http://www.pressdemocrat.com/business/5764324-181/outdoor-recreation-is-a-green?artslide=0
The above article from Bill Swindell of the Press Democrat in June 26th “….official’s look for ways to attract active tourists to Sonoma County”. With massive traffic jams in and around the county and the Sonoma County Supervisors still budgeting big bucks to attract more tourists, it makes you wonder where do they live? Certainly not in my neighborhood where we call tourist season, “right turn only season”. Our back roads in and around residential areas are taking a big toll as locals try to avoid the traffic and spaced out drivers not to mention the ones who are “wine tasting”. How much does the County of Sonoma spend on tourism promotion and why not use it for the horrible roads rated one of the worst in the state?
Tourism is costing us much more than traffic problems. Our small family run businesses are having huge rental increases, turning to tourism based stores as community services and Mom & Pop stores are forced out. Tourism based economies are the first to take a hit during economic downturns and they have traditionally low based wages. More tourism means less housing and higher costs as investors buy up homes for weekend party/rentals. Our children have to move away due to high costs as families are further fractured.
Several counties are now looking at tourist quotas as traffic jams are the norm now. One is Napa where the traffic is making residents move away and tourists carefully weight consider should they drive up with the traffic? It’s time to pull the plug on the tourism budget and reign it in to help the tourists who are here and not for more. Conversation overheard at Doran….”…..yeah it is beautiful but getting too crowded and too much traffic….”. News flash: people who like to be healthy and recreate do not like traffic jams and carbon pollution.
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT | June 26, 2016, 12:05AM
The notion of a Wine Country excursion is changing and it is starting to have economic ripples across Sonoma County.
In the typical telling, a couple would come up to visit primarily for wine, stopping at a few wineries, staying at a tiny place such as the Farmhouse Inn and then eating pricey cuisine at Madrona Manor.
But increasingly, there are millennials from San Francisco and the East Bay who visit without knowing the difference between pinot gris and pinot noir. That demographic — those born from 1981 to 1997, many of whom come from the well-paid tech sector — is behind a surge of people who visit the county primarily for its outdoor activities.
Call it ecotourism. Call it agritourism. Call it a fun-filled weekend. But many businesspeople and local officials are realizing that it goes by another name: big business.
“It’s a constellation of trends coming together,” said Ben Stone, executive director of the Sonoma County Economic Development Board. “There’s the health interest in being active. There is the sheer money that is in Silicon Valley and their workers. They want to come up here and recreate where they can be in an hour drive.”
The board is assembling an outdoor recreation and hospitality business council to promote the industry, identify issues that must be addressed and collaborate on opportunities to grow the sector. Stone said he hopes to undertake a study in the future to determine how much economic impact these businesses contribute to Sonoma County.
As part of the effort, Stone wants to enlist major companies that are headquartered in Sonoma County with a footprint in the outdoor apparel and equipment industry — such as Petaluma’s Athleta Inc. and CamelBak Products and Rohnert Park’s Marmot Mountain — to gain their expertise and help promote them.
A 2015 board survey found that two of the three top factors attracting tourists to Sonoma County were outdoor recreation and natural scenery.
In addition, the Sonoma County Regional Parks Department is working on a plan to create a strategic vision for the local outdoor recreation economy.
The activity has blossomed because the financial potential is enormous. Outdoor recreation was a $646 billion business in 2011 in the United States, according to the Outdoor Industry Association, outpacing such categories as pharmaceuticals and motor vehicles and parts.
“Clearly, more and more people are not coming here for one thing,” said Jim Nantell, deputy director of Sonoma County Regional Parks. The parks department has seen interest climb as sales of its annual park passes have increased from 5,000 to 25,000 in recent years, with much interest driven by local residents.
Outdoor providers are noting that visitors are looking to take advantage of many things. That can mean a bike ride on the Joe Rodota Trail, followed by a kayak trip down the Russian River. Then, they may want to take a hike at Taylor Mountain and later a trip out to Bodega Bay.
Getaway Adventures, a Santa Rosa tour company, offers all sorts of excursions. On Wednesday, it had friends from Wisconsin on its $175 per person Green Valley “pedal n’ paddle” tour that started out at Ragle Ranch Park in Sebastopol with biking on the West County Trail, including a stop at Iron Horse Vineyards. After lunch there was kayaking along the Russian River.