Visitors bureau planning ahead to better days

Visitors bureau planning ahead to better days
By Rachel Raskin-Zrihen/Times-Herald staff writer
Posted: 05/14/2009

Despite losing a big chunk of its funding and facing a recession, Vallejo's Convention & Visitors Bureau officials hope to use this time to prepare to hit the ground running when the economy improves.

That was the message Gary Salvadori, the agency's newly installed board chairman, sent to several dozen dignitaries and others who attended Wednesday's 18th Annual Tourism Luncheon & Board Installation.

Bureau director Mike Browne recounted what the agency has accomplished in the past year despite financial setbacks, including developing visitvallejo.mobi -- a mini Web site designed for mobile applications. A new visitors' guide comes out later this month and a new tag line -- "Your Bay Area fun starts here!" -- was adopted. This replaces, "The Bay Area's No. 1 gateway city."

Browne noted that despite the recession, the agency fielded more than 7,000 inquiries in 2008-09, had 33,550 Web site hits and booked 4,200 hotel or motel rooms.

"Remarkably, occupancy was down less than 1 percent from last year," he said.

Efforts to find a "new brand" for Vallejo continue, Browne said. To that end, the keynote speaker at Wednesday's Hiddenbrooke event, Santa Rosa Convention & Visitors Bureau Executive Director Maureen "Mo" McElroy, described how her city found and adopted its new "brand."

"It was never about a slogan," McElroy stressed, jokingly complaining that despite her efforts to make that clear at home, the local paper's headline read "Santa Rosa spends $80,000 for a slogan," she said.

The slogan in question -- "Santa Rosa, California's cornucopia" replaced that city's old tag line, "Come Visit," she said.

"It broke my heart to let that go," McElroy joked.

Santa Rosa's new corresponding logo includes a stylized horn of plenty overflowing with musical notes, flowers, fish, grapes, a shopping bag, and other items.

The adoption of a city brand can help create civic pride and pull a city's population together, she said.

Contact staff writer Rachel Raskin-Zrihen at (707) 553-6824 or RachelZ@thnewsnet.com.