Channel Islands Harbor Businesses Form Marketing Group

Channel Islands Harbor has a new marketing team--namely the Channel Islands Harbor tenants.

Many of the more than 80 businesses residing at Channel Islands Harbor are unifying, in their bid for attention, as Channel Islands Harbor Marketing Inc.

The initial group of member tenants will hold its first meeting this afternoon at the Channel Islands Harbor Visitor Center. Representatives from about two dozen businesses are expected to attend.

“We are the entity that markets the harbor as a whole destination,” said Susan O’Brien, executive director of Channel Islands Harbor Marketing and one of four paid staff. “We not only promote the harbor, we are the caretakers of the harbor. We are the hosts when travel writers or conventions come to town. We are the ones who meet them and greet them.”

Channel Islands Harbor Marketing runs the harbor’s visitor center and will promote the harbor’s ongoing events, such as the annual Parade of Lights and Food & Wine Festival and the weekly Farmer’s Market.

It fills the marketing void left when the Channel Islands Harbor Assn. of Lessees dissolved this month.

That group of 16 harbor leaseholders formed about 30 years ago when Ventura County, owner of the property, made membership in the lease association mandatory. The membership requirement was dropped earlier this year.

The Assn. of Lessees consisted only of harbor leaseholders--such as Channel Islands Properties, which owns a number of harbor sites--and not owners of small businesses and shops that rent space on these properties. The new marketing group is intended to include all businesses, O’Brien said.

To that end, Channel Islands Harbor Marketing is a membership organization, with dues of $600 annually or $150 quarterly for leaseholders and less for sublease holders.

Membership is also open to business owners throughout Ventura County who are interested in promoting the harbor.

“The harbor is definitely a tourist destination already,” said O’Brien, who headed the marketing effort for the Assn. of Lessees. “We just need to let more people know about it. I think the locals don’t know about us as much as they could or should.”

O’Brien said she anticipates new marketing ideas and new enthusiasm to grow from the organization and its membership.

“I think one of our goals is better communication. It’s always nice to have everybody feel like they have a say,” she said. “One of the problems before was it had been the same people, in some cases, for 30 years. There’s just a certain burnout factor. It’s hard to get excited about your 31st annual Parade of Lights.”

Michael Koutnik, owner of the Whale’s Tail restaurant at the harbor, is a founding member of Channel Islands Harbor Marketing and is serving as interim secretary.

Koutnik owned the seafood restaurant from 1983 to 1993, sold it, and repurchased the establishment this year. A former member of the lessee association, he said the new group will be able to focus more sharply on marketing the harbor than its predecessor.

“The lessee association marketed, it interfaced with county government. We used to spend a lot of money, time, effort, energy and dollars on marketing,” he said. “But now we will have a more concentrated marketing effort. We won’t be diluted by these other issues.”

Koutnik said he plans to be involved with Channel Islands Harbor Marketing for a long time.

“The more we can get the name Channel Islands Harbor as a household term, the more not only the businesses will benefit, but ultimately the landlord too.”