Ad campaign in Japan touts Napa, Vallejo sites

Ad campaign in Japan touts Napa, Vallejo sites
By RACHEL RASKIN-ZRIHEN/Times-Herald staff writer
Article Launched: 06/22/2008

Vallejo and Napa are among the sites touted in a marketing effort launched Friday designed to bring Japanese tourists to California, the state's top tourism agency announced.

The new ad campaign, as well as two new Japanese Web sites - www.visitcalifornia.jp and http://feature.jp.msn.com/california - highlight California's popular gateway cities, as well as attractions and activities within a four-hour drive, the statement notes.

The Web sites are divided into 10 main sections, including famous landmarks and events, national and state parks, wine and food attractions, theme parks, spas, ski and golf resorts, beaches, and arts and culture, said commission spokeswoman Kat Burnside.

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom is included in the theme park section, while the Napa Valley is included in the spa/wellness section as well as with the wine and food attractions, Burnside said.

The $5.1 million campaign will include the first national Japanese television spots the California Travel & Tourism Commission's ever done, according to the announcement. It's part of an expanded marketing outreach to the Japanese market - one of the top international feeder markets for state tourism, the statement noted.

The campaign, which also includes newspaper ads and billboards, features Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is popular in Japan, the statement notes.

The commission is a nonprofit organization working to develop and maintain marketing programs that "keep California top-of-mind as a premier travel destination," according to its statement.

The Vallejo Convention & Visitors Bureau's Jim Reikowsky said that since his agency can't afford to advertise internationally, being specifically included in the state's campaign is "wonderful."

But he said he "hesitates to say many of these tourists will stay over night in Vallejo," which is where the big tourist dollars are.

"They're likely to stay in San Francisco and make us a day trip," he said. "Though we may get a few of them. We tell people all the time that it's less expensive to stay in Vallejo and we're centrally located to the entire Bay Area. It's one of our main marketing points."

However, Burnside said that an overnight stay in Vallejo is specifically promoted in the Web site's itinerary portion.

The new ad campaign, targeting women in their 20s and 30s as well as active baby boomers, features the slogan "Nandemo Alifornia," which means "California has it all," according to the statement. It conveys the state's diverse and abundant "tourism product" as well as its easygoing lifestyle, the statement notes.

BY THE NUMBERS
• Last year, 675,000 Japanese visited California, up 4.5 percent from the previous year - and representing 19 percent of the Japanese traveling to the U.S.

• California's market share of Japanese U.S. travelers increased 1.2 percent in 2007.

• The average Japanese traveler spends more than $1,100 per person during a California trip.

• Travel and tourism expenditures total $96.7 billion annually statewide, support jobs for 924,100 Californians and generates $5.8 billion in state and local tax revenues.

Source: California Travel & Tourism Commission

• E-mail Rachel Raskin-Zrihen at RachelZ@thnewsnet.com or call 553-6824.