TOURISM INDUSTRY NEWS & RESOURCES
March 30, 2021
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.
Vaccine Update and Options
Starting this Thursday, individuals 50 and older will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccines. On April 15, every Californian 16 and up will become eligible for COVID-19 vaccines.

  • If you are a restaurant manager or owner who would like to make block appointments for your employees, please complete this form.

  • Although eligibility for vaccinations does not yet extend to all tourism/hospitality workers, if you are interested in forthcoming block appointments for your employees, fill out this form. Please note that this form is designed to be filled out by the business, not an individual employee.
Questions may be directed to vaccine@sonomacounty.com. Visit socoemergency.org/vaccine for a list of vaccine providers, and myturn.ca.gov for additional vaccine resources and information. 

CVS Pharmacy recently released an informative newsletter with COVID-19 vaccine information you can read here.
Tourism Cares Earth Day Cleanup along the Russian River
Sonoma County Tourism is delighted to once again partner with Sonoma County Regional Parks on a Tourism Cares event. Join us this Earth Day, April 22 at 9 a.m. for a physically distanced cleanup at Steelhead Beach Regional Park. Masked volunteers will help gather debris to both beautify the land and protect wildlife along the riverbank.

If demand is great enough with volunteer registrations, we may expand to a second cleanup site at Sunset Beach River Park. 

Cleanup supplies will be provided by Sonoma County Regional Parks. Volunteers will be given a (highly fashionable) Sonoma County Tourism Cares t-shirt.


Questions regarding this cleanup can be directed to Devin McConnell at dmcconnell@sonomacounty.com.
PPP Extension Act Signed into Law
President Biden signed the Paycheck Protection Program extension into law earlier today, extending federal aid for small businesses through May 31 (with an additional 30 days for SBA application processing). According to SBA data, the PPP has awarded $718 billion through 8.2 million small-business loans so far.

To learn more about the program, or to find a lender, visit the SBA website here. 
Shining Again for NTTW
One of Sonoma County Tourism’s projects for National Travel and Tourism Week is our lighting Pinot Purple initiative. We encourage you to join us in casting your property in purple light (the official color of hospitality) the nights of May 2-8. If your property has outdoor lighting, but you require purple gels, SCT can provide you with those at no cost. Participating businesses will be featured on our website and may receive additional exposure from coverage of this campaign.  

To request purple gels, or to let us know of your involvement, please fill out this form. Questions can be directed to Samantha Paull at spaull@sonomacounty.com.
Skift’s 2021 State of Hospitality Survey

Skift is calling all hospitality leaders to share their thoughts about emerging strategies, tools, technologies, and selling techniques they used to survive 2020, along with how they are positioning their businesses to capitalize on the recovery to come and succeed in the future. The results will be released in a report publishing later this summer. Lodging professionals are invited to take the survey here. 
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.
Get tested and help Sonoma County eliminate the coronavirus. Broad COVID-19 viral testing is now available. Learn more here.

The County of Sonoma’s SoCo Emergency webpage offers COVID-19 resources, support, and information.