It’s a beautiful, sunny afternoon, and a great day to be at one of the
Tri-Counties premiere tourism destinations. John and Jamie Bebe of Bakersfield are strolling on Santa Barbara’s Stearns Wharf.
"We come up from Bakersfield because we love Santa Barbara...it's beautiful...we come for lunch, sometimes stay for two or three days," said John Beebe. "It's just very nice."
Because it’s a weekday during the slow time of year for the region’s tourism, the wharf is quiet. But, tourism officials say it’s way too quiet, and they are worried.
First, the good news about the key tourism industry on the South Coast, which was hit hard by the pandemic:
"2022 was a banner year, and it was the second year in a row that we saw growth for the lodging industry," said Kathy Janega-Dykes. She's President and CEO of Visit Santa Barbara. It’s the marketing organization representing the tourism industry Santa Barbara County’s South Coast region.
She said the industry bounced back nicely from the pandemic, and after a huge labor shortage, has finally found enough workers to operate normally.
But now, there’s a new issue, perhaps fueled by economic uncertainty.
People from throughout the tourism industry in the region packed a Santa Barbara summit looking at the situation, and talked about what Janega-Dykes called “the elephant in the room”...the drop in business.
"We're starting to face some headwind," said Janega-Dykes.
Tom LaVaccare is Director of Sales and Marketing for Santa Barbara’s El Encanto Hotel. He said the situation means tourism oriented businesses really need to focus their marketing.
"Year over year, it's been down," said LaVaccare. "As Hawaii opens, as Europe opens, we're seeing the effects of that...we're seeing more choices out there." He said they are getting their fair share, but not like it's been for the past few years.
Drew Wakefield is the Director of Sales and Marketing for the Ramada by Wyndham Santa Barbara. He said there's here's still concern about COVID-19. And, he notes with many large companies doing layoffs, some people may be more reluctant to travel, and instead are staying home to save money.
Some non-profit cultural institutions which rely heavily on tourism say they still haven’t completely bounced back from the pandemic, and the current situation is hurting more. Greg Gorga is Executive Director of the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum.
"We're not really back to pre-pandemic levels," said Gorga. "We don't have that international tourism yet...it's mostly from Los Angeles." Tourists are vital to the museum with admission fees helping to keep the doors open.
Visit Santa Barbara is trying to answer the slowdown with a marketing campaign targeting the region’s core audience in Southern California, trying to get them to think about planning a trip, and hopefully a weekend getaway or full vacation on the South Coast.
