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STR Tracking for Sonoma County

Things to Note: STR is comparing “Weekly Year Over Year” 49 of the county’s 112 hotels report to STR The average from other destinations includes: Napa, Palm Springs, Monterey, South Lake Tahoe, and Vallejo/Napa Valley For more information on how data is calculated due to hotel closures, please refer to this document.

Smith Travel Research (STR) is the recognized leader in hospitality industry benchmarking around the globe. Powered by the world's largest hotel data sample, they deliver confidential data, accurate and actionable insights, and comprehensive solutions to empower decisions. Discover how STR collects data, how it is calculated, and a glossary of terms, by clicking here.

Today's Takeaways From SCT's director of marketing systems & insights, Ariane Hiltebrand

This week, Destination Analysts are seeing improvements for most travel sentiment metrics, getting close to early June numbers. It is encouraging to see that 52% of American travelers now feel “ready to travel”, which opens up further marketing opportunities for travel providers and destinations. Road trips and outdoor activities will be important for fall travel considerations, paired with upcoming holiday travel. “Safety first” now goes beyond mask wearing and social distancing while traveling. 62.4% of American travelers say they approve or strongly approve travel restrictions such as a 14-day quarantine or required COVID-test for travelers from high risk origin markets.

Destination Analysts Key Findings to Know From the 8/18 Destination Analysts' Travel Sentiment Report

Pandemic-related health and financial safety concerns have dropped to levels last seen in mid-June. Although there are still notable levels of pessimism, less Americans are feeling the pandemic will worsen in the next month. The proportion of American travelers who feels comfortable going out in their own community now exceeds the proportion who do not. And they are getting more comfortable with tourism to their own communities. Safety perceptions of travel activities have improved overall, nearing June levels. Thus, the percent of Americans who report being in a “ready to travel” state of mind is now higher than those who report needing more time to feel ready. Those with trip plans for the remainder of the year are commonly prioritizing getting away from crowds and enjoying nature, in addition to spending time with loved ones. As Americans look out to upcoming holidays, there is a gradually increasing expectation to travel for these occasions: Labor Day (12.6%), Thanksgiving (15.8%) and Christmas (20.0%). Looking even further out over 2021, three-quarters of Americans have at least tentative trip plans right now. Just 25% say they have no plans to travel through 2021. About 30% would be up for taking a flight in the next month, although there is somewhat more comfort with direct flights than those that require a connection. A majority of American travelers approve of travel restriction policies imposed by state governments on travelers from high outbreak areas.

Website Insights for sonomacounty.com

Looking at the week of Aug 7 – 13, overall traffic to sonomacounty.com has increased by 5.3% week over week, and organic search is up by 1% over last week. Guide orders are up 11% week over week and accommodation listings views are up 1%. Top content that people were engaging with: coast/beaches, Life Opens Up summer campaign and road trips landing page, the coronavirus info page, and editorial about wineries, outdoor activities, nature parks, coast, Russian River, Lake Sonoma and redwoods, glamping and camping, gardens, and road/bike trips. Our blog saw high traffic volume for new experiences in Sonoma County, tasting by bike, black owned businesses, outdoor movies, and sunset spots. In terms of city geo locations for website visitors we see our key drive markets on top of the list: San Francisco is the top source for website visitors with a share of 19%, Sacramento is #3, San José #4, Oakland #5, and Los Angeles is #7. We saw 2 out-of-state cities in the top 25: New York and Chicago.

Visit California PR Pulse Report Monthly insights from Visit California and its agency partners

Media Trends More than five months into COVID-19’s spread throughout the U.S., travel and lifestyle coverage continues to shift to account for ever changing traveler preferences.  Domestic destinations continue to gain appeal, as U.S. travelers can only visit 28 countries globally at the moment, and many of these places have restrictions. While Americans in general are still wary of traveling (especially internationally), Croatia — the only country in the EU to allow American visitors — has seen a 300% spike in flights from the U.S. Staycations continue to trend with related inquiries and coverage from outlets like Los Angeles Magazine, Haute Living, 7X7 and more. This aligns strongly with findings from MMGY Travel Intelligence’s Travel Pulse Survey, which reported that 58% of leisure travelers say they will substitute vacations with staycations for the remainder of 2020. Brands are making big changes to appeal to the ultra-affluent. Fiji announced its "Blue Lanes” campaign to welcome tourists arriving by yacht and attract a smaller number of people with more spending power. Famed hotelier André Balazs announced plans to transform iconic properties like Chateau Marmont into private clubs. Micro-weddings are trending. With large groups still widely discouraged, many couples are planning micro-weddings, or even planned elopements. HOTELS reported how properties are accommodating this trend. Sites like Martha Stewart Weddings, Brides and Betches have published how-to planning guides.

You can access the full PR Pulse Report here.