54.3 F
San Diego
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024
-Advertisement-

East County Makes a Push for More Visitor Spending

East County Makes a Push for More Visitor Spending

Tourism: Motto Claims Area Is ‘The Way California Used to Be’

BY TANYA RODRIGUES

Staff Writer

Growth in visitors spending, membership and specialized marketing programs are among some of the plans San Diego East Visitors Bureau has in its strategic plan for its seventh year.

The bureau wants to boost visitor spending in the overall San Diego region by 6 percent and extend total room nights by 3 percent.

San Diego East covers a sprawling area bordered by La Mesa on the west, Imperial Valley to the east, Borrego Springs to the north and east Chula Vista on the south.

The group’s goals also include increasing membership and targeted marketing programs, improving the area’s tourism jobs and career paths, and encouraging the growth of East County leisure attractions, conference facilities and full-service lodging.

According to Eric Lund, the bureau’s executive director, the way his group plans to increase spending is to market the East County’s visitor draws.

They hope to encourage visitors to San Diego County to extend their stays to take part in activities in the East County area, such as hiking and mountain biking.

The bureau has developed a new marketing theme, “San Diego East: The Way California Used to Be.”

The tourism bureau is also deep into plans to make East County more attractive to hotel developers.

Lund said his organization has already coordinated reports on the area’s hotel market. It’s also working to have other independent feasibility studies done about East County locations in which to build hotels, he said.

It’s also begun talking to some cities about ways to make the development and financing process easier, Lund said.

El Cajon and La Mesa have tentatively agreed to the bureau’s ideas, he said.

Other projects in the works include updating, producing and printing 100,000 copies of the bureau’s East County visitors map, which should cost $31,500 and be completed by November.

Also planned is designing and producing a second edition of an East County visitors guide, which is expected to cost $20,000; and producing a 30-minute cable television production to promote East County’s art, culture and history, using a $10,000 grant from the San Diego Film Commission.

Overall, the bureau’s spending is expected to be $354,550, and its income, from private and public sectors, is expected to total $360,740, according to the bureau’s report.

The plan was summarized at San Diego East’s annual meeting, which took place at Sycuan Casino & Resort on June 18.

Terry Saverson, president and CEO of the East County Chamber of Commerce, was impressed with the goals and felt they were achievable.

“We know we need more room nights, and we need more rooms to have those room nights in,” Saverson said. “We think their strategic plan is right on target.”

She thinks the projections for increasing spending and room nights is conservative, Saverson said.

“The group has proven in the past that they reach the goals they set,” she said. “We are extremely proud of what they have done and how much they have accomplished in such a short time.

“They have really created an entirely different perception of East County, and they’re working doggedly on getting that new perception out there and making it understood by the entire San Diego County region.”

-Advertisement-

Featured Articles

Oberon Eyes Europe for Renewable DME

Leaders of Influence in Law 2024

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-

Related Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-