New report shows tourism is up in Monterey County
Tourism is a multi-billion dollar industry in Monterey County and a new report shows social media is fueling the fire. NewsChannel 5 investigates the push to attract travelers from around the world and what it means for local businesses.
The Martinez family is visited Monterey all the way from Costa Rica.
“The weather conditions are great, the ocean is so beautiful. You can see it from here and it’s gorgeous,” tourist Laura Martinez said.
A new report by the Monterey County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau shows the county welcomed more visitors than ever before this year. The bureau said travel spending reached $2.57 billion in 2014. That’s a 4.4 percent increase over 2013.
“The advantage of the ocean and the seaside…there’s tons of stuff to do for everybody,” Jose Martinez said.
Local rental show Adventures by the Sea offers a full range of activities, from coastal biking to stand up paddle boarding.
“This year has been our best year ever. We’ve been in business for 28 years. We had a really strong winter, spring and now summer. With all the whales and dolphins, and sea otters, it’s been awesome,” owner Frank Knight said.
The CVB is aggressively marketing Monterey County to international tourists and its working.
“Absolutely. We’ve seen people from all over the world. A lot of people from Denmark right now,” Knight said.
The CVB is especially targeting Canada and China and tourists anywhere looking for a high end experience.
The American Tin Cannery, currently an outlet shopping mall, recently announced it will be developed into a luxury hotel. While those plans are still in the works, the CVB is also stepping up its social media game, which gets some of the credit for the bump in travel spending.
The CVB brand campaign “Grab Life by the Moments” has taken off with the hashtag “Grab Your Moment.”
Even the Martinez family said they’ve noticed and a lot of people back home have Monterey on their radar. Even though Costa Rica is a travel destination itself.
“We hear about Monterey and the beautiful sights,” Laura said.
Coastal Living Magazine named Monterey one of “America’s Happiest Seaside Towns” in 2015. The Martinez family said they would like to see more nightlife activities. They believe keeping the bars open at night longer would really help draw more young adults to the area.
