Sonoma County Tourism has a robust webpage with lots of information for visitors and local businesses.
Sonoma County Tourism works hard to keep visitors flowing to the many businesses that help make the area a renowned wine country destination. That hard work has earned it the award for Best Visitors Bureau in the North Bay.
Claudia Vecchio, president & CEO of Sonoma County Tourism, says that its success has a lot to do with the success of its partners. “It’s really heartening that [NorthBay biz readers] have voted us as the best visitors bureau in the area because we work tirelessly to drive business to our partners,” she says.
The visitors bureau utilizes consumer marketing and PR to raise awareness and invite people to come to Sonoma County. The majority of its programming dollars go into marketing. “We do an advertising campaign every year to drive visitation, especially between November and April, that kind of slower time of the year,” Vecchio says.
Sonoma County Tourism uses digital, print and broadcast advertising in the Bay Area and in markets with direct flights into Sonoma County Airport. They attend trade shows to bring group business and travel trade to Sonoma County by working with meeting planners and those who schedule leisure travel groups.
“We talk about how Sonoma County is a perfect place for either small- or medium-sized groups,” Vecchio says. “We’re also promoting Sonoma County to international travelers, primarily from the UK, Germany and Australia, these big travel markets.”
Community engagement—working with elected officials, chambers and visitor centers throughout the county—helps support Sonoma County Tourism and allows the public to understand the value of tourism.
“What the industry brings really helps,” Vecchio says. “It’s a $2 billion economic driver for Sonoma County, so it’s an important industry. We want to be sure everybody knows that.”
They have a strong research program with lots of useful data. “That helps our partners make good business decisions,” Vecchio says. “Our research component is an important part of how we lay the foundation for all of our programs.”
For more information about the visitors bureau visit sonomacountytourism.com. “We’ve always had good traffic, it’s a robust website and offers a wealth of information, but as we go through redevelopment there’ll be a few hiccups that happen during that time.”
Another way they are winning the hearts of the local community is through their volunteer work at local nonprofits. The staff at Sonoma County Tourism is helping uplift wine country communities in so many ways and it’s earned them the love of local businesses and their neighbors.
“We’re so pleased to have been voted Best Visitors Bureau,” Vecchio says. “It’s a nice recognition for our industry and for what the team’s working really hard to do every day.”
sonomacountytourism.com
