TRAVEL INSIDER : Something for Everyone in Tourism Budget Boost : Funding: Californians can benefit as much as out-of-staters from increased promotion effort.

By the time California’s leaders finally settled the state budget last month, no one was particularly enthusiastic about it. Deadlines were missed. Social services were cut. Education was threatened. But the California Office of Tourism didn’t do so badly.

While belts tighten in offices up and down the state, the governor and legislature have agreed to more than double their spending on the state’s tourist-promotion efforts from $3.7 million in 1991-92 to $7.6 million in 1992-93.

Depending on your business and philosophy, those figures might lead you to protest or to applaud. Either way, it’s probably too late for that to make a difference this year. But for anyone who lives and travels in California, it’s instructive to learn what the state’s tourism officials see, what they’re doing and what they’ll give you for nothing, if only you ask.

The giveaways available to us rank-and-file Californians--which I’ll get back to in a moment--include maps, calendars, accommodations directories and an all-purpose tourist’s guide to the state. But we probably won’t see the immediate effects of the tourism office’s budget boost; the vast majority of that money will be poured into the state’s efforts to attract visitors from outside California.

First, about the budget. The tourism office’s spending is a small drop of the $57.4 billion that is the state’s general-fund budget. In fact, officials at the California Taxpayers Assn., a top Sacramento watchdog group, said they hadn’t formed an opinion on the tourism office’s fund increase.

Nevertheless, those in the tourism office are reluctant to crow about their budgetary good fortune. When I asked about it, they noted that from the beginning, Governor Pete Wilson sought the funding increase, that industry officials lobbied hard in its favor, and that many contributing factors stood in their favor.

If ever California needed promoting, tourism officials say, it’s now, after the riot-marred, earthquake-jarred spring and summer of 1992. Second, they say, tourism-department spending leads more or less directly to income for both government and the private sector, and travel is arguably California’s largest industry.

Third, the 1992-93 boost in the state government’s tourism spending follows an enormous cut--from $8.4 million to $3.7 million--in 1991. Fourth, in an industry survey of the 50 states last year, California ranked 32nd in dollars spent to promote tourism. Fifth, early indications from a new study suggest that California’s popularity is slipping among U.S. travelers.

“California needs to be aggressive about positioning itself in the marketplace,” said John Poimiroo, who was appointed director of the tourism office in January. “We recovered in San Francisco from the earthquake of ‘89, but we see now that it took two years of communicating that San Francisco was a place to come back to.”

The new study of California’s popularity shows how uncertain the future is for the state’s tourist destinations. In a state-commissioned preliminary report on Sept. 15, Chicago-based consultant N.F.O. Inc. surveyed a sampling of U.S. households and found that, of those reporting domestic trips for pleasure in 1989, 11.06% went to California. In 1990, that figure slipped to 10.63%; in 1991, it slipped to 10.22%. In a state industry that generated estimated spending of $52.7 billion in 1990, those percentage points translate to millions of dollars lost.

That’s bad news for the travel business but good news for consumers, because it translates into a lodger’s market for those who are still traveling here. The California Hotel & Motel Assn., which surveys establishments with 20 rooms or more, estimates that average room rates statewide rose just 1% (to $68.35) between January and July of this year.

“It’s not even keeping up with the cost of living,” said Bill Howe, general manager of the association.

Noting the recession, the riots, the quakes, continuing low occupancy rates and the lackluster openings of several new hotels planned in the optimistic late ‘80s, Howe warned that some hotels may fail before a balance is reached between supply and demand. Until then, however, the bargains are out there.

In San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties, which together make up the state’s most expensive region for lodgings, the number of rentable hotel rooms rose from 42,486 in January to 42,837 in July of this year, while their average cost fell 2 cents to $88.56 nightly.

In Los Angeles County, the number of rentable rooms increased from 77,379 to 78,164 while the average nightly cost was falling 63 cents, to $68.17.

Surrounded by such numbers--and the declines in bed-tax revenues they portend--California’s tourism office has plenty of motivation for wooing travelers. The state’s budget for advertising in the United States, reduced last year to nothing, this year is expected to reach $3 million. A new ad campaign is in the works.

So how can Californians take advantage here? By asking what their government can do for them.

The most useful government promotional effort for California consumers--and one many state residents know nothing about--is an ongoing series of publications that out-of-state visitors and Californians alike can request, and, though availability is a bit ragged at the moment, they’re all free. Request them by calling (800) 862-2543, or write the California Office of Tourism, P.O. Box 9278, Van Nuys 91409.

The centerpiece of the publications is “Discover the Californias,” a 160-page travel guide that breaks the state down into 12 areas. Each section includes a map, a handful of color photographs, a summary of the area’s history and principal attractions, and a detailed “points of interest” listing, which includes addresses, business hours and phone numbers--about the same thing that many guides in bookstores offer for $10 or more.

About 500,000 copies of “Discover the Californias” are printed every year. Because of the delays in adopting the state’s 1992-93 budget, state tourism media relations manager Fred Sater said, the 1993 edition won’t be available until June.

The state also gives away California maps, which include highways and major arteries, thumbnail descriptions of parks, forests and beaches, average temperatures for major cities, and various odds and ends. The current edition is out of print; next year’s is due by Feb. 1.

In addition, the tourism office produces an annual calendar of events. The brief listings concentrate on ethnic festivals statewide, from the Pozo Whiskey Games & Clan Gathering at Morro Bay to the Black Cowboy Parade in Oakland. Unlike many guides, this one includes a phone number and address for more information on each event. Again, the current edition is out of print. State tourism officials say the 1993 calendars should be available by Jan. 1.

There’s more. Three other publications, though not produced by the state, are available free through the California Office of Tourism:

* “Discover the Californias’ Accommodations,” a 72-page handbook of listings published by the California Hotel & Motel Assn. More than 1,000 establishments are included and arranged alphabetically by city. The range is wide, but the book includes no assessments of quality. Also, many listings don’t include hotel rates, and the list is confined to dues-paying members of the hotel-motel assocation, which means that most bed and breakfast operations are excluded. The 1993 edition is expected out in March.

* “Ski the Californias,” a 40-page guide published by the California Ski Industry Assn. The copy is heavily promotional--”Winter Magic!” effuses one headline--but it does include a ski events calendar, a map of ski areas with descripions and phone numbers, and some accommodations information. Last year’s editions are all gone. A new edition for winter, 1992-93, should be available by late next month.

* “The Californias: Bed and Breakfast Inns,” another 72-page directory, this one published by Yellow Brick Road of Fullerton. The most recent edition includes about 280 bed and breakfast establishments and a brief description of each. Some details of the B&B; listings’ next edition remain unsettled, owing in part to uncertainties among bed and breakfast trade groups in the state, but Bobbi Zane, editor of last year’s directory, said she expects the new edition to be available in December. (To get the B&B; guide, write the California Office of Tourism, Dept. B&B;, 801 K St., Suite 1600, Sacramento 95814-3523.)