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It didn’t take The Mamas and the Papas to start Canadians dreaming about California. Indeed, with visitation numbers from this country expected to reach pre-pandemic levels this year – and surpass them in 2024 – many Canadians are ready to turn dreams to reality again and return to the Golden State.

With this in mind a delegation of Visit California partners recently convened in Niagara on the Lake, Ont. to update the trade on the latest and greatest news from the state, with fully three dozen reps present.

The ‘Canada Sales and Media’ was designed to bring a bit of California colour to Canada, and share the state’s “free spirited, you do you attitude.”

But where to start in a destination that is virtually a country within a country and boasts beaches, mountains, deserts, canyons, Redwood forests, charming towns, and urban extravaganzas, along with new restaurants and theme park attractions, plus 127 new hotels since 2022 alone?

Travel Industry Today asked delegates of some of 20 destinations in attendance at the mission to come up with just one thing Canadians should know about the place they represented. Here’s what they had to say:

(Ed. note: This article will cover Los Angeles and points South. Stay tuned for Part II – north of LA and the North.)

LOS ANGELESMassive airlift to Los Angeles brings tens of thousands of Canadians through the City of Angels, which boasts more than 30 culturally rich communities and 120 km of shoreline. This year’s marquee headline is the 100-year anniversary of the famed Hollywood sign (photo), with centennial festivities planned throughout the year, reports Melissa Yunk of the LA Tourism & Convention Board.

SANTA MONICA

Locals call it “secret summer,” the Sept.-Nov. period when the weather is great and the high summer crowds diminish, says Santa Monica’s Canadian PR rep Sana Keller, who adds that there is no better time to visit LA’s “beach city,” which also makes an ideal base to explore the City of Angels.

MARINA DEL REY

Another great base in LA, located about 7 km from the airport, is one of the largest small craft harbours in the world with Marina del Rey boasting a quiet, peaceful, nautical vibe, says Kathrina Jacob of the community’s tourist board. An idyllic oasis in the mega city.

PASADENA

More than 20 km from downtown LA, Pasadena is known for its iconic Rose Bowl parade, the “little old lady from…” and the gang from ‘The Big Bang Theory,’ but it’s also a centre of architecture and gardening, says Christine Susa,
notably The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, the latter encompassing about 53 hectares that feature living collections in 16 stunning themed gardens with more than 83,000 living plants, including rare and endangered species, and a laboratory for botanical conservation and research.

BEVERLY HILLS

‘Happy Trails’ is a new series of urban walks designed to give visitors a curated look at Beverly Hills. Dubbed “a hike city lovers will like” by the Los Angeles enclave’s CVB, the trail features eight map itineraries designed to guide food lovers, history buffs, and arts and culture aficionados on a personalized journey through the famously fabulous destination. Trails include Caviar & Bubbly; Sweets & Treats; A Step Back in History; Scene and Be Seen; Red Carpet Ready Trail; Around the World’ Trail; An Artist’s Dream’ Trail’; and ‘The Great Outdoors.’ The ‘Happy Trails’ guide, which also features interactive QR codes leading directly to Google Maps for easy navigation, can be found HERE.

NEWPORT BEACH

Between LA and San Diego, is more water than land in Newport Beach, making it the largest recreational harbour on the West Coast, says Megan Johns. Besides water, the vibe is laid back luxury, but she adds, “We’re still a beach town.” Watch out for The Pendry, an ultra luxe hotel coming in the fall.

HUNTINGTON BEACH

“Surf City USA” says it all about the coastal enclave, located about an hour South of the LA/Anaheim area. So ingrained is the sport, says Jennifer Tong, that “adaptive surfing” is available for disabled persons, part of a more extensive program of accessibility that includes wider sidewalks, beach wheelchairs (free to rent), bike-to-shore Mobi-mats, and more.

TEMECULA VALLEY

More or less in the centre of the triangle bounded by LA, San Diego, and Palm Springs, Tecumula Valley is wine country – something most people don’t attribute to SoCal, says the region’s Annette Brown. More than 50 wineries thrive, many so close together as to make a walkable trail. And it’s great wine! she assures. Some of the wineries offer dining, accommodation, and special activities.

PALM SPRINGS

Made-up of nine communities (you’ll need a car), coming up with just one thing about Greater Palm Springs is difficult. But pressed, Laura Hunt Little says, “for Canadians coming, we are your best chance at a sunny, warm and dry vacation in California!” In summer it is hot, she concedes, but mainly in the afternoon, so visitors pay taking part in the outdoor-active lifestyle should use discretion.

First published at Travel Industry Today

Source

First published at TravelNewsHub.com – Global Travel News

Travellers may have little say on how climate crisis affects the places they visit and love, but they could play a more prominent role in helping them recover from environmental calamities if a bold idea by Jamaica’s tourism minister takes hold.

Edmund Bartlett has proposed the establishment of tourism “environmental fund” paid into by travellers in individual destinations with the proceeds earmarked specifically for recovery and resiliency in the face of ever-increasing weather events like hurricanes, drought, coastal erosion, or even human degradation.

And while some proponents believe that travellers “should” pay, Bartlett says any such fund would be strictly voluntary and at the district of the donor. And it would occur at “point of contact,” not as an add-on during the booking process or upon arrival.

Speaking at the recent Caribbean Travel Marketplace in Barbados, Bartlett called the climate crisis the “elephant in the room” for many countries in the tourism-dependent region, namely if tourists can’t or won’t go to a destination – or it can’t accommodate them because of, for example, a hurricane – then an island’s entire economy could virtually shut down.

And while the Caribbean is a highly vulnerable region, the “environmental fund” is a global initiative being championed by the Bartlett-led Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre, founded in 2018.

In an interview with Travel Industry Today, Bartlett said the fund was “more than an idea,” and had been recently discussed with tourism partners in the Middle East.

He said it would next be raised at a G20 conference on sustainability.

Acknowledging that the management of such a fund could easily get bogged down at the international level, he envisions travellers being invited to participate locally, every time they “have a cup of tea or glass of milk.”

“What we want,” he said, “is an understanding among the tourist customer to take a personal responsibility for managing a donation to enable planet change ambition that will take you to, not net zero, but net possibility.”

He added that the fund is “strong idea that is born of your own commitment to a cause. It’s not about being induced by somebody – not a supplier saying to somebody, ‘do you care to?’ You will walk in and by virtue of your own consumption habit leave something behind.”

Without “inducement,” Bartlett said education would be the key to success of the fund, including partnerships with large and small tourism companies to spread the word.

“You don’t want a law (or) a set of international rules to govern it,” he continued. “What you want is an internal sense of doing something to reduce your carbon footprint.”

CHTA president Nicola Madden-Greig believes the fund would be a hit. “I think there are persons out there who would do that… People across the world who would want to contribute,” she said.

The fund would ultimately guarantee a resource for the recipient destination – “where the visitor actually goes and does the damage to nature and… benefits from trees being cut down, so new trees can be planted; and utilizes the sanitation system, and so on,” said Bartlett. “What we’re talking about is, ‘I have a footprint and I pay for it.’ And what I’m paying for is what I can afford and what I can voluntarily do. But I must do something!”

“My take on it,” Bartlett concluded, “is tourism must take the responsibility (to lead the fight against climate change), not (leave it) to someone else. It’s a recognition by all of us that there would be no tourism if we don’t take responsibility. It would not exist… if climate change overtakes us, and the beaches are gone.

“The fund is a tourism response to the need for climate management and to provide the resources to countries mitigate, manage and recover from these disruptions.”

First published at Travel Industry Today

Source

First published at TravelNewsHub.com – Global Travel News