Package Deals Now Available to Fair-Goers

For the first time, tourism officials in Ventura and Oxnard have joined with organizers of the Ventura County Fair and Amtrak to offer hotel and admission packages for out-of-town fair-goers.

The packages, which include transportation aboard Amtrak’s San Diegan and a choice of accommodations at three hotels in Ventura and Oxnard, are aimed at luring residents from Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties to Seaside Park for the 12-day event that begins Aug. 16, fair officials said.

Besides boosting fair attendance, officials hope the packages, available Monday through Thursday only, will encourage tourists to remain in the coastal cities an extra day or two, said fair publicist Teri Raley.

That would be particularly beneficial midweek, when fair attendance is at its lowest, Raley said.

“We’d love to get more people, no doubt about it,” she said. “But we’d love to have them on the weekdays.”

Last year, 247,823 people attended the fair, she said.

Metrolink will also be bringing back its popular weekend fair runs for a third year, Raley said. Residents from Simi Valley and Moorpark will be able to board Metrolink trains near their homes and arrive at the station just outside the fairground’s gates, she said.

The rail line will also make stops in Camarillo and Oxnard. The round-trip fare from Simi Valley or Moorpark is $6; from Camarillo and Oxnard it is $4.

Also for the first time, cybernauts will be able to get the daily schedule of events for the fair on the Internet and World Wide Web, Raley said. Beginning Tuesday, access to the fair’s “home page” on the Web is at https://www.west.net/~seaside or through West.Net at https://www.west.net.

Bill Clawson, executive director of the Ventura Visitors and Convention Bureau, said he met with officials from Amtrak and the Greater Oxnard & Harbors Tourism Bureau to come up with a plan for increasing fair attendance from the south.

They sent out proposals to all local hotels and signed deals with three: Doubletree Hotel in Ventura and the Casa Sirena Marina Resort and Oxnard Hilton in Oxnard. For $128 a day, two adults receive round-trip rail service aboard Amtrak, transfer to the hotel of their choice and two admissions to the fair.

“Hopefully, people will get out and explore the community,” Clawson said. “We hope they’ll check out downtown Ventura, eat in some restaurants and explore all the little shops and coffeehouses. And then maybe they’ll come back another time.”

Admission to the fair is $6 for adults, $3 for children 6 to 12 years old and free to those 5 and under. Parking at Seaside Park is $5.