Sonoma County's tourism industry rebounds

<p>Sonoma County's $1.3 billion visitor industry bounced back last year, with hotel business up about 7 percent from 2009, tourism leaders said Thursday at a conference in Santa Rosa.</p><p>The lodging sector should see another 7 percent increase this year, said Ken Fischang, chief executive of the Sonoma County Tourism Bureau, the county's destination marketing program.</p><p>“We're in a very good place,” Fischang told guests at the bureau's annual meeting at the Hilton Sonoma Wine Country hotel. Lodging revenue was up nearly 13 percent in the past quarter and should reach pre-recession levels later this year, he said.</p><p>Tourism supports about 17,000 jobs in the county, or roughly 1 in 10 local workers, according to the bureau.</p><p>The travel industry saw its worst year in memory in 2009, when visits to Sonoma County hotels fell about 11 percent. The tourism bureau boosted its promotion efforts during the downturn, using social media, travel deals and incentives for meeting planners.</p><p>The work paid off last year. Sonoma County hotel revenues grew faster than Napa, Lake Tahoe, Monterey and Palm Springs — four areas that compete for tourist dollars, Fischang said.</p><p>Meeting business grew almost 20 percent last year and hotels expect another good year for group travel, weddings and conferences, said Percy Brandon of Vintners Inn in Santa Rosa.</p><p>“The bookings are starting to come in,” said Brandon, chairman of the bureau's board.</p><p>Last year was good for Peggy Williams, who hosts Peggy Sue's All-American Cruise, a Santa Rosa car show that attracts 6,000 visitors a day.</p><p>The four-day June event has been growing each year despite the economy, she told the tourism conference. Last year, it attracted 800 classic cars.</p><p>“We were turning them away,” she said. The event gives a boost to hotels, wineries, restaurants and other visitor businesses, Williams said.</p><p>On Thursday, the bureau unveiled its latest visitor ad campaign, titled “Do you speak Sonoma?” It uses clever terms to describe the county's attractions, including winetasting, beachcombing, dining and golf.</p><p>The bureau will spend about $4 million this year to promote county tourism. Most of its funding comes from an assessment on lodgings that generate at least $350,000 a year in sales. The program was established in 2005.</p><p>Sonoma County hotels cut room rates about 1 percent last year to help attract business, according to Smith Travel Research, which tracks the lodging industry. But room revenues rose 6.7 percent, according to a survey of local hotels conducted by Smith Travel.</p>