Dear Visit SLO CAL Investors, Partners & Stakeholders,
With FY 2019/20 behind us, we’d like to pause and reflect on
all that has been accomplished. This past year has had its
share of triumphs and challenges, yet in the end we have taken
signicant strides to set the stage for future success in the
years ahead.
With the support of our lodging investors, we successfully
campaigned for the renewal of the San Luis Obispo County
Tourism Marketing District. Through scores of meetings,
the collection of petition signatures and a series of hearings
resulting in unanimous approval from all seven city councils
and the county board of supervisors, we achieved what
seemed improbable ve short years ago. The 1.5 percent
assessment and ten-year renewal term strengthen our unied
district to further increase awareness of SLO CAL
®
and drive
visitor demand just when we need it most.
In advance of the renewal, we hired our rst Chief Marketing
Ofcer, Lisa Verbeck, with a goal of elevating our marketing
strategy and delivering a more qualied customer to our region.
Lisa brings a wealth of experience to our team, partnering with
local destinations and our agencies to navigate the current
crisis and the road ahead.
The Destination Management Strategy, now known as
Experience SLO CAL 2050, was nalized, approved and
prioritized by our board of directors for future work. We will
continue our work in air service development, partnership
with the wine industry and development of the SLO CAL
Crafted
®
brand, while advocating for recommendations such
as workforce housing and transportation. Lastly, we will look to
fund new initiatives including the development of a countywide
events and festivals strategy and a customer service program
to help propel our industry forward.
Chuck Davison, CDME
President & CEO
Visit SLO CAL
LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT & CEO
When the outbreak of COVID-19 forced our Travel and Tourism
industry to close its doors, Visit SLO CAL pivoted all efforts
to focus on supporting and providing additional value for our
lodging investors and partners. Like many of you, we reduced
our team by 60 percent and the remaining members took
temporary 20 percent salary reductions, based on diminished
nancial resources. We engaged Tourism Economics to
develop a countywide, three-scenario, 24-month lodging
forecast and worked closely with the San Luis Obispo County
Regional Airport on an air service recovery strategy. We
launched our data-driven community dashboards providing
key data to help drive informed decisions by all of you. To show
our commitment to our communities’ safety and well-being, we
paused all paid advertising and shifted our messaging, focused
on keeping SLO CAL top of mind for when the time is right.
With the challenges of rebounding the tourism industry ahead,
strategy remains critical to our success. In May, Visit SLO CAL’s
Board of Directors approved Strategic Direction 2023, the
strategic plan that will serve as our new north star. Built upon
the accomplishments of Strategic Direction 2020, this plan is
the culmination of broad industry collaboration focused on
delivering on the needs of our investors and our communities.
While much of the past year has been challenging for all, we
are proud of the collective accomplishments of our industry,
building a foundation for SLO CAL’s future success in 2021, and
years to come!
All the best,
3