From our own Monterey Herald, about the Monterey County Convention & Visitors Bureau on their plans for promoting our area:
I would like to point out a few important take-always from this article:
2018 Travel Impacts report: Monterey County visitor spending up 5.8% to $3B
Tourism jobs up 2.8%, total tax contributions up 8.2%, local tax money up 8% over 2017
“The plan for increasing tourism to Monterey County is two-tiered – one, increasing the number of travelers, and two, increasing visitor spending.
“We are focused on both levels – more travelers which will drive up hotel occupancy, which is essential. But we are intensifying our focus on higher-value travelers who stay longer, do more and spend more,” said O’Keefe. “These are typically people who are traveling from further away … and meetings/conference travelers who are very high value.”
The MCCVB marketing officer said a focus on the drive market – those who travel here by car – will be maintained and will never change.”
”According to the report, the county receives the lion’s share of travel impacts in the region with 33%, followed closely by Monterey with 30%, Salinas with 14%, Carmel with 8%, Seaside (including Sand City and Del Rey Oaks) with 7%, Pacific Grove with 5%, and Marina with 4%.”
How much of this income is brought in BECAUSE of Big Sur? I am willing to bet that the majority of it is. How much does Big Sur receive in infrastructure and/or law enforcement to handle it? Very little, is my bet on this end of the equation.
And one thing MCCVB will be concentrating on is bringing in more visitors on the off season, so we can expect summer-like traffic all year.
Interesting that the Herald article never once mentions Big Sur – but does refer to Monterey County (as opposed to the incorporated cities mentioned) being impacted the most by “travel impacts” – I’m assuming the biggest draw of the county (and most impacted) is Big Sur.
No easy answers with all of this trying to find the right balance of tourists, though the MCCVB’s visit responsibly program would be a great place to focus more efforts, ‘cos we all know that has to be improved, a lot.
WOW … to crazy! Is this why you think Monterey County NOW wants to turn all our homes “Zoned” Residential into VACATION RENTALS (a Hotel Use), to be rented out to the Transient Public (Tourist) 365 Nights a Year? NO VACATION RENTALS in Big Sur … NO Homestays (a nightly revolving door of Strangers 365 Nights a year (Visitor-Serving, NOT residential use). NO Limited STRs (Visitor-Serving, NOT residential use). NO Commercial STRs, they are the same as a Homestay, they too can be rented out for 365 Nights a year … ALL Vacation Rentals are Visitor-Serving, and they all take away from what very little housing we have here in Big Sur! Our Homes are for Residential Use, to house the residents of Big Sur who LIVE & WORK here … they are NOT meant for housing the “Visiting” tourist from India, Japan, Canada, France, etc., that visit us … that is what all the commercial hotel, motel, inns, and lodges are for – NO VACATION RENTALS in Big Sur. NO to Homstays …
Remember, NO VACATION RENTALS in Big Sur … NO to “Homestays” this is NOT a residential use like some people would like you to believe, this is actually considered “visitor-serving overnight accommodations” (a commercial use), the same nightly accommodations that are our hotels, motels, inns and lodges already offer … NO VACATION RENTALS in Big Sur!!!
One other thing … If all our Residential Homes in Big Sur (or just a few) are allowed to become Vacation Rentals (homestays, limited STRs, commercial STRs) they will still continue to “Take Away” from the hotels, motels, inns, and lodges. Think back in time, during the Hwy 1 road closure, and the Soberanes Fire these Vacation Rentals continued to operate at full capacity while the Commercial Lodgings establishments took a great hit, and lost thousands of dollars. What was interesting was while there was a threat of fire, or flooding or the lack of resources (hwy closure) these “Vacation Rentals” continued to rent out to the Transient Tourist, yet the Commercial establishments evacuated guest and closed down … So NO to Vacation Rentals – NO Homestays – NO Limited STRs – NO Commercial STRs – NO, NO, NO – Just say NO!