Reader Opinion
Sonoma needs to join county marketing program
George Webber
There is a war going on; a war between visitor destinations all over the world. The battle is waged in glossy magazines, newspaper ads, on the radio and through social media. The fight continues in person, through direct contacts at destination trade shows and tourism conventions.
Competition has never been fiercer, and the war is intensifying. Well funded regions faced with declining visitor numbers are spending more on destination marketing than ever before, and BIA’s, or Business Improvement Areas, are being formed all over the world.
Sonoma County jumped ahead of the game five years ago when our BIA was formed, creating the Sonoma County Tourism Bureau (SCTB). Now the SCTB is a well-oiled machine, competing with the major destinations of the West: Monterey, Palm Springs, Tahoe, San Diego, Oregon and Washington State.
Through the qualities of scale produced by a multi-million dollar marketing budget, the SCTB is successfully bringing people from all over the world to our County. But the city of Sonoma never joined…and doesn’t receive its portion of these visitors.
In 2009, SCTB sales staffers directly booked over 35,000 room nights in BIA hotels, with a combined value of over $6,600,000. None of those room nights were in our town.
More than 100 travel journalists were brought to Sonoma County; there were media visits to Chicago, New York, London, Berlin, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Miami.
The Sonoma County fan page on Facebook has over 12,000 fans and adds about 35 every day. Sonoma County Tourism Bureau has 18 staffers…but none of them work for us. I have been told that the City of Sonoma can’t afford SCTB. I submit we can’t afford to be without them!
City council members at the March third meeting on this issue continually stated that the question before them was to choose the Sonoma Valley Visitors Bureau (SVVB) or Sonoma County Tourism Bureau.
This was an incorrect way to frame their actual choice. SCTB works closely with 16 local visitor centers in the county, including the SVVB in areas outside our city limits.
The question before the City Council was whether they would like to reap the benefits of representation in the regional, national, and international markets brought to us by SCTB programs…and ALSO enjoy the benefits provided by SVVB programs.
We need both.
The SCTB has awoken our most worthy tourism competitor. By July, Napa will have its own BIA. They have admitted they are basing their “Legendary Napa” BIA on SCTB. We will fall farther behind.
Our City is now operating in the red. Soon there will be a ballot measure that if passed will raise the Transient Occupancy Tax found at the bottom of a visitor’s hotel bill to 12% from its current rate of 10%.
During the council meeting it was clear that its members are counting on this increase to pass, and feared joining the BIA (which also creates an additional 2% hotel fee) as this would place the over-all rate at 14%.
Some City Council members stated that a 14% rate would hurt our competitiveness. I disagree. The City of Sonoma is a “premium” destination. Few hotels rooms are available for less than $200. For lower priced rooms you have to drive in from places like Vacaville, whose TOT stands at 12 percent
A more appropriate comparison would be St. Helena, where the TOT is already at 14%.
On a $300 room, the difference between 12 percent and 14 percent is $6. Does anyone reading this article believe that visitors will choose the Super Eight Vacaville over the El Dorado because the rate is 2 percent less?
George Webber is a Sonoma businessman. georgewebber.com
Flame of justice alive and well
Editor: We want to thank Joan Huguenard for telling the story of the Haitian people, some of which we knew, but not all. I am sure that most Americans are sympathetic to the needs and aspirations of the Haitians, but with friends like the U.S. government and its corporate sponsors, who needs enemies? A good beginning would be for the U.S. government to allow the return of Haiti’s elected president, Jean Bertrand Aristide, as a sign that “democracy” in Haiti has not been completely betrayed, after all. Thank you, Joan, for keeping your readers informed and the flame of justice alive.
Pat Spicer
Glen Ellen
Beware the plugged dryer vent
Editor: My mother-in-law passed away so we were getting her mobile home in Moon Valley ready to sell. An inspection report we had completed mentioned replacing a section of the clothes dryer vent pipe because it was plastic. I checked it out and found it to be clean and in good condition so I left it. I had an item to check on the swamp cooler, which is on the roof, and when I was coming down I noticed the dryer vent cap on the roof; and thought I should check it out even though it wasn’t mentioned on the inspection report. It is kind of like a bottle cap raised enough to let air out but no rain in so I ran my fingers under the cap and found it to be over 50 percent plugged. The mobile was built in 1964 and there are many like it in Sonoma so I though folks might want to get this checked if they have one. The plugged vent can make the dryer less efficient and possibly make the dryer overheat and damage it and maybe cause a fire. If you decide to go on the roof make sure you step on the rafters as there can be some soft spots in these older roofs.
Pete Wittbrodt
Sonoma