Sonoma County in California takes attempt to lure tourists after wildfire

Monday, November 18, 2019

After three consecutive years of wildfires that make huge visitors drop, Sonoma County tourism officials are exploring new initiatives to prevent Wine Country from turning into Fire Country in the minds of out-of-town visitors.

The $2.2 billion tourism sector of Sonoma County will attempt to convince travellers to consider visits in the spring and summer, hoping to diversify the industry’s reliance on the prime months of September and October. Early autumnal fall has historically been a critical season for the hospitality industry, which has capitalized on its connections to Wine Country by catering to well-heeled tourists visiting during the thick of the annual grape harvest. But September and October have also become the peak of wildfire season in Northern California, and more recently, massive PG&E blackouts to prevent fires from erupting during dry, windy weather.

This issue has come to the forefront in the aftermath of the 2017 North Bay wildfires, which killed 24 people and destroyed more than 5,300 homes in Sonoma County; the almost two weeks of unhealthy, smoke-filled skies that lingered over the county in 2018 from the Camp fire 110 miles away in Butte County; and last month’s Kincade fire, which was accompanied by a historic power shutoff and the largest evacuation in county history. After three straight years of significant and costly disruptions to its business, the hospitality sector has come to realize it must adapt.

The tourism-based businesses must take a proactive approach, said Claudia Vecchio, president of Sonoma County Tourism, a trade group that markets the region as a destination for visitors. They now operate in a real-time, social-media environment where photos and videos can push out a narrative in an instant without providing the proper context to an event, she said.

Sonoma County Tourism isn’t the only entity that’s grappling with the effects of wildfires within the hospitality sector. Hotels, restaurants, wineries, breweries and event planners are all figuring how to survive. There are many businesses that rely on tourist dollars have purchased or rented generators to keep power on during PG&E blackouts.

At least one restaurateur is exploring an off-site kitchen or refrigerated truck to keep meats, cheeses and produce fresh instead of going to the trash bin. They constantly post updates on social media to alert followers they are open for business. And all worry about the toll of a housing crunch on their workers, who already have difficulty with Sonoma County’s high cost of living.

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