 October 2007
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San Diego North Wildfire Update» WACVB Honors Cami Mattson for "Spirit of Leadership" Award » San Diego North CVB Fall Mixer » Sales Update » Marketing Update » PR Update » Industry News & Member Spotlight » Put the San Diego North CVB to Work for You » Welcome Aboard! » Stories from the Watercooler » Fast Facts - Travel Industry Tidbits » Bureau Contacts
San Diego North Wildfire Update Our hearts go out to everyone affected by the wildfires and their families. As we begin to recover from this terrible crisis, we would like you to know that the Bureau is dedicated to ensuring that our travel and tourism industry continues to thrive. We have been working with several entities, including the California Travel and Tourism Commission, and the national media to communicate that our hospitality industry is intact and welcoming visitors. Click here to view our most recent press release. Many of our members have risen to the occasion and offered community assistance in a number of ways. "The tourism industry's quick, efficient and seamless response to an emergency situation is commendable," said Cami Mattson, president and CEO of San Diego North Convention and Visitors Bureau. "Not only did the area hotels and attractions offer discounted rates for evacuees, but they provided numerous donations to the evacuation centers and coordinated efforts to assist with police and fire efforts in our communities." Among these efforts, a special thanks to the Del Mar Fairgrounds and Harrah's Rincon Casino, which served as evacuation centers. The Del Mar Fairgrounds housed and fed 2,700 horses, and also 2,500 people, many of which had special needs. Harrah's Rincon Casino housed and fed over 600 people and became the staging area for rescue workers fighting the Poomacha fire. Thank you for your quick response to our inquiry about your business' status. We have been receiving updates which have been very helpful as we communicate to the media. If you have more up-to-date information or if you have anything you'd like to share with us, please email marketing@sandiegonorth.com. «back to top
WACVB Honors Cami Mattson for "Spirit of Leadership" Award 
Several years ago, the Board of Directors of the Western Association of Convention & Visitors Bureau established the Spirit of Leadership Award. The award recognizes individuals who have been exceptional contributors to the Association and in doing so exemplify the heart and soul that inspires others in our industry to achieve success. Jonathan Walker, WACVB Board President said "It is a great pleasure to recognize an individual who embodies this very special spirit of leadership – Cami Mattson – the 2007 recipient of the WACVB Spirit of Leadership Award. We congratulate our Spirit of Leadership Award recipient—a trusted industry professional, a knowledgeable colleague, and an amazing individual."
«back to top San Diego North CVB Fall Mixer 
The Bureau held its fall mixer on Oct. 3rd, with over 120 members in attendance. Our sincere thanks to Maderas Golf Resort for hosting the event location and wonderful food! The Bureau also expresses its appreciation to Stone Brewing Company and Ponte Winery for providing their beer and wine tastings. We'd also like to thank California Center for the Arts, Escondido for the wonderful music of Anna Troy.
Lastly, we thank our table top exhibitors, door prize sponsors and event attendees.
«back to top Sales Update Sales Report: Aug. & Sept. 2007
Bureau Attends Affordable Meetings NationalThe San Diego North CVB attended Affordable Meetings National, held in Washington D.C., Sept. 5-6. Anna Wachtel, national sales manager, shared the exhibit booth with co-op partner San Diego Hilton Del Mar. Over 110 meeting planners stopped by the booth resulting in 72 leads. Bureau Attends Motivation Show ITME Stephanie Colby-Aburto, director of sales, & Anna Wachtel, national sales manager, attended the ITME 2007 trade show in Chicago in a cooperative effort with two San Diego North partners, L'Auberge Del Mar and Homewood Suites Del Mar. Approximately 88 planners stopped by the booth resulting in 15 immediate leads. San Diego North CVB Hosts 3rd Annual e-Commerce Summit The San Diego North CVB hosted an e-commerce summit, Oct. 3-4, held at the Morgan Run Resort & Club. This event brought together top-producing e-commerce partners and San Diego North hotel and attraction members to discuss new and existing partnerships including: contracting, marketing opportunities, web site utilization, packaging, increasing room night production and more. Top e-commerce partners included: Advanced Reservations Systems (ARES), Expedia, Inc./Hotwire, Orbitz Worldwide, Quikbook, Travelocity, and Travelworm/Jetaway Today. Each partner had the opportunity to meet with 19 individuals representing over 16 San Diego North hotel and attraction members. For more information on working with e-commerce, contact Yolanda Hartley, sales manager. She can be reached via email at yhartley@sandiegonorth.com or by telephone at (760) 603-1690 x12. FY07-08 Co-op Trade Show Opportunities Co-op trade shows with the San Diego North CVB are a great opportunity for you to create additional exposure for your business in a cost-effective, productive, and highly visible manner! For more information, contact Donna Alfsen, sales coordinator, or any member of the San Diego North CVB sales team at 760-603-1690, or email sales@sandiegonorth.com. View the trade show profiles. Get the FY07-08 co-op trade shows sign up form. «back to top Marketing Update Bureau to Reenergize Web Site One of our new initiatives for FY07-08 is an even greater emphasis on our web site, specifically the content. In the first phase of this project, we are focusing on organic site optimization and we are in the early states of a 6-month pay-per-click campaign, targeting event and leisure keywords. At the same time, we are incorporating the most successful keywords into the editorial copy on our web site. In many cases, this means revising and expanding this content throughout the web site. How Members Can Participate and Benefit Although we make updates to the member descriptions on our web site annually when you revise your Visitors Guide listings, now is a good time to do a complete review of the content on your portion of our web site. We have loosened the restrictions on the amount of copy that each member listing can contain. You can now provide a more detailed description of the services and specialties of your organization. Please view your listing(s) on our web site at www.sandiegonorth.com and send your text changes/additions to Krista Wampler, marketing coordinator, at kwampler@sandiegonorth.com or fax: 760-745-4796. Updates are usually made within five working days. «back to top PR Update PR Highlights 
 Sunset (circulation: 1,481,115) - a one-page California Day Trip Story featuring Del Mar ran in the August 2007 issue. Budget Travel (circulation: 599,162) - a 7 1/2 page story on "25 Reasons to Love San Diego" appeared in the July/August 2007 edition of the magazine. PR Opportunities The Public Relations Department is currently gathering information for fall and winter press trips. If you have a story idea that you would like us to consider pitching, please contact Hilary Townsend at htownsend@sandiegonorth.com or call 760-745-4741. We will be targeting both short and long lead media with pitches on upcoming exhibits, renovations/expansions, restaurants, attractions, events and themed San Diego North story ideas. Public Relations Tip: Add htownsend@sandiegonorth.com to your distribution list on all newsworthy topics to ensure the Bureau has the most up-to-date information to optimize media exposure opportunities. «back to top Industry News & Member Spotlight Industry News 
Birch Aquarium at Scripps' newest exhibit, "Feeling the Heat: The Climate Challenge," has been named the Silver winner in museum design for the 2007 Event Design Awards. Sponsored by Connecticut-based Event Design Magazine, the annual awards recognize the best designs worldwide across events, exhibits and environments.For the fourth year in a row, LEGOLAND California has been voted "Best Children's Park" and received the Golden Ticket Award by Amusement Today Magazine, a monthly trade newspaper. First introduced in 1998, the recipients of the Golden Ticket Awards are chosen from an international poll conducted by industry experts at Amusement Today. 
The Radisson Suite Hotel Rancho Bernardo was selected as one of Radisson Hotels & Resorts top-performing hotels for its prestigious annual President's Award, based on performance in 2006. Having received this honor for 14 consecutive years gives the hotel the distinctive honor of being the only Radisson to ever accomplish such great performance consistently for so many years. Member Spotlight Celebrating its five-year anniversary, Harrah's Rincon Casino & Resort will undergo an extensive remodel of the original hotel, the Garden Tower, which is expected to be completed by mid-December. Remodeling plans include luxurious new furniture, carpeting and wall coverings and the addition of a plasma television in each room. The project will also replace the current Garden Tower lobby and add a new pool deck with two new spas and firepits with built-in seating. 
Birch Aquarium at Scripps celebrated its 15-year anniversary at its current location on Expedition Way in La Jolla. Since opening in 1992, the Aquarium has hosted nearly 5 million visitors and remains one of San Diego's top cultural destinations. The $14 million facility was named in honor of the Stephen and Mary Birch Foundation, a non-profit organization that granted $6 million for the Aquariums' redesign. The new facility, three times larger than its predecessor, became a testament to the breadth of Scripps research explorations and the institution's commitment to sharing ocean and earth science discoveries with the public.«back to top Put the San Diego North CVB to Work For You Promotion Opportunities for ARES Members Hot Deals - Members who are contracted through ARES can post Hot Deals promotions that may be promoted in the next issue of the Bureau's opt-in consumer newsletter, Getaway Highlights. In addition, the Hot Deals listing will link from the San Diego North CVB Web site, which generated traffic of more than 229,000 unique users during FY06-07. Dynamic Packaging - The Bureau's Web site can now feature any combination of attraction tickets with any contracted hotels and distribute it as a packaged product through ARES' dynamic packaging capabilities. This feature provides additional discounts and offers complete customization to the consumer. For information on ARES services, go to the ARES web site or call 1-800-828-0868. FY07-08 Co-op Trade Show Opportunities Co-op trade shows with the San Diego North CVB are a great opportunity for you to create additional exposure for your business in a cost-effective, productive, and highly visible manner! For more information, contact Donna Alfsen, sales coordinator, or any member of the San Diego North CVB sales team at 760-603-1690, or email sales@sandiegonorth.com. View the trade show profiles. Get the FY07-08 co-op trade shows sign up form. «back to top Welcome Aboard! We are proud to announce the following organizations that have joined as new members of the San Diego North CVB: Americas Best Value Inn & Suites 330 Mar Vista Dr. Vista, CA 92083 Phone: 760-726-2900 Fax: 760-726-9900 www.americasbestvalueinnvista.com Situated near gorgeous beaches and many of the area's main attractions, the hotel is located on a hilltop with over four acres, plenty of space to walk around and enjoy the quietness. Enjoy the pool/spa/tennis court or have a barbeque at our barbeque area. Courtyard by Marriott 9650 Scranton Road San Diego CA 92121 Phone: 858-558-9600 Fax: 858-558-4539 www.marriott.com Hotel renovation completed in 2004, includes a swimming pool and heated whirlpool, 24-hour fitness center, valet and laundry services, luxurious bedding collection, complementary high-speed Internet access in all rooms and 24-hour business center with complementary wired Internet. Residence Inn San Diego La Jolla 8901 Gilman Drive La Jolla, CA 92037 Phone: 858-587-1770 Fax: 858-552-0387 www.residenceinn.com/lajca A 288-room all-suite property offering a full breakfast daily, hospitality hour Mon.-Thurs., free high-speed Internet, and shuttle service to local attractions and businesses. Residence Inn San Diego Rancho Bernardo/Carmel Mountain 11002 Rancho Carmel Drive San Diego CA 92128 Phone: 858-673-1900 Fax: 858-673-1913 www.residenceinn.com/sanrb A 124-room all-suite hotel offering daily hot breakfast, social hour Mon.-Thurs., wireless high-speed Internet, free parking,and shuttle within a 5-mile radius. Sheraton Carlsbad Resort & Spa 5480 Grand Pacific Drive Carlsbad, CA 92008 Phone: 760-827-2400 Fax: 760-827-2410 www.sheratoncarlsbad.com Located in charming coastal Carlsbad, the resort will have 250 guestrooms, 13 suites, full service spa, signature restaurant and 25,000 square feet of function space. Twenty/20 Grill & Wine Bar will offer a unique dining option by featuring organic, freshly grown produce along with regional seafood emphasizing the resorts coastal location and healthy lifestyle. Scheduled to open in early 2008. Woodfin Suites Hotel 10044 Pacific Mesa Blvd. San Diego, CA 92121 Phone: 858-597-0500 Fax: 858-597-0550 www.woodfinsuitehotels.com Woodfin Suite Hotels are upscale, all-suite hotels designed to appeal to corporate business travelers who would typically stay at traditional, full-service hotels. Both brands offer spacious, well appointed, one or two-bedroom accommodations with large living and work space. Many of our suites include charming double French-door entries, fully equipped kitchen facilities including china, full-size range and oven, dishwasher, full-size refrigerator and microwave and often include wood-burning fireplaces. Truly a home away from home! «back to top Stories from the Watercooler Beer v. Wine Square Off at El Bizcocho Stone Brewing Company challenged Trinchero Winery at Rancho Bernardo Inn's El Bizcocho on September 27th. Each course was paired with a beer and wine pouring and then judged by guests. The course-by-course score came out even, with beer winning three courses and wine winning three. Beer won overall, racking up a total of 210 votes, just six ahead of wine. «back to top Fast Facts - Travel Industry Tidbits Survey: More Biz Travelers Staying In Economy Hotels Many corporations are staying in economy hotels these days, more often to control lodging costs, according to a recent survey of travel managers completed by Runzheimer International says Travel Weekly. According to Runzheimer, Although high-end hotels continue to be used most often by business travelers, economy hotel use is up 31% from the previous four years. "Since nearly all hotel types offer free, high-speed Internet connection and continental breakfasts as the norm, companies are saving money by putting travelers in lower-cost hotels, without sacrificing service and traveler satisfaction," said Phyllis Schumann, Runzheimer's product manager of travel management services. High-Flying Women Of The World It's no longer a niche market says CNN. Nearly half of business travelers are women, and the early lip service of an odd nail file in vanity bags and hotel doors with security peepholes, are no longer enough to give businesses an edge. Hotels are thinking up innovations that go beyond the standard fare. Reception staff are better trained to be discreet when checking in women guests and avoid saying their room numbers out loud. Spas and fitness centers offer in-room exercise programs and treatments. Business centers provide webcams, which help working mothers keep in touch with children. In-room facilities are improving as well. Global market research firm Mintel's found that hotels are, on the whole, less inviting to women, who may prefer to return home rather than stay away overnight. It can be more difficult for women to dine and drink alone in a hotel as they can be the target of unwanted attention. While room service is an option, it can be a lonely one. Hotel maitre d's can play a vital role in welcoming single female diners and, for example, placing them together at a table. Businesswomen may still be underserved by the travel industry but hotel booking agency Expotel says life for the lone female is improving. They launched a Woman Aware campaign a decade ago, flagging up "female friendly" hotels, which fulfill ten key criteria and have been nominated by three independent female travelers. Currently, seven of the ten criteria relate to security, including a well lit, secure car park or valet parking, and permanently lit corridors. For more information on this article click here. «back to top Bureau Contacts Cami Mattson, President and CEO Barbara Bovee, Director of Marketing and Operations Stephanie Colby-Aburto, Director of Sales Debbie Mirageas, Office Manager Hilary Townsend, Public Relations Manager «back to top If you feel you've received this message in error, or if you no longer wish to receive news and special offers please contact Krista Wampler at kwampler@sandiegonorth.com to be removed from this list. |