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Focusing on relationships
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Sonoma County Tourism's business isn't just "sales" or "marketing" - it's building relationships with the goal of generating revenue for Sonoma County businesses. With s
trategic matchmaking, we create mutually beneficial relationships between Sonoma County partners, a global network of travel trade professionals, traditional and social media influencers, and our valued customers.
Never has the love for Sonoma County been more prevalent than in the past few months. Our recently completed consumer perception research shows that people are very loyal to our destination and will visit to support this extraordinary place that has been such an important part of their lives.
To help connect with those who might still be skeptical, we're working hard to counter continued misinformation by distributing press releases, email blasts, and social media posts telling people that Sonoma County welcomes visitors with open arms. Also, we will soon launch the Sonoma Explorer program designed to drive travelers to tourism-oriented businesses throughout the county.
This is SCT's prime travel season, when our sales and marketing teams attend trade and consumer shows nationwide and in key global markets, reaching out to consumers and travel pros about booking trips - either personal or business - to Sonoma County.
At these shows, potential travelers, journalists, travel agents, tour operators, and interested tourism industry influencers have asked how Sonoma County is doing since the October wildfires. We've been able to give them updates and alleviate fears about visiting.
Meeting planners are getting the message from our sales team that bringing their meetings here will help our destination's recovery efforts by putting our hospitality community back to work. In October, SCT created a special incentive allowing meeting planners to support fire relief efforts. To date, more than $390,000 in incremental business has been generated for Sonoma County hotels, with additional revenue for area restaurants, retailers, and wineries.
This year, it's more important than ever to be out talking about our destination.
The personal touch is the lifeblood of our efforts. We need to build relationships with both potential visitors and the folks who bring them here. We also need to build our internal relationships - working together to let the world know that resilient Sonoma County remains strong, beautiful, and an amazing destination.
We are stronger together. The Beatles had it partially right: All You Need is Love ... and smart, strategic marketing to create a compelling destination. It's that undeniable combination we're working to achieve at Sonoma County Tourism.
- Claudia
Claudia Vecchio, CEO
Sonoma County Tourism
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We want your thoughts about Sonoma County
Are you a Sonoma County
resident? Sonoma County Tourism wants to know your thoughts.
Please take 10 minutes to complete a quick online
survey. We will use this information to help inform our branding and marketing efforts for Sonoma County as a tourism destination.
Thank you in advance for your time and insights. We're eager to hear what you think!
Please click here to take the survey:
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Sonoma Explorer program starts next week
SCT is launching the
Sonoma Explorer passport program next week, via social media and paid advertising. This campaign will invite potential visitors to visit Sonoma County now through Memorial Day weekend, the official start of the summer travel season and our busy season.
The Explorer Map, which will be available to download, is designed to move travelers around the county collecting stamps from at least two participating visitors centers in order to receive a Sonoma County canvas market bag. The map shows a few Instagram-worthy parks and encourages travelers to use the tag #SonomaExplorer on their posts.
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Partner Training Webinar: Google My Business Monday, March 19
The introdroduction to Google My Business and Travel Planning Features webinar is open to partners
From 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. on Monday, March 19, Sonoma County Tourism is hosting a training webinar on how to improve the image of your business and Sonoma County in Google search and how to make the best use of the free Google My Business platform.
In the aftermath of the wildfires, there is still a lot of imagery in search engines that shows fire devastation and damage. That isn't what Sonoma County looks like now and we want to get more accurate imagery in the hands of potential travelers.
Register and find more information
here. Once registered, information will be sent to you on how to join the webinar from your computer.
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Focus groups talk about Sonoma County
SCT hired MMGY Global, a national tourism marketing agency, to help define and articulate Sonoma County's unique destination brand and to help produce a new three-year marketing campaign and a strategic positioning platform.
As part of MMGY's process, two of its senior executives were in Sonoma County several times over last few months to interview various industry stakeholders about what makes us unique and special and to get a deeper understanding of Sonoma County: our values, our culture, our history, and what sets us apart.
Above, Kristen Madsen, director of Creative Sonoma, discusses the arts in one of the focus groups. SCT plans to roll out the new campaign by early summer.
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Lyft offers discounted rides through April
The rideshare company Lyft is introducing Sonoma County visitors and locals to its transportation option.
Through April 30, Lyft will offer discounted rides in Sonoma County. New users can enter the code SONOMALYFT2018 for two free rides up to $10 off, and existing users can enter the code SONOMAXLYFT for 10 percent off one ride up to $5.
"We want travelers to plan ahead when they are exploring the wineries and other local businesses across Sonoma County, and to county on Lyft for a responsible ride home," said David Kunst, Lyft Northern California Market Manager.
Lyft reports there's a growing number of drivers who live and work in Sonoma County.
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SONOMA COUNTY AND THE MEDIA
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From South Carolina to Sonoma County
South Carolina-based freelance writer Katie McElveen visited Sonoma County Jan. 24-26 on assignment for Montage magazine, a luxury publication placed in hotel rooms. Among other activities, she photographed her meal at the SHED in Healdsburg. McElveen's story will feature three ultra-exclusive winery experiences. She also plans on turning the story into a longer-length feature for a couple of regional magazines (i.e., Season Magazine, Columbia Living, Charleston Living, Wilmington Living).
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Welcoming SATW BANG
The Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) Bay Area North Group (BANG) met at the Flamingo Conference Resort and Spa in Santa Rosa in January for an action-packed 24 hours. In addition to their meetings, they enjoyed brunch, dinner, and breakfast; toured the property; and tasted Ehert Winery wine. Some members of the group also enjoyed spa treatments, and explored Spring Lake Regional Park, the Charles M. Schulz Museum, and the Luther Burbank Gardens. We hope this is the start of a long and productive relationship with these travel writers.
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Bringing in the Bay Area media
Sonoma County Tourism partnered in January with Visit California-Sacramento to bring a group of Bay Area media to Sonoma County for an after-the-fires field trip, letting the
group see firsthand the vast greenery and beauty that overshadows the burn areas.
Their 24-hour adventure began at Paradise Ridge Winery's tasting room in Kenwood for a magical herb, chocolate, and wine-pairing experience. Later, they feasted at the 29th Annual Great Sonoma Crab and Wine Fest (pictured above), where they were joined by Claudia Vecchio, SCT's president and CEO (on the right, in back).
The group stayed overnight at the Astro Motel, enjoyed brunch at The Spinster Sisters, and an afternoon of foraging, food, and flower arranging with Donna del Rey of Relish, and Pam Bell of Dragonfly Floral in Healdsburg.
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Getting Sonoma County in the news
Ongoing outreach efforts to the media continue to pay off with a wide variety of articles and blogs highlighting Sonoma County. Here's a brief sampling of recent items showcasing our region.
Nearly 100 regional and national outlets throughout Germany published journalist Bernhard Krieger's story, "Kissed by the Wine," including DerWesten. The story is a result of Krieger's visit to Sonoma County, which was hosted by Sonoma County Tourism and Visit California. The total collective circulation for the story was phenomenal: 3,435,047 in print, and 24,627,165 online.
"Unlike the small Napa Valley, Sonoma County stretches to the sea. In the coastal town of Bodega Bay, crab stalls and fine seafood restaurants line up."
In another follow-up to Bernhard Krieger's visit to Sonoma County, his feature about SingleThread appeared in Der Feinschmecker (circ.: 73,528), a German monthly magazine that covers quality cuisine, lifestyle, and travel. Not surprisingly, the magazine gave SingleThread a rating of "outstanding."
SCT hosted journalist Detlef Berg last summer for his trip to Sonoma County to explore and write about the region's many assets. His first article, with a title that translates into "
On a Pleasure Trip in the Sonoma Valley, was published in the January/February issue of German magazine Savoir Vivre (circ.: 191,565). It highlights everything from wine, restaurants, and food, to local produce, culture, and the outdoors. It captures why Sonoma County is a perfect destination for travelers.
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There are beautiful vineyards that make you think of Tuscany and then of Piedmont."
Congratulations to SCT's partners who were mentioned in this story: Armstrong Redwoods State Nature Reserve, Mission San Francisco Solano de Sonoma, Francis Ford Coppola Winery, Buena Vista Winery, MacRostie Winery, Benziger Winery, River's End, and Charles M. Schulz Museum.
SCT assisted super model Ashley Graham on her recent visit to Sonoma County, when she brought her husband and a group of friends here for a birthday celebration. Ashley has appeared on the cover of fashion magazines such as Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Glamour, and Elle, and also serves as a judge on America's Next Top Model.
During her visit, Ashley posted four times to her
Instagram feed and added five pieces of content to her Instagram Story, which was shared with her 6 million followers. Editorial coverage is forthcoming in Galavante, a member-based luxury travel site that caters to the working jet set.
Congratulations to featured SCT partners Rams Gate Winery, Pure Luxury Transportation, and Francis Coppola Winery!
SCT closed out 2017 with an exciting partnership with Visit California Canada, bringing a group of writers and social influencers to Sonoma County to experience the beauty and wide array of activities we have to share. Now the results are coming in. First up is the article, "
How to Spend a Week in California Wine Country," by Chelsea Broderick of Notable Life (UMV:168,457), a lifestyle and business publication catering to young professionals in Canada. "While only 6% of the land is occupied by grapes, the agriculture in the county is able to feed all of Napa and the Bay area. The shopkeepers were chatty, eager to hear where we had been, and where we were heading next."
How to get your name in the media
If your business isn't mentioned, it might be because journalists don't know about it. There are a few things you can do to fix that.
- First, respond to publicity alerts that are sent on an as-needed basis.
- Second, add an offer to the media handbook that goes to legitimate vetted journalists.
- Third, tell SCT about your business during a PIP (Partner Information Program) session. Find more information here.
- Fourth, submit high-resolution photos for journalists to use. To submit photos for media use, please contact Katja West ([email protected]).
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Images of Sonoma County
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| On the road in Sonoma County |
See how many locations you can identify in this video tour of Sonoma County's vineyards, redwood forests, beaches, communities, and rivers.
Get inspired by watching more of our
Sonoma County videos
and feel free to use them in promotions of your business or area.
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Travel Brands want to be experience platforms
While it's still very true that, fundamentally, hotel companies run hotels and airline companies run airlines, it's also become increasingly clear that more travel brands want to expand beyond what they're known for doing in travel and into new segments of travelers' experiences. This erosion of traditional silos in travel is transforming travel brands into true experience platforms, or channels through which we, the travelers, can have our vacation and business trip experiences shaped and guided not by a multitude of companies, but by just a handful - and soon, maybe only one.
Some travel companies cutting ties to NRA
In the wake of the mass shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, airlines, hotels and car rental companies are jumping on the bandwagon - sometimes under pressure - and are eliminating discount programs for National Rifle Association members. These travel companies include Delta, United, Hertz, Avis, Budget, Enterprise, National Alamo, Wyndham, and Best Western.
Looming water shutoff threatens Cape Town tourism
In less than 100 days, Cape Town - the provincial capital of South Africa's Western Cape province - faces the unenviable accolade of becoming the first major city in the world to simply run out of water. It's a nightmare scenario that dominates conversation across the city. It's also a looming reality set to have an enormous impact on the city's all-important tourism industry. Cape Town receives over three million visitors per year, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs and pumping more than $3 billion into the local economy.
U.S. Parks not sure how to deal with overtourism
Many U.S. National Park Service officials have publicly pointed to the negative impact of overtourism during the past year, and they are considering reservation systems for some parks and other measures to address visitor growth.
More than 330 million people visited a park, monument, or site part of the national park system last year, about the same as 2016. But visitors spent more than 1.4 billion hours in the parks, a 1.4 percent (19 million hours) increase year-over-year.
U.K. doesn't think it has an overtourism problem
While plenty of European countries are wrestling with overtourism and how best to manage visitor numbers, the U.K. government doesn't think it has a problem. In the first 10 months of 2017, 13.4 million people visited the U.K. on holiday, a 13 percent rise compared with the previous year. Rebecca Stewart, a senior policy advisor on tourism at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, said it was important to talk about overtourism but it wasn't yet something the U.K. has to overcome.
How Airbnb plans to woo hotels
While it may seem antithetical for homesharing giant Airbnb to offer hotels on its platform alongside treehouses, apartments, and vacation homes, the truth is that many hotels have been using the site to get bookings for years.
But it hasn't been until recently that the company has begun making a more concerted effort to get professional hospitality providers, from bed-and-breakfasts to hotels, to advertise their rooms on Airbnb.
London restaurant tries congestion pricing
One of London's leading restaurants is pioneering a new pricing model based on the travel industry, with different charges depending on the day of the week and time of your booking. Bob Bob Ricard, known for a luxurious dining room where each table has a call-button for champagne, will offer exactly the same menu, only prices are 25 percent lower for off-peak times such as Monday lunch and 10 percent off mid-peak, including dinner on Tuesdays and Sundays. Book for Saturday night and it's full price.
Yelp: Diners prefer independent restaurants
Apparently fueled by celebrity chef-owner obsession in popular media and increased consumer confidence in non-chain restaurants because of review platforms like Yelp, there has been a tremendous rise in independent restaurants over the last five years, according to Yelp's Local Economic Outlook report. Independent fast-food and fast-casual restaurants have seen a continued increase in average ratings, improving by 7 percent in the last five years. Ratings for casual-dining chain restaurants held up better, unchanged on average, though they lagged behind their independent competitors, which gained a quarter of a rating point between 2012 and 2017.
HappyOrNot rates customer satisfaction
In 2016, a European gas-station chain hired HappyOrNot, a small Finnish startup, to measure customer satisfaction at its hundred and fifty-plus outlets. HappyOrNot's analysis was simplistic in the extreme. There were no comment cards, customer surveys, focus groups, or reports from incognito "mystery shoppers." There was just crude data collected by customer-operated devices that looked almost like Fisher-Price toys: freestanding battery-powered terminals with four big push buttons-dark green and smiley, light green and less smiley, light red and sort of frowny, dark red and very frowny. As customers left a store, a small sign asked them to rate their experience by pressing one of the buttons (very happy, pretty happy, pretty unhappy, or very unhappy), and that was all.
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