Announcements and Opportunities
SCTB Annual Meeting Slated for Feb. 10 
You're invited to our annual meeting! Find out our plans for 2010 at the free breakfast meeting on Feb. 10 at 7:30 a.m. at the FountainGrove Inn in Santa Rosa. RSVP to Craig Haskell at chaskell@sonomacounty.com or (707) 522-5800.
Check In / Dine Out Promotion Needs Specials
Lodging
partners: We're looking for lodging specials that feature a dining
element for our winter/spring marketing campaign - Check In / Dine Out.
The program will highlight lodging specials that offer a certificate
toward dinner, lunch, breakfast or a deal at a local restaurant within
the business improvement area.
We
encourage you to be creative and reach out to local dining
establishments. Only specials that offer some sort of dining incentive
will be included in this campaign. The campaign runs through April 30,
targeting Sacramento and San Francisco Bay Area. Please submit your
specials here www.sonomacounty.com/content/stay-dine.
If you responded to an earlier e-mail from SCTB, there's no need to resubmit your special. SCTB Wins Three Marketing Awards
Sonoma County Tourism Bureau received three Adrian Awards this week, for achievements in advertising, public relations, and web marketing in the travel industry.
SCTB's Ken Fischang, CHME, CMP, accepted the awards at a ceremony in New York. The Adrian Awards are the benchmark of excellence in hospitality and travel marketing around the world.
SCTB won a silver for the Sonoma County Fabulous campaign; a bronze for Inside-Sonoma.com; and a bronze for "Postcards from Sonoma Country," a radio campaign.
We're All in Our Places, with Bright Shiny Faces
SCTB staff packed up and moved on Jan. 23. Our new address is 3637 Westwind Blvd. Phone, fax and e-mail addresses stay the same. The move allowed SCTB and partner organizations, Sonoma County Winegrape Commission and Sonoma County Vintners, a year's free rent, additional amenities, and more space for less money per square foot. For more information or to schedule a tour of the new digs, call (707) 522-5800.
Wrangling New Business in Texas
Sonoma County Tourism Bureau's Texas-based sales representative Jamie Graham, CMP, participated in the MPI Houston Area Chapter Professional Development Day at the Houston Convention Center last week.
"We were able to participate in a tradeshow where planners from all over the Houston area were in attendance," Jamie said. Jamie was able to network with more than 40 planners during the tradeshow and spoke with several who are interested in booking a meeting in Sonoma County in the future.
Sonoma County Represents at MPI Expo
 Sonoma County Tourism Bureau recently attended Meeting Planners International, Northern California Chapter's 22nd Annual Conference & Expo, held at Moscone West, in San Francisco. The theme for the event was "The Hustle, 30 Years of Groovin' & Movin" with the underlying theme relating to how everyone in the meetings industry is hustling to make meetings happen in 2010. Sonoma County Tourism Bureau and attending partners hustled to introduce themselves to all the meeting planners in attendance.
Sonoma
County's table at the tradeshow was well represented with hotel
partners and properties that offered something for every meeting
planner's requirement and budget. In this photo from left to right are:
Robin McKee-Cant, CMP, SCTB; Amy Landreville, Fairmont Sonoma Mission
Inn; Rick Wilson, Inn at the Tides/Tides Wharf; Herbert Flores,
Sheraton Sonoma County - Petaluma; Jessica Adams, Vintners Inn; Erin
McCauley, Hampton Inn & Suites - Windsor; and Kip Zook, Hilton
Garden Inn - Sonoma County Airport. Pictured, Suzy Montes, Meeting Sales & Services Manager (right), highlights information about the county's hotels to two meeting planners.
SCTB Continues International Sales and Marketing Efforts
SCTB is targeting inbound international travel as a growth area in a tight market. In November, SCTB staff attended World Travel Market in the United Kingdom, the largest travel show in the UK. Last week SCTB was represented at the state tourism office's "International Summit" where they heard what the plans were for ongoing international marketing, and met with the state representatives from the UK, Japan, Germany, Mexico, Australia, South Korea, China, France, South America, India, Scandinavia and Italy. (More information on specific countries below under "California Resources Available")
The push for international travelers to Sonoma County is part of the strategic plan of SCTB to identify new markets and grow them. Overseas travelers stay longer and spend more than domestic travelers on average, and SCTB's long-term dedication is paying off with media visits, tour and travel leads, individual travel bookings and more.
So BIA partners - get ready for your international visitors - and prepare to say "Wilkommen, Bienvenidos or Bienvenue" to Sonoma County!
California Resources Available
The California Travel and Tourism Commission is a great resource for people in the travel and hospitality business. Most recently, CTTC held its International Summit & Marketplace Day. If you haven't been able to attend any conferences or symposiums the organization offers, you can still access the insightful information at http://tourism.visitcalifornia.com/Industry/TravelIndustry/Presentations/#IntlSummit.
2009 Key Industry Highlights
A difficult economy, unwarranted bad press about meetings and business travel, and a flu scare that threatened to keep people at home made 2009 one of the most challenging for the travel and hospitality industry. The U.S. Travel Association created a brief presentation of key highlights, http://www.ustravel.org/news/year-of-accomplishment. (The program is best viewed with Internet Explorer or Google Chrome.)
Vintners Inn and John Ash & Co. a Hit with Brides
Vintners Inn and John Ash & Co. Restaurant in Santa Rosa has been selected to receive one of the 2010 Bride's Choice Awards, announced WeddingWire Network.
The annual awards celebrates excellence in quality and service within the wedding industry, as determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 500,000 newlyweds. Vintners Inn is among the top five percent of all vendors in the WeddingWire community, which includes more than 100,000 wedding professionals across the U.S. and Canada.
Dry Creek Wines Featured at SAG Awards
Dry Creek was the official wine of the Screen Actors Guild Awards, held in January. The winery celebrates 10 years of sponsorship at the SAG Awards. In celebration of this 10-year milestone, the winery crafted a commemorative Cabernet-based Cuvee, which was served for the first time at the 16th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, then made available for sale from the winery in a limited quantity. The winery received some pretty cool press about it, http://www.vimeo.com/8906891, and www.etonline.com/awards/sag/2010/2010/01/83173/?rc=4b5c71f8e139c.
An Artist Among Us
SCTB's own Marta Hayden, CMP, was honored as her photo from last year's Wine Road Barrel Tasting inspired the painting by artist Craig Nelson, which is being used in the event's publicity and posters. |
