TOURISM INDUSTRY NEWS & RESOURCES |
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This partner communication exists to provide updates on Sonoma County Tourism’s programs and offerings, along with additional news and resources to support Sonoma County’s tourism and hospitality industry. |
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The weather events in Sonoma County prove once again that this is a remarkably resilient and close-knit community. Our hearts go out to the families who have been acutely impacted. Great thanks goes to those in emergency services for your always heroic responses. Messages have been and will continue to be posted to the SonomaCounty.com website reminding travelers to contact their lodging and service providers prior to travel, but with the key message being we’re open for business.
During these times when the national and international media cover issues in Sonoma County our work is dedicated to correcting misstatements and ensuring both residents and travelers have the truth about the situation and the resources that help them find information most salient to their needs.
As is usually the case with these major events, there is a silver lining. Certainly if these rains make a significant difference to the drought level, that’s a good thing. We will, however, continue to monitor the situation and talk about how climate change is impacting our area and punctuating the need for Sonoma County Tourism to be a destination steward.
We are so appreciative of the lodging properties offering special rates to those who need to evacuate – some of these properties are noted below.
Thank you for all you do to continue to support Sonoma County!
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Claudia Vecchio
President and CEO
Sonoma County Tourism
707-522-5804
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Weather Advisory Temporary Lodging & Support Centers
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Amidst the Sonoma County winter storm advisory, a few lodging facilities and local business have opened their doors to assist those who have been impacted by the recent weather conditions.
- Hampton Inn & Suites Windsor - Sonoma Wine Country: Call 707-873-9355 & press 0 to reach their front desk team and ask for the resident rate.
- Astro Motel: Call at 707-200-4655.
Community Support centers have also opened their doors to offer a place for residents to charge their electronics and obtain comfort kits that include blankets, snacks and water.
Community Support Center Locations:
- Fort Ross State Historic Park, 19005 Highway 1, Jenner
- Bodega Harbor Yacht Club, 565 Smith Brothers Road, Bodega Bay
- Former Bank of America building, 16390 Main St, Guerneville
- Sonoma Veterans Community Center, 3920 Bohemian Highway, Occidental
If you are a lodging property offering discounted rates for displaced residents please email info@sonomoacounty.com.
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Declaration of Emergency & Lodging Protections
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As of January 4, 2023 a declaration of emergency has been set in place to prevent price gouging amidst the recent storm advisory.
California Penal Code section 396 prohibits excessive and unjustified increases in the prices of essential consumer goods and services, construction services, hotel lodging, and residential rental properties during and shortly after a declared state of emergency or local emergency.
These protections generally apply for 30 days after a declaration of emergency, although for reconstruction services and emergency cleanup services, protections apply for 180 days after a declaration of emergency. The fact that an emergency is continuing does not, by itself, extend price gouging protections beyond their initial expiration, but state and local officials may extend price gouging protections beyond these timeframes by additional orders.
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Sonoma County Tourism (SCT) has a new way of sharing photos and videos through MediaValet.
This new “digital asset management” platform allows users the ability to search SCT's photo and video b-roll libraries for beautiful Sonoma County imagery that you can use in your own promotional materials. This new service replaces our previous platform (SmugMug), which is no longer active.
Registration Information:
- SCT partners can register for MediaValet by clicking the registration button below.
- Once registered, an SCT MediaValet Administrator will review and approve your account access. Please allow up to 24 hours for account approval. If you register for an account on a weekend or holiday, your account registration will be reviewed and processed on the next business day.
*Please note that images and videos may have certain credit and usage requirements, which are listed, per asset. Terms and Conditions are also spelled out on MediaValet.
For further questions or inquiries, please contact Project and Design Specialist, Kate Davis, at kdavis@sonomacounty.com.
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As a tactic to increase length of stays and midweek business during our November- April campaign period, we are asking our lodging partners to participate in our annual Extended Stay Promotion. Your property can construct your own terms and conditions, including blackout dates, restrictions, and how you want to structure the deal. We will link over to your preferred booking site to drive direct, non-commission bookings.
Sonoma County Tourism has created a special landing page on sonomacounty.com to feature each participating property with a picture, brief copy, and link to your preferred booking site. To promote this, SCT will also leverage social media, public relations, and paid media (advertising) to drive traffic back to the landing page.
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After a series of face-to-face meetings at the September Sales Mission in Germany, Sonoma County is now included in one of CANUSA’s itineraries in Northern California.
CANUSA TOURISTIK is a leading German special tour operator for individual travel in the US and in Canada. Represented in seven locations in Germany, CANUSA TOURISTIK counts more than 100 employees at the headquarters in Hamburg and offices in Hanover, Cologne, Berlin, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Munich. CANUSA TOURISTIK offers individual programs for all 50 states of the US and all Canadian provinces as well as travel to the Bahamas.
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Our dedicated public relations team works diligently to get the word out to the media about the new and exciting offerings from our partners—stories, specials, offers, key messages, etc.
They send a bimonthly press release to thousands of travel and lifestyle journalists who want to hear "What's New" in Sonoma County and are always pitching to travel journalist worldwide. If you have an item that fits the bill, please
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Vacation Rental Regulation Training
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The Sonoma County Hospitality Association is a membership organization dedicated to representing the interests of the hospitality and tourism industries through advocacy, education, and partnerships within the community.
Please submit any questions or comments for Permit Sonoma to Liza Graves, President, Sonoma County Hospitality Association at liza@beautiful-places.com
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As our public relations team continues to receive digital media requests from local, regional, national, and international entities, we encourage our partners to submit their highest resolution images to Sonoma County Tourism for inclusion in our digital asset library.
These assets are a very important tool used for promoting both new and existing Sonoma County businesses.
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Global Meetings Industry Day
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Mark your calendars for March 30, 2023, MPI's sixth annual Global Meetings Industry Day: Virtual experience!
This live, 12-hour broadcast features education and activities from all over the world as the meeting industry comes together to celebrate, commemorate and honor the millions of global events that impact the lives of billions of people every year.
We can't wait to see you there!
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Sonoma County Tourism has put the power of travel into visitor’s hands by introducing a new comprehensive, highly interactive, and user friendly visitor experience mobile app.
The new application showcases Sonoma County while creating an engaging and intuitive way for visitors to research, plan, and experience their visit to the destination. The app even empowers users to work towards goals and challenges to unlock status badges and rewards.
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The Zoe Report (TZR) named the Sea Ranch Lodge one of the Most Buzz-Worthy Hotel Openings For 2023. The reborn iconic lodge has brought fine dining, classes, exhibits, and live events to the secluded stretch of Sonoma coastline with 17 newly redesigned guest rooms coming this summer.
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Travel website Only in Your State has named "The Best, Most Lively Main Streets in Northern California" and two Sonoma County towns, Petaluma and Sonoma, are included on the list. Qualifying criteria include destinations that are walkable, have restaurants and cafes, and places to shop. Bonus points were added if it has historic buildings. Petaluma and Sonoma feature an abundance of this criteria.
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Hop Culture, the bible of independent craft beer journalism, has included Midnight Brewing Company’s Death & Taxes on their “27 Best Beers We Drank in 2022” list. The publication describes Death & Taxes, as a “San Francisco-Style Dark Lager,” and “a smooth, dark roast and iced coffee-forward lager that feels infinitely drinkable.”
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Pushpak Motors for receives the “Experiences Award” by global travel provider platform, Viator. Out of 550,000 experiences represented worldwide by Viator, Pushpak Motors was chosen as one of only 150 companies to receive this award. The company was also named a top ten experience in North America. According to Howard Sapper, CEO and Founder, the company brings $110-$125K in revenues in Sonoma Valley and Sonoma County and 65-70% of their clients come from out of Sonoma County. Congratulations PushPak Motors!
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Download and share the Sonoma County App |
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