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Tourism Forum is Feb. 26 at Sonoma Golf Club
Only 20 spots remain for the Sonoma County Tourism Bureau’s free tourism trends forum 2 - 6 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 26 at the Sonoma Golf Club, 17700 Arnold Drive, Sonoma.
Reserve your spot today by calling Camille Padilla at (707) 565-6411, or e-mail cpadilla@sonomacounty.com.
Speakers include Bob Hoelscher, chairman and CEO of the National Tour Association, speaking on baby boomer travelers, and Matthew Boone, Director of Asia Marketing of the California Travel and Tourism Commission speaking about the international travel market.
The event is open to people in the hospitality industry and includes a free networking reception.
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Send Events for Printed Quarterly Calendar by Feb. 29
Send your submissions for the next quarterly printed Calendar of Events. Events must be submitted by Feb. 29. Happy Leap Year!
Events can be submitted through the partners section of the website.
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Gay & Lesbian Travel Trends
Are you actively marketing to gay and lesbian travelers? If so, we'd like to know more about what you're doing and any specials you are offering. E-mail your information to us.
Not actively marketing to this target population yet?
Consider the results of a new traveler survey from Community Marketing, Inc.:
More than three-quarters (76 percent) of U.S. lesbian and gay respondents have a current passport, compared to 24 percent to 30 percent of all adult US citizens.
Gay and lesbian travelers took a median of five overnight trips in the preceding twelve months, including two leisure, two personal and one business trip. 24 percent took five or more leisure trips, 24 percent took five or more personal trips, and 19 percent took five or more business trips.
Respondents spent an average of 14 nights in hotels; 77 percent purchased accommodations online at least once. The top motivations for choosing a hotel are reputation for gay-friendliness and location near attractions.
Gays and lesbians choose vacation destinations that are recommended by friends, offer unique attractions, and have a reputation for gay friendliness. The availability of online information is important in getting the necessary information to this audience to plan a trip.
Based on tourism industry data from the US Department of Commerce and CMI sample demographics, the annual economic impact of LGBT travelers is approximately $64.5 billion in the US alone.
Contact SCTB with your marketing ideas, specials and campaigns; e-mail your information to us.
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Tourism, en Espanol ...
The
Sonoma County Tourism Bureau has started translating press materials
into Spanish to spread the message of "Sonoma Country" beyond the
borders of English. The first releases are targeting media in Mexico
and Central America, and are being distributed with the help of the US
Commercial Service. Previous collaboration with this division of the
Department of Commerce has resulted in media exposure in Mexico, and
"Fly Wine Country" posters have been distributed to US embassies and
consulates in Asia, Europe and South America.
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Amgen Tour of California Zooms into Sonoma Country
…
And we were there! On Monday, the first stage of Amgen’s Tour of
California, the SCTB sales team was at the lifestyle festival in Santa
Rosa, handing out maps and information about Sonoma Country to visitors
from near and afar. The sales team will follow the race down the coast,
selling the Sonoma Country message at key cities along the tour.
In
Santa Rosa, the SCTB PR team hosted the media room and provided
assistance with media registration and handed out Sonoma Country gift
bags, packed with information, Santa Rosa cowbells, and more.
Close
to 60 local, national and international journalists were met by the
team. The media room was hosted by our lodging partner Hyatt Vineyard
Creek Hotel & Spa. SCTB also hosted lunch, catered by Sonoma
Country’s own the girl and the fig.
Travel Writers March on Sonoma Country
SCTB
PR team met with more than 40 travel writers on Saturday, as the Bay
Area Travel Writers held a meeting at the Flamingo Resort & Spa.
SCTB offered three tours of Sonoma Country, hitting points north, west
and east.
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 PR Team Takes Manhattan
The PR Team took on Manhattan in January when Tim Zahner, Director of PR and Marketing, joined other destinations from the Golden State as part of the annual California Travel and Tourism Commission’s media mission to New York. During the event, Tim spoke to media from guidebooks, meetings press, freelance writers and any one else who pledged to talk about Sonoma Country.
The event coincided with the launch of the CTTC’s new food and wine initiative, and local Sonoma Country chefs like Duskie Estes and John Stewart of Zazu, and Guy Fieri of Tex Wasabi’s and Johnny 
Garlic’s were about town promoting the area as the land of, well, food and wine.After the event, Tim broke out his secret black book of journalist contacts and had desk-side visits with national, regional and niche media.
Further spreading the Sonoma Country message, the PR team dispatches Keri Hanson to Oregon later this month, where she will play up the flight from Portland and sell sunny Sonoma Country to the sodden masses.
 SCTB Sales Team Finds Success in Washington, D.C.
SCTB Sales team had a successful event at Destination Marketing Association International’s Washington, D.C. showcase in February. The trade show garnered more than 60 requests for more information about Sonoma Country as a premier destination.
The showcase boasts 225 exhibiting destinations and attracts more than1,100 of the top highly qualified meeting and convention planners worldwide. 
Only convention and visitors bureaus and destination marketing organizations are allowed to exhibit. Unlike other shows,there are no hotels, attractions, airlines, or other organizations on the floor.
Photo above, SCTB National Sales Manager Jamie Graham, left, met with meeting professionals. At right, SCTB Marketing and Partnership Consultant, center, also met with travel professionals.
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