An Eventful Week for Visit Santa Rosa

As a key program of the Santa Rosa Chamber, Visit Santa Rosa is tasked with marketing Santa Rosa as a tourism destination and increasing overnight visits. Additionally, they also operate the California Welcome Center in Historic Railroad Square.

The Visit Santa Rosa team has had one of their busiest weeks, where they engaged every market that they service including events, meetings & presentations, weddings, sports, elected officials, business travelers, media and visitors.

Getting Our Country on in Santa Rosa
June 3-5 brought the Country Summer Music Festival, Northern California’s largest country music festival, to the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa. Visit Santa Rosa and the City of Santa Rosa, sponsored the event as part of the SRTBIA (Santa Rosa Tourism Business Improvement Area) event sponsorship program. 25,000 people attended the concerts, 48% of whom were visitors from over 32 states, enjoying Santa Rosa and appreciating headlining acts such as Billy Currington, The Band Perry and Lady Antebellum.

Educating Silicon Valley Business Travelers
The Visit Santa Rosa team attended Education Day at the Silicon Valley Business Travel Association annual meeting, with over 200 major travel planners throughout the valley. Visit Santa Rosa’s sponsorship included a lunch-time presentation about what’s new in Santa Rosa.

LGBT Wedding Show in SF
Visit Santa Rosa attended the highly rated Gay Vanity Wedding show at the Bentley Reserve in San Francisco. Our sales team successfully presented information & options to potential couples who may be interested in having their wedding in Wine Country.

Chatting it up with Visit California
Visit Santa Rosa participated in a Visit California sponsored Twitter chat #KidsNTrips, promoting family travel to California as we approach Summer. Visit Santa Rosa shared ideas for family friendly ways to explore Sonoma County. #KidsNTrips chats generate an average of 2,000 tweets, with over 18 million timeline deliveries and a reach of more than 1 million Twitter users.

Reaching the Sports Market in Lake Tahoe
Director of Sales, Charlene Lennon, attended the annual meeting of the California Community College Athletic Directors Association in South Lake Tahoe last week. This meeting brought together 70 athletic directors throughout the state. Visit Santa Rosa had a table and sponsorship to support awareness of our services and promoting Santa Rosa as a destination for sports events.

Farmers Market at the California Welcome Center
The West End Farmers Market has relocated to Historic Railroad Square on Sundays from 9:30 am to 2:00 pm (April through November). It’s a vibrant gathering place for the community - where local farmers, food producers, crafters and artisans offer ultra-fresh, locally grown agricultural and related products directly to residents and visitors. This past weekend included the Railroad Square Music Festival, bringing additional visitors and locals to Historic Railroad Square and the California Welcome Center.

Sonoma County Lodging Association Annual Meeting
On Tuesday, Brad was a panelist for the Sonoma County Lodging Association’s annual meeting. The panel featured Ken Fischang from Sonoma County Tourism, Carla Howell from the Healdsburg Chamber and Jonny Westom from the Sonoma Valley Visitors Bureau. The theme for the panel was how all destinations within Sonoma County can work together in promoting tourism to visitors, and educating residents on the importance of tourism in Sonoma County.

Presenting to City Council
At Tuesday’s City Council meeting Brad Calkins, Executive Director presented with Danielle O’Leary the annual tourism report. Highlights of the report include; record 2015 revenues for Santa Rosa hotels, over $250,000 in booked ancillary revenue into restaurants, wineries and attractions along with Santa Rosa featured in over 26 articles with over 65,000,000 media impressions.

Bringing Together the California Welcome Centers
Our Welcome Center Manager Myrna, and Executive Director, Brad Calkins attended a strategic planning meeting of the California Welcome Centers in Sacramento to discuss common goals and pitfalls that affect the 17 California Welcome Centers. Planning included the development of various sub-committees dedicated to tackling a number of concerns. The meeting left our team optimistic and inspired looking into the future of California Welcome Centers.

Wine Country Games in Sonoma County
The Wine Country Games kicked off June 3rd, showcasing 17 different sports over 16 days in venues throughout Sonoma County. More than 1,000 athletes will compete, ages 50+, traveling from all over the country. The festivities kick off with bocce ball at Juilliard Park, and include other sports such as: archery, badminton, basketball, bowling, golf, cycling, lawn bowling, soccer, swimming, table tennis, track & field, volleyball and even pickleball!