All Roads Lead to California for Tourists This Year

Harry Allan, a New Jersey police lieutenant, got bargain air fares to California. On the agenda for him and his wife: the Pacific Ocean, the redwoods and a church convention.

Disneyland and La Jolla top the list for Jim and Brenda Davis. They gathered up their three small children 10 days ago and climbed aboard a jet in Kansas City. Air fares and hotels add up, he said. “There’s nothing discount about it.”

The Allans, the Davises and millions like them are headed for California this summer. Planes once bound for Europe are being rerouted to California, some with bargain fares. Charter bus reservations are up, and the car rental business is said to be brisk. It’s already too late to get a campsite reservation at many state parks for the Fourth of July.

Always a popular summer spot, the state has become an even hotter vacation destination this year thanks to a strong economy, cut-rate air fares, lower gasoline prices and concern about terrorism in Europe. In addition, tourism officials say that many travelers headed for Expo ’86 in Vancouver are stopping in California.

In short, vacationers are expected to turn out in record numbers from the vineyards in Napa Valley to the jungle of the San Diego Zoo.

“Everything seems to indicate we’re going to have a record year,” said Florence T. Snyder, director of the California Office of Tourism.

Travel and tourism officials throughout the state “seemed to think we’re having a banner year,” Snyder said. “It’s going to be a good year for the West Coast of the U.S. and Canada.”

California traditionally is the No. 1 travel destination in the United States, according to the state tourism office. The previous record for California tourism, officials said, was 1981, when there were 110.4 million tourists. That included 28.6 million visitors from other states and 4.6 million international tourists.

The influx of visitors this year should mean more work--and dollars--for California businesses that cater to tourists. Visitors may find bigger crowds and longer lines, but they’ll find something new, too.

“California is the biggest destination for us,” said Joe Garbis, who operates Bayonne Travel in Bayonne, N.J. “When the airlines dropped their rates . . . it really stirred up a lot of activity into the California market.”

Los Angeles Benefits Most

Not only fear of terrorists but also the declining value of the dollar are prompting some travelers to have second thoughts about European vacations. “Los Angeles is the area that benefits the most,” said Juergen Krenzien, vice president of Paul Klein Travel Service in Chicago.

The rest of the state also is benefiting from a “See the U.S.A.” mood among Americans. That mood is fueled, in part, by some regional events, such as the centennial celebration of the Statue of Liberty and Texas’ 150th birthday.

Even Vancouver’s Expo ’86 is helping California. Many visitors to the Canadian event are extending their trips down into California to see San Francisco, Monterey, Carmel, Yosemite, Los Angeles and San Diego, according to travel agents.

“I’m already turning people away from Yosemite because it is so heavily booked,” said Kathy Sudeikis, executive vice president at Trav Corp. in Kansas City. Her agency is booking 20% more people on vacations to California than last year. She said the state is particularly popular for family vacations.

Amusement park operators, hotels, car rental companies and state parks up and down the state report that reservations are up from a year ago and are ahead of expectations in many cases. And they say they are ready come this week as many schools let out for the summer and the tourist season unofficially begins.

The state Department of Parks and Recreation reports that reservations for overnight camping at most sites from Central California south are already sold out for the Fourth of July weekend. Some Napa Valley vintners, such as the Robert Mondavi Winery, are advising visitors to make advance tour reservations or they may be turned away because of the crowds. “We’re afraid the tourists will squeeze the grapes,” a spokesman said.

Coastal Tours Are Popular

Traditional tourist attractions such as Disneyland, Universal Studios and the Queen Mary will pull in their usual summer crowds, but travel agents report that tours up and down the California coast on California 1 are more popular this year.

“Disneyland is the not the biggest drawing card anymore,” Krenzien of Paul Klein Travel said. “Drives up the coast are.”

Added Sudeikis at Trav Corp., “I don’t think San Luis Obispo will be able to handle the influx of people in July.” San Luis Obispo is located at the junction where California 1 veers off the coastline.

There are, however, some exceptions to the bright summer outlook. Airport hotels such as the Hilton at Los Angeles International Airport aren’t enjoying an increase in summer leisure business, but convention bookings are up this year. Helen Hillman, owner of West Bend Travels in Wisconsin, reported that her California bookings are about the same as a year ago. She said more people from her part of the country are heading to Canada instead.

The Air Transport Assn. reported that about 83% of airplane tickets are sold on a discount basis today, contrasted with 78% last year. The steep discounts are available because both Pan Am and TWA have rerouted some flights from the lackluster European market. Instead, they are flying these planes between the West and East coasts to cash in on the domestic travel boom.

Allan, the New Jersey police lieutenant, said his round-trip air fare went down to $198 from $258, thanks to the rate-cutting. After attending a church convention in Garden Grove, he will spend four days sightseeing with his wife “to get a dip in the Pacific Ocean” and to see the redwoods.

Airlines Add More Trips

TWA, for example, has added three daily round trips from New York to California: to Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego. Pan Am, which had planned non-stop flights from three California cities to Europe, is now sending those flights with stopovers through New York.

Meanwhile, United is flying a larger plane between Chicago and Long Beach so it can take more passengers. Last month, it also began operating two flights a day between Burbank and Chicago, as well as flights from Chicago to Santa Barbara and Palm Springs.

Once airborne travelers get to California, about 75% of them end up driving a car, according to travel agents. Jose Rodrigues, zone manager for Hertz, reported that car reservations in the Northern California area are running 14% ahead of a year ago for both July and August.

Meanwhile, Greyhound reported that its summer charter tour business originating outside California and destined for the Los Angeles area is expected to continue the 30% increase it experienced in the first five months of the year. It recently cut its Phoenix-to-Los Angeles bus fare to $20 one-way to compete with airline fares.

When it comes to sightseeing, according to Phil Boucher, executive vice president and general manager of Gray Line Tours, it is a last-minute travel purchase. He expects a 5% to 7% increase.

It’s Still Expensive

Despite lower transportation costs, vacationers say traveling to California is not cheap.

“Frankly, it is rather an expensive vacation,” said Davis, who is in the insurance business in Kansas City. “This is our first major vacation. We usually do something every year, but within a 300-mile radius. This is our first family venture out of the area.”

Davis, who will take his family to Disneyland and La Jolla for a week, said his air fare tab is about $1,200. The Disneyland Hotel will cost him $150 a night and their stay at a La Jolla beachfront hotel will cost $250 a night. It’s expensive, he acknowledged, but said: “I’m sure it will be worth the expense. California is beautiful.”

Visitors will find slightly higher prices than a year ago at some amusement parks such as Disneyland, Universal Studios and the Spruce Goose/Queen Mary. They will find some other changes too.

Disneyland will open an hour earlier--at 8 a.m.--and close an hour later--at 1 a.m.--beginning July 6 to accommodate out-of-state tourists who tend to arrive earlier and stay later, park officials said.

Universal Studios, which gets half of its 3.2 million annual visitors in the summer months, also will open earlier and is expecting 200,000 more people this year because of its new attraction--a 30-foot-high, 6 1/2-ton King Kong that has 29 separate facial movements.

Wrather Port Properties Ltd. will unveil Time Voyagers, a new three-dimensional audio and visual attraction, at its Queen Mary-Spruce Goose facility in Long Beach.

Aggressive Marketing

Meanwhile, some of the interest in the coastal areas has been spawned by aggressive marketing efforts. The Monterey Bay Aquarium, for example, is expecting another good year after its splashy 1985 debut.

John Racanelli, director of marketing for the aquarium and vice president of the California Travel Industry Assn., explained that Monterey will benefit from the addition of new flights into the area and new hotels. “We’re starting off with very good introductory air fares,” he said.

Travel agents report a good deal of interest in the Napa Valley, partly because it offers some of the European ambiance of a tour through the French countryside. So far this year, the Napa City-County Chamber of Commerce has received more than 14,000 visitor inquiries, contrasted with 8,000 last year. It expects to attract even more family vacationers because Marine World has moved to nearby Vallejo from Redwood City.

Balloon Aviation of Napa Valley, which offers champagne balloon flights over the area for $140 per person, expects an 18% increase over its regular summer business thanks to vacationers who stop by en route to or from Vancouver and Expo ‘86, according to owner Chuck Foster. Still, he said, he is only “guardedly optimistic” about overall summer tourism business in the valley.

But others aren’t holding back. “If the Memorial Day weekend was any indication, it will be a very, very busy season,” said Gwen Rogers, director of the visitors’ center at the Domaine Chandon winery in Napa Valley. “The valley was very heavily concentrated with people.”