Ventura Visitors Bureau Wants You All to Come Back--Here

Crowds at beaches, parks and antique shops suggest that tourism is alive and well in Ventura. Though members of the Ventura Visitors & Convention Bureau are pleased, they admit there is still plenty of untapped potential.

In its marketing plan for fiscal 1999-2000, which began July 1, the bureau has identified areas it will target to increase the number of visitors and the tourism dollars generated by them. In particular, the bureau plans to intensify marketing efforts aimed at senior travelers and recreational enthusiasts and to encourage visitors to extend their stays.

“We acknowledged that although we have a strong foundation for tourism, there are programs we need to create to increase that base,” said Kathy Janega-Dykes, executive director of the bureau. “Occupancy is lower than what it should be, compared to competing destinations.”

For 1998, Ventura’s transient occupancy tax revenues from overnight lodging were $2.8 million. A study by an independent consulting firm determined that tourism generated about $116 million for the city in 1997 through lodging, dining, entertainment and other expenses.

To increase both numbers, the tourism bureau intends to spend part of its $558,000 advertising budget for 1999 to target niche markets. Seniors in particular offer great possibilities, Janega-Dykes said.

“It’s an important audience,” she said. “Our senior audience has the luxury of traveling midweek, which is when we really need that business, as well as off-season. Our marketing plan addresses programs to stimulate midweek and off-season business.”

To attract seniors, the tourism bureau is putting together a Ventura Historical Trail Passport program, which will recommend sites of interest to seniors. Under the plan, seniors would get their passports validated at the sites and then later redeem the passports for gifts.

The program, which will begin in September, promotes the San Buenaventura Mission, the Olivas Adobe and other museums and historical sites.

For tourists interested in outdoor adventures, the bureau will increase its promotion of Channel Islands National Park, the Ventura to Ojai Valley bike trail (due to be completed in September), and other recreational opportunities. New brochures will promote these options and ads will run in publications such as Outside magazine.

“We’re combining the National Park with the idea of outdoor adventure and outdoor recreation,” Janega-Dykes said. “It’s something for those outdoor enthusiasts who are looking for biking, hiking and kayaking. . . . That audience is really growing.”

In addition to attracting new visitor groups, the bureau will attempt to get visitors to stay longer.

The marketing plan includes a framework for tourism and hospitality venues to work together and promote each other. The idea is that the more the city shows what it has to offer, the longer visitors will stay.

“The specific emphasis of the marketing program is to position Ventura as a vacation destination instead of a stopover point,” Janega-Dykes said. “We get a lot of visitors coming for one night. If you look at Santa Barbara and San Diego, people tend to stay two or three nights in those cities. The potential is significant.”

Janega-Dykes said the bureau is looking into creating a course at Ventura College for employees to further develop their customer service skills.

“It’s important that we all say the same message, that we’re all promoting each other, creating a destination package,” Janega-Dykes said.

John Wong, chairman of the visitor’s bureau, said one of his chief projects this year will be to improve signs directing visitors to the city’s primary tourist attractions.

“Everybody acknowledges that the key tourism corridor is from the Olivas Adobe, down Harbor Boulevard, to Seaside Park and up to the Main Street area,” said Wong, owner of the Four Points Sheraton, which sits within that corridor.

“Signs there have to be increased,” he said. “If you go to San Francisco you see all these nice signs that get you to Fisherman’s Wharf, et cetera. We need to create that kind of visitor-friendly image.”

A plan to line the corridor with flags and to place a welcome banner at the entrance to Ventura Harbor should also progress within the next six months, Wong said.

“We need to make a commitment from the public-sector side and the private-sector side to establish the resources needed for this,” he said. “We need that public-private partnership for money to get these things done.”