OXNARD : Brochure Touts City as a Vacation Site

In its pursuit of the tourist dollar, Oxnard last week began mailing out its first ever “Destination Guide”--a splashy, 34-page color brochure that paints Oxnard as a vacation and convention hot spot.

The Greater Oxnard & Harbors Tourism Bureau printed 20,000 copies of the guide at a cost of $35,000, which paid for itself through advertising.

“We want to capture the markets that we’re after--the leisure market, travel market and meeting planner’s market,” said Carol Lavender, the bureau’s executive director. “It’s an image piece. We want to show people that we are an oceanside community and that we have beautiful and affordable hotels and motels.”

The guide’s cover features a sunny shot of sailboats berthed at Channel Islands Harbor with purple and pink geraniums in the foreground.

Inside, pages headlined “Attractions,” “Shopping” and “Nightlife” boast of Oxnard’s seven miles of beaches, July temperatures averaging 73 degrees and three nautically themed retail centers.

The bureau will mail guides to convention planners across the state and stock the brochures at the city’s visitors’ centers at Channel Islands Harbor, the factory outlet and the main center on West 7th Street. Lavender said the guide has a shelf life of about 18 months.

“It should show that Oxnard has something to offer the tourist, whether he or she comes in a car, motor home or with a meeting group,” Lavender said.