TOURISM INDUSTRY NEWS & RESOURCES |
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This partner communication exists to provide timely information on Sonoma County’s tourism and hospitality industry, along with resources to help partners navigate through the COVID-19 crisis and beyond. |
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This past week we sent a survey out to businesses across the county asking about the length of time they could continue to operate. The results were not surprisingly, disheartening. Small and independently owned businesses are the lifeblood of Sonoma County. Those of you who own and work in these establishments create a unique visitor experience that cannot be matched. We are committed to working in every way we possibly can to gain support for businesses on the federal, state and local level. We will work hand-in-glove with the Sonoma County Hospitality Association, CalTravel and the U.S. Travel Association to advocate for our industry. We know the situation is dire. We know political partisanship is the worst we’ve ever seen. We know metrics are being used that discount safety measures businesses have implemented (at great cost). Please let us know if you have thoughts about how we can better assist your efforts. Thank you for all you do to elevate Sonoma County. |
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Claudia Vecchio
President and CEO
Sonoma County Tourism
707-522-5804
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Advocating for Coronavirus Relief
The U.S. Travel Association and the COVID RELIEF NOW Coalition have been relentless in applying pressure to Congress and the administration to reach a deal to provide COVID relief as soon as possible.
To help them in this mission, U.S. Travel continues to ask all stakeholders to write to Congress to express the dire need for immediate support.
Sonoma County Tourism urges you to fill out U.S. Travel’s Action Alert. This letter goes directly to your Congressional representatives. We also encourage you to send this Action Alert to friends and family across the country so that it reaches representatives on both sides of the aisle.
Please join us in helping U.S. Travel make travel and tourism top of mind across Capitol Hill and in the administration.
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Advocating for the Reopening of Indoor Tasting Rooms
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Sonoma County Vintners has been in contact with Governor Gavin Newsom and state officials to express strong support for winery tasting rooms being allowed to reopen for indoor operations with specific COVID-19 protocols in place.
The Sonoma County wine community has exercised exceptional COVID-19 mitigation practices and is seeking your support in reaching out to state officials to express your comments and desire to begin to reopen winery tasting rooms as soon as possible with continued mitigation best practices.
To find helpful talking points, contact information, and additional details on how you can help, click here.
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Photography 101 Partner Education Session
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Sonoma County Tourism is pleased to offer a free partner education session on photography, via Zoom, on Nov. 5 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
This hands-on session (led by Sonoma County Tourism’s director of brand development, Spencer Spellman) will share tips and tricks, how-tos, and information for partners looking to upgrade their photography.
This session is for anyone who needs to freshen up their website photos, wants to take better pictures for social media, or simply wants to know how to edit their existing photos.
Having great content doesn’t require fancy cameras, hiring expensive photographers, or expensive software. In fact for many, you don’t need anything more than a camera.
This session will cover:
- Tips and tricks for taking better photos on your phone
- Hands-on photo editing demos
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"It’s no secret that content, and especially visual content, is imperative for the success of tourism and hospitality businesses.
A study by MDG Advertising found that 67% of consumers say that the quality of a product image is 'very important' in selecting and purchasing the product.
That’s nearly 7 of 10 customers being influenced by the quality of the content. But capturing great content, especially in 2020, is easier said than done."
-Spencer Spellman
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Upcoming Virtual CTA classes
Sonoma County’s Certified Tourism Ambassador (CTA) program is now offering certification classes online. The next class will be held this Friday at 8:30 a.m. You can fill out the application and sign up for the 10/16 class here and class materials will be sent to you right away.
Sonoma County Tourism launched the CTA program to improve visitation by inspiring frontline hospitality employees and volunteers to work together to turn every visitor encounter into a positive experience. In nearly six years, over 2,500 tourism professionals, community members, and volunteers have become CTA certified.
To learn more about this program, including certification benefits and additional class dates, email program manager Tracy Koch at tkoch@sonomacounty.com.
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The Grateful Table Dine Out
If you’re a restaurant owner, we encourage you to visit thegratefultabledineout.org. This November, The Grateful Table Dine Out will be asking Californians to support their neighborhood restaurants and show gratitude for restaurant workers. In addition to inspiring folks to order meals, the campaign serves as a fundraiser for the Restaurants Care relief fund.
Restaurants that would like to be featured on the Grateful Table Dine Out simply need to add a donate button or round up option for the Restaurants Care relief fund. There is no minimum donation requirement.
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North Bay Business Journal Impact Sonoma Webinar
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The North Bay Business Journal is hosting an Impact Sonoma webinar on Oct. 29 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. The webinar, covering the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 and the recent fires, will feature speakers including Dr. Robert Eyler from Sonoma State University; Brian Keegan from Keegan & Coppin Co., Inc.; and Todd O'Leary from Sonoma County Tourism.
The webinar is free to attend and is sponsored by Exchange Bank and Ghilotti Construction. Register here.
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Sonoma County Tourism has a Coronavirus Partner Toolkit regularly updated here.
The Sonoma County Economic Development Board has compiled a comprehensive list of local, state, and government resources (including financing options) for businesses at their SoCo Launch website here.
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Get tested and help Sonoma County eliminate the coronavirus. Broad COVID-19 viral testing is now available. Learn more here.
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