California goes country…..much more than you ever imagined

Apparently, when Aussie travellers think of California, it appears that they generally think of urban California, Los Angeles, Anaheim and San Francisco rather than the delights of country and rural California….but the California tourism marketing team in Sydney are determined to change all that!

In a presentation to agents, wholesalers and the media in Sydney yesterday they revealed that for the first time ever, California Tourism has a $50 million budget to promote California to the world [sadly not just Australia] and the good news is that Australia is seen as one of California’s key international markets, with the promotional budgets having more than doubled for this coming fiscal year.

[Jo Palmer Head of California Tourism and John Greenwood, Wholesale Manager Hertz talk Californian turkey!]

With a strong dollar, Australians are already travelling in record numbers to the US and Virgin starting flying across the Pacific next year, competing head to head with Qantas and United, is likely to increase promotional activity and bring down air fares.

California is the number one destination for Australians visiting the US, although 20% of all Aussie visit New York, but on my recent visit to Disneyland I also learned that Australia is Disneyland’s third largest international market, so it looks like Australia will be increasingly taken more seriously by the US and in particular, Californian travel industry!

And even better, California has doubles its promotional budget!

California Tourism’s Jo Palmer, Francois Legrand and Alison Scott told The Mole that they wanted to research the best way to spend their budget so a key aim of their research was to help them better understand not just who is currently travelling, but who would show the most propensity to increase that travel – either taking more trips or staying longer.

They concluded that some psychographic testing would be needed and once they had defined their key target markets for via quantitative research, they would recruit focus groups for those targets and try to really dig down into what the triggers would be to take them forward.

Their research found that 95% of current product in Australian brochures and over 75% of media coverage over the past twelve months has only covered the ‘urban’ California experiences of Los Angeles, Anaheim and San Francisco, with this obviously failing to showcase the tremendous depth of experiences available in the state and in particular the non urban ones.

Their research concluded that three groups showed the greatest propensity to travel to California and they were: –

** Old Hats, also known as Empty Nesters;

** Family Guys; and

** Young professionals.

The research showed that each of the target markets currently see California only as the main tourist sites, with for the Old Hats and Young Professionals, the biggest drivers of travel being enjoying unique natural attractions and new experiences, but Family Guys rating this as a secondary driver of travel.

The guys at California Tourism told The Mole that California is rich with these experiences, rated as highly desirable to the markets once they are exposed to the and that they needed to learn how to deliver this product to the market.

Jo Palmer the head of California Tourism in Australia said that their strategy is going to comprise of a Gateway and Beyond push, because they want people to still experience the gateways as they represent an important part of attracting visitors to the state, but we then want to enrich their experience of California by taking them beyond the gateways and to those experiences that they have shown us are interested to see.

She added that the following destinations particularly ‘turned people on’ during the focus groups, surveys.

Yosemite National Park: [Pictured left: credit Robert Palmer] Yosemite National Park, she is grandeur, she is majesty, she is stately, she’s wears the pants and the crown, she is magnificence, she is grandness. HRH Yosemite invites people to come and explore her palace, her marble halls that frame the valley, the jewels that are found around the paths that you walk and the romantic views from her rooftop. She truly personifies dignity in the natural world

Sequoia National Park: Sequoia National park is one of the lesser known destinations but from the research it really showed its potential….particularly cause of the bears. Located in Central California just out of Fresno, Sequoia National Park is an undiscovered treasure with some of the most striking scenery in the world. From its towering giant sequoia trees and soaring mountain peaks to cascading creeks, flowering meadows and star studded evening skies the peaceful tranquility and unsurpassed beauty of the park, keeps visitors coming back, and hopefully soon to start more Australian/NZ visitors. Claim to the largest living thing in the General Sherman Tree (275 feet tall), and the highest point in the U.S., Mount Whitney.

Napa Valley: [pictured right: credit Robert Palmer.] Getting a serving of the good life. If you don’t feel like you have been spoilt after a 5 course degustation dinner or breathing the freshest air from the seat of a bicycle, then you haven’t obviously been spending time in the Sonoma and Napa Valleys. This wine region is about freshness, is about well being, is about calm. Get pampered, awaken your senses and just take whatever you like off that silver platter cause you’re going to taste the good life.

Highway One: [Pictured left: credit Robert Palmer] hugs the Pacific coastline highlights include Monterey, Carmel, Santa Barbara, Big Sur

Lake Tahoe: 4 hours drive from San Francisco on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevadas that is the opposite side to Yosemite. North Lake Tahoe actually has the largest concentration of ski resorts in North America, including Squaw Valley, Heavenly and Northstar.

So, the message from California is loud and clear………expect to hear much more about California and California Tourism in the coming months and years and start thinking about California outside the traditional urban and gateway destinations….. and while they are important, start seeing California’s amazing country and rural experiences, encompassing some of the USA’s most majestic scenery and attractions.

Report by The Mole