Tourism Ideas Sprout at First Conference

O’Connell unveiled plans for the new tourist shuttle at the first Orange County Tourism Council Conference, which drew about 180 area tourism professionals for a half-day session at the Hyatt Regency Irvine.

Among the featured speakers was Disneyland Resort President Paul Pressler, who tossed out a few ideas on how to make Orange County more visitor friendly while reinforcing its image with tourists.

Among his suggestions:

* Establish an easy-to-remember 800-number--”something like 1-800-ORANGE-1”--where potential visitors could call for trip planning.

* Link Orange County cultural and historical attractions “with the largest [painted] orange line in America,” similar to the bright pavement guides found in cities such as Boston and San Francisco. “It’s a dumb idea,” Pressler said. “But it’s the kind of thing that gets talked about.”