Live chat service to help Central Coast visitors travel like locals

The Dicksons love coming to the central coast. Tim Dickson first visited a long time ago.

“I probably would have booked by phone, the telephone. But that was some years back. … 38 years, I remember exactly,” Dickson said.

Back then, the telephone was a household “must have,” and a cellphone was as clunky as a brick.

“There was a time when call centers were a really heavily used tool for folks because they could actually talk to a local and get information. The challenge with that was usually they waited then anywhere between a week and six weeks to get a package of information that would make them excited about a destination,” said Tammy Blount, CEO of Monterey County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

That’s not an experience Melina Lamer understands at all.

“Never in my life, and I’m 26,” Lamer said.

But now, Lamer and the Dicksons are on the same page, both planning their visits online.

And the Monterey County Convention and Visitors Bureau has a new feature to help with that.

From giving restaurant recommendations to keeping track of road conditions, this live chat service is so that global visitors can travel like locals, and locals can work where they are needed the most.

“Part of it was taking a look at the hourly usage of our visitors’ center over the last couple of years. We saw a very serious erosion in walk-in traffic, particularly at the beginning and the end of the day,” Blount said.

Lamer hasn’t tried the live-chat but said she likes it already.

“I do think having a live chat session would probably be the most … easy for at least our generation,” Lamer said.

Live specialists are available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to answer questions, but visitors can ask questions online 24 hours a day. Questions outside working hours will be answered the next day.