Ojai Spotlights ‘Mystique’ in Tourism Drive : Business: Merchants trek to West Hollywood to get the word out. They want sophisticated, upscale visitors, but not too many of them.

With tourist dollars lagging for the third consecutive year, Ojai business owners are looking for new ways to attract free-spending visitors.

This is no simple feat in a town where residents appreciate tourism-generated tax revenues but often resent large crowds in their quiet valley.

Ojai is filled with urban refugees who see their small town of about 8,000 residents as one of the last holdouts from Southern California’s endemic strip malls and suburban housing tracts.

Sure, they want more tourists because they need their money--more than 50% of Ojai’s $3.4-million budget is paid for by out-of-towners.

But business leaders are looking for quality, not quantity.

“We’re looking for a few people willing to spend the money to stay a night or two, eat at several restaurants and buy some art at one of our many galleries,” said Don Cluff, president of the Ojai Chamber of Commerce. “We’re not targeting looky-loos who drive through and end up eating at McDonald’s.”

Cluff, who is also co-owner of The Oaks spa and resort in Ojai, helped create a marketing strategy along with Merrill Williams of the Ojai Valley Inn and other chamber members.

The businesses decided that the best way to attract sophisticated travelers within driving distance was to bring a little bit of Ojai to West Hollywood. On Wednesday, about 60 Ojai merchants will show off their wares at the Wyndham Bel-Age Hotel for a select audience of more than 100 travel writers and agents who received invitations in the mail.

It’s not an event for the general public so much as a gathering of people who sell getaway ideas to discriminating travelers. Event organizers hope to promote the “mystique” of Ojai, a place the invitations call an “enchanted valley” filled with unique boutiques, outdoor beauty and award-winning cuisine.

“It’s certainly different from a broad appeal for tourists,” said Williams of the Ojai Valley Inn. “We’re looking to attract quality, upscale visitors.”

Merchants and city officials often find themselves in the awkward position of trying to promote Ojai’s leading industry--but not too much.

Cluff is confident that the tourism campaign won’t attract too many tourists, which, after all, is part of the strategy. That may sound odd, but it’s a recognition of Ojai’s political realities.

“If a City Council candidate is too pro-growth, they won’t get elected,” said Mayor Nina V. Shelley. “Residents of Ojai know what they want, like what they have and don’t want change.”

Growth is like a four-letter word in Ojai. The city permits just 12 new homes to be built each year. It’s a small town where most people know each other--and each other’s trees, for that matter.

“If somebody cuts down an oak tree, the telephone lines go wild,” Shelley said. “People are very protective of their way of life here.

“We’re not just another small town with a string of commercial ventures alongside the freeway. We’re a real community.”

Too many tourists could spoil that way of life with their carbon-monoxide-belching cars that undermine Ojai’s cherished air quality, consume limited parking spaces and make driving to the store a chore, residents say.

The addition of a fifth traffic light in town is currently a hot topic of debate, with many residents dismayed that another may have become necessary.

Ojai resident Suza Francina said the city should concentrate on “ecotourism” and solicit visitors who appreciate Ojai’s music festivals and art galleries.

“We should attract people that respect what a sacred place Ojai is,” Francina said. “It’s a place to come and be spiritually uplifted, not just another place to come and buy junk.”

The Chamber of Commerce agrees.

“We’re selling ourselves as a place to horseback ride, hike and enjoy Ojai’s culture,” Cluff said. “We’re not about to become a discount outlet center.”