come to Laguna Beach get our free seven-minute DVD on the city’s beach and marine offerings.
Giuseppe Lama
Managing Director
The Resort at Pelican Hill
As we aim to be the corporate and social center of Newport Beach, Pelican Hill enthusiastically welcomes day trip visits for golf, spa, dining and more. Day-trippers and locals enjoy complimentary valet parking when visiting our restaurants, shops, spa and Pelican Hill Golf Club. Events for visitors include weekly art and architecture tours, the monthly pop-up trunk shows, and social hour in the Great Room lounge.
Marketing is through social media with an emphasis on the visual—Instagram and Pinterest, as well as Facebook—which help us illustrate the resort’s seaside setting, Italian-inspired design, and luxurious ambiance. Social media also enable our guests to share their experiences. Our guests often tell the Pelican Hill story best, so we encourage snapping, posting, tagging, pinning and checking-in here. The Pelican Hill website includes a real-time collection of guests’ experiences.
No matter the length of the visit, our priority is to deliver five-star service to every guest, every day. Gracious, thoughtful, personalized service makes a positive impression that brings guests back for more in the future.
Scott McCoy
General Manager Irvine Marriott
Day-trippers provide immense value to our hotel. Though we’re not capturing a room night, other forms of revenue are generated. Our food and beverage outlets will be used—from morning coffee and pastries to lunch meetings, to cocktails and networking—the checks do add up.
Locals and business people often need a place more private than the lobby or another public space to conduct meetings. So they’ll book a meeting room, and catering typically accompanies those events.
We market to day-trippers, offering specials that change daily and incentivize them to keep coming back. A happy hour special in the bar, for example, or an ever-changing food and beverage program we call “YNK”—You Never Know.
Hospitality in a comfortable, upscale environment means day-trippers will keep us in mind for future stays and bigger-ticket business opportunities.
Gary Sherwin
President, Chief Executive
Newport Beach & Company
SoCal visitors who live, breathe or aspire to experience the Newport Beach/Southern California lifestyle—but don’t stay overnight—tend to be married women, 35 years old or older with annual household income of about $130,000. Nearly 60% are generation X or baby boomers—aged from the mid-40s to the mid-60s—and these women come from Orange County, the Inland Empire, and Los Angeles and San Diego counties. They become ‘ambassadors’ of Newport Beach—influencing friends and family to visit with them. Day-trippers are interested in parenting, healthy living, nature, entertainment, dining, and of course travel.
About half of our day-trippers annually are from within Orange County. They come for unique culinary experiences and Newport Beach Restaurant Week, the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade, Crystal Cove, Fashion Island and Corona del Mar—named one of “America’s Happiest Seaside Towns” by Coastal Living magazine.
They consume information from multiple sources—TV, radio, print, online, mobile and social media—so integrated marketing messages that cross these platforms resonate with the day-tripper.
Dave Stevenson
Vice President of Sales and Marketing Santa Catalina Island Company
Daily ferries from Dana Point and Newport Beach make Catalina Island an easy trip for Orange County residents. Amenities and offerings for travelers, business meetings, and other groups include the Zip Line Eco Tour and the new Falconry Experience.
About 25% of our business comes from day-trippers, and we find most of these groups are from the Orange County and Los Angeles markets. We typically see this group spending as much as our overnight guests per day, so they are definitely a valued segment of our business.
In terms of marketing, we advertise all our activities at the boat and helicopter terminals upon departure and arrival, and cross-promote all of our activities on the island. Promotions are a great way to get people on the island for a day.
Groups also come for Island Spa Catalina or one of the dining outlets on the island. The recently updated Descanso Beach Club offers a private beach, cabanas and a beachside restaurant and bar, while its Catherine’s Terrace hosts corporate and social events, as well as weddings.
Chris White
Area Director of Sales and Marketing St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort
We don’t directly track this in all cases, but about 17% to 24% of our revenue comes from people not staying at the resort—this could be at the restaurants, spa or golf course—and that was before the renovation. We’re hoping to grow that number with the new branded spa, Miraval, or on the restaurant side, having a chef like Michael Mena on board. We think those ancillary areas are going to appeal especially to the local market.
For locals, we’re going to begin offering social and other events as the renovated resort facilities get more notice: live music in the lobby lounge, a happy hour at Aveo Table & Bar. The resort—which is changing its name June 1 to Monarch Beach Resort—will offer locals a free social membership called C Club, which gets some benefits, including special events at holidays, such as July Fourth, New Year’s and so on. The “C” in the name stands for “connoisseur, connected, culinary and cocktails” and sounds like the word “sea”—which is what we want locals to remember and think of about the resort. We also offer a paid membership for more discounts, more access, and so on.
The demographics for day-trippers match our guests: ages 35 to 55, families and couples, guys who golf, ladies who lunch—our guests reflect the Orange County professional community, and day-trippers do, as well. We market with both paid and earned outlets, on radio, and through the digital and social media channels.
You never know who might come. People become members, they decide to have an event, or corporate meeting; the person who attends a wedding here decides to have their own wedding at the resort. It happens all the time.
Alex Wilcox
Chief Executive JetSuite Inc.
Up to a third of our company’s overall business—including markets beyond John Wayne Airport—is day-trippers.
People frequently come to Orange County for the day—they come from the Bay Area, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Sun Valley—for board meetings, social events, and to look at investment properties, among other reasons. We think private jets are in many cases the most effective way to fly here—especially on short notice. We love day-trippers.
About 90% of our day-trip flights are corporate—company owners or senior executives, board members, lawyers, accountants. We have several clients that fly people in for regular board meetings at Orange County-based firms.
We work with convention and visitors bureaus, chambers of commerce, and in some cases other companies to get this customer here and then to where they need to go. A company in Newport Beach called Go Rentals can drive a rental vehicle right up to one of our planes to meet the client when they land.
Having these kinds of options for day-trippers makes the airport an asset to more people. It’s highly beneficial to many companies to know that if someone is coming in just for the day, there are ways to do it. The asset of the airport itself becomes an asset to them directly.
