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.
July 22, 2020
As we continue to manage the impacts of COVID-19, we fully understand the need to be prepared for the wildfire season. As an organization, SCT will revisit its crisis plan to ensure we’re prepared to provide all of you, and our visitors, robust and relevant communications outreach. We recently had a call with Senator Dodd regarding this topic and were glad to hear some of the new communications tools developed, and soon to be deployed, have visitors in mind. We so appreciate the work done by our state and county offices around wildfire preparedness. As we’ve all said frequently in recent months, we’re all in this together! 
Claudia Vecchio
President and CEO
Sonoma County Tourism
707-522-5804
Save the date for SCT’s annual meeting

Sonoma County Tourism invites you to connect with us virtually on Wed Aug 26 at 10:30 a.m. for our annual meeting.

Join us as we look back over the past year and look ahead to the future — as our destination continues to evolve in response to COVID-19.

Full details and registration will be made available soon. 
Registration open for Tourism Cares event

Sonoma County Tourism is partnering with the U.S. Census Bureau and CAP Sonoma to organize a census car parade on Aug 1 at 9 a.m. at the Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country parking lot.

Help encourage census participation from the safety of your vehicle by joining a procession of drivers through a route of census designated “hard-to-count” neighborhoods.

The results of the 2020 Census will help determine how hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding flow into communities every year for the next decade.

You can learn more about the event here and register here .

Questions? Email SCT’s community engagement specialist, Devin McConnell at dmcconnell@sonomacounty.com

We extend our gratitude to the U.S. Census Bureau, CAP Sonoma, Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country, and COOKIE...take a bite! for partnering with us on this event. 
Optimism for travel diminishing

The U.S. Travel Association has reported new data indicating Americans are as wary as ever of traveling. Harris Poll figures show that 58% of leisure travelers intend to substitute vacations with staycations for the remainder of the year, while 74% of business travelers are more likely to substitute business meetings that require flying with virtual meetings for the remainder of the year.

Responding to the troubling data in a news release last Friday, U.S. Travel outlined their request for broad and comprehensive federal assistance for the travel industry.

“Travel businesses could not possibly have prepared for this level of catastrophe, and there’s no telling how many of the eight million jobs we’ve lost so far will remain gone for good without aggressive federal intervention to keep the industry on life support.”

You can read U.S. Travel’s full news release here , and learn more about travelers’ sentiments by checking out our weekly Tourism Industry Performance & Insights communication. 
USA Today 10best nominations

There is still time to vote for Sonoma County as Favorite American Wine Region in USA Today’s 10best Readers’ Choice awards. Additionally, Sonoma County’s Up & Away Ballooning is nominated for Best Hot Air Balloon Ride .

Voting is permitted once per day until Aug 12 for Favorite American Wine Region and until Aug 17 for Best Hot Air Balloon Ride . 

You can vote for Sonoma County here and for Up & Away Ballooning here . 
Wine Industry Webinar

Registration is now open for the 20th annual North Bay Business Journal Wine Industry Conference. This webinar will feature an in-depth regional view of the strategic direction of the premium wine business by and for industry leaders.

The conference is July 29 at 10:00 a.m., and registration is free to the public. Learn more and register here . 
It’s wildfire season — be ready together 

The Department of Emergency Management would like to remind us all that fire season is here, and with Sonoma County having had an especially dry season, it’s more important than ever to be prepared.

A key message to help communicate is the importance of keeping at least a half tank of gas in your car at all times. Emergency Management has created posters in both English and Spanish to help spread this valuable message. 

You can access these posters on Emergency Management’s Facebook page here .

To learn more about wildfire preparedness, please visit the SoCo Emergency website here . #SonomaReady #SonomaStrong
Resources

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.