Economy down, but Mother Lode tourism holding steady

The economy may be down but local tourism is holding steady, area officials said.

Visitor spending increased in Tuolumne and Calaveras counties from 2006 to 2007, according to the latest data available from Dean Runyan Associates, of Oregon, whose tourism market research is used by both counties’ visitors bureaus.
  

“We seem to be right on track with previous years,” said Lisa Mayo, executive director of the Calaveras County Visitors Bureau.

Mayo said this time of year, Calaveras County tends to have more retired and international travelers, and this year is no exception. However, it has seen an increase in the scope of international travelers, who primarily come from Germany and the United Kingdom.

For example, Mayo said, a group of six men from the Czech Republic came into the visitors center, while traveling through California in a van. They stopped in Calaveras County to see part of the Gold Country, she said.

According to Dean Runyan, in 2007, travelers spent $153 million in Calaveras County, up from $150.1 million in 2006.

Calaveras County averages a 4 percent increase in travel spending each year, while Tuolumne County averages a 3.3 percent increase.

“That’s a really good sign,” Mayo said. “Hopefully it keeps going that way.”

Tuolumne County Visitors Bureau Executive Director Nanci Sikes presented the bureau’s annual report at Monday night’s Sonora City Council meeting.

“This was not a normal year. We’ve definitely had our challenges,” Sikes said. “In spite of the economic downturn, there is good news.”

Sikes said the membership sales strategies have changed and the bureau is already seeing an increased revenue in that area.

In 2007, visitor spending increased to $164.3 million from $157.8 million the prior year, Sikes said.

Tax receipts from visitor spending also increased to $8.5 million from $8.2 million the previous year, she said.

Sikes said the 2008-09 year was challenging with a $38,000 budget cut, but the Visitors Bureau expects summer tourism revenues to rebound even though hotel tax revenues were lower than the prior fiscal year.

For the fiscal year 2008-09, the bureau received 5,477 requests for information and 3,872 phone inquiries. The bureau’s Web site hits were up 20.65 percent, she said.

Most overnight visitors, on local, national and international levels, are from the San Francisco Bay Area, the Southwestern United States and the United Kingdom, Sikes said.

Both bureaus have or will launch new or revamped Web sites, like gocalaverasfoodie.com and Tuolumne County’s Dreamcation site.
 

The Tuolumne County Visitors Bureau has also embarked on cooperative marketing with events like the Sonora Celtic Faire and Mother Lode Roundup and with the area’s live theater companies, Sikes said.

In Calaveras County, the San Francisco Examiner has recently been publishing articles about things like the haunted Murphys Hotel, Mayo said.