One thing that practically all meetings destinations in California have in common these days is high demand. In major cities, a booming, tech-fueled economy is filling hotels with business travelers, while many resort areas are enjoying an influx of leisure travelers from around the globe.
Getting desirable space and reasonable rates for meetings can be a challenge in this environment, but it can be done. One strategy is to look beyond the obvious and consider the amazing diversity of destinations the Golden State affords, according to Caroline Betata, CEO of Visit California.
“California is home to world-renown urban centers like San Francisco and Los Angeles, but there is also an abundance of destinations that deserve a second look,” she says. “Consider the Gold Rush history that surrounds our state capital, Sacramento, or access the entire San Francisco Bay Area by staying in Oakland where there’s a hot food scene and incredible arts and culture.”
No matter which destinations are under consideration, it’s important to realize that there are tremendous differences when it comes to availability. While hotel occupancies are at their highest midweek in San Francisco and San Jose, the opposite is true in Santa Rosa and Monterey. Summer may be high season in Santa Barbara, but it’s bargain time in Palm Springs.
Meetings Focus spoke with CVBs around the state to get their take on how planners can find the best dates and rates in their regions.
SAN FRANCISCO
Kenley Moy, Senior Vice President of Convention Sales, San Francisco Travel
In San Francisco, the hardest times for availability are during citywide conventions, especially the major ones likes Oracle and Salesforce. What planners need to know is that the Moscone Convention Center is going through a major expansion that will take place through 2018. As a result, there will be construction periods where we can’t host citywide groups. During these times there are better rates and availability for hotel meetings.
We’ve established a section on our website called Availability Dates that shows you by month when there is good availability at local hotels. This usually translates to lower rates as well. This is based on information from hotels as well as the Moscone schedule. We’re urging planners to use this amazing tool.
We also want planners to know that San Francisco Travel partners with many other CVBs in the surrounding region. We cover destinations from Napa to Monterey as well as Oakland and the San Francisco airport area in San Mateo County. We can help planners check on availability throughout the entire Bay Area.
SAN JOSE
Ben Roschke, Director of Business Development. Team San Jose
Weekends are better than midweek. Room demand midweek is very high in Silicon Valley. It’s such a competitive landscape now, not just with meetings but with transient corporate business. What we find that is most effective is to have an honest conversation. Do you have flexibility on date patterns? For us, anything we can shift so it’s not dead center of the week is preferable.
SACRAMENTO
Steve Hammond, President and CEO, Sacramento CVB
Working directly with the Sacramento CVB is the best way for planners to leverage their buying power. Sacramento has been very successful in the meetings market because of our ability to meet the diverse needs of our meeting planner partners. Many destinations excel in one market but we have done well with conventions, conferences, corporate meetings and certainly government business. In addition, Sacramento is popular with associations at all levels. They tend to be more price-sensitive than other meeting groups, which is a good fit for us. And finally, our new hotel product, with more in the planning stages, has led to more success in the national market.
NAPA COUNTY
Theresa Savage, Vice President of Sales, Visit Napa
November through April midweek is a great time to meet in Napa Valley. It’s much less crowded and there’s still a lot going on. We have the film festival in November, holiday events, restaurant week in January and an arts festival in April. Any weekend, especially during summer and fall, will be in demand. Don’t just think summer and fall. Other times are better to experience the authenticity of the area. And our weather is very temperate.
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SONOMA COUNTY
Paula Johnson, Director of Group Sales, Sonoma County Tourism
Our off-season is after Thanksgiving through April. In general, Sunday through Thursday. We’re the opposite of the convention cities like San Francisco. We have the reverse situation because we have so many weekend visitors.
MONTEREY COUNTY
Scott Wilson, Senior Vice President of Sales, Monterey County CVB
The best value time for Monterey, when hotels get flexible with pricing, is November through May. The weather is still fantastic here; in fact, some of our best weather is in late fall. We have mild winters. At any time of year, weekends are our busiest times. So even during our summer peak you can still find availability midweek. But the rates will be higher.
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY
Chuck Davison, CEO, Visit San Luis Obispo County
Our coastal proximity makes summer peak season for us. So May through September is our strongest. We can run nearly full occupancy then. But November through April (before Easter) brings a lot of opportunity for midweek business, which is when we focus on meetings business. Groups will still find good weather then. You can go to the beach on Christmas.
SANTA BARBARA
Cat Puccino, National Sales Manager, Visit Santa Barbara
Our off-season is November through the end of March—that tends to be the value period. We recommend that planners keep in touch with the CVB to learn about value dates. Our e-newsletter will include value dates and hotel promotions.
We’re a very in-demand leisure destination, so you need to book well in advance for a conference to get availability. Midweek is a better time for availability, but summer is always busy.
LOS ANGELES
Darren K. Green, Senior Vice President of Sales, Los Angeles Tourism
Look at more than one option. Los Angeles County stretches for 476 square miles and there are many different regions. Be flexible in where you want to meet. Some areas like Century City are busier during the week because of corporate business, but have better availability on weekends. The opposite is true in other areas such as Hollywood and Highland. Date flexibility is also key. Give us a few ranges of dates.
ANAHEIM
Harriet Porter, Vice President of Convention Sales, Visit Anaheim
We don’t have the seasonality that other destinations do. Business is fairly consistent year-round. Citywide conventions do have a major impact on availability, so we encourage planners to check in with the us first. If they can schedule a week earlier or later, it can make a big difference.
GREATER PALM SPRINGS
Rick Blackburn, Vice President of Convention Sales, Greater Palm Springs CVB
At any time of year, midweek is much better here than weekends.
Many planners think they can’t meet here during the February through April peak season or during the major festivals, but these festivals are on the weekends. You can come in during midweek and get great rates even during peak season. Weekends are very popular here year-round and the hotel rates reflect that.
I always advise planners to make a phone call. Don’t just hit the button and send out an RFP. Call your CVB rep and talk to them. Here’s what I need. Is this going to work? In a couple of minutes you can find out what’s going on in the market. We might suggest one week earlier or one later.
SAN DIEGO
Margie Sitton, Senior Vice President of Sales, San Diego CVB
Business is booming this year. The market is really back. We’re running in the high 70s for occupancy. But we still have a lot of availability for groups because we don’t have a lot of transient business travel to San Diego.
Almost all of our business is from leisure or group. Summer is our busiest season, but a group might find space from Sunday through Wednesday.
