What is Visit California?

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How it works

Operating as a public-private partnership, Visit California is primarily funded by assessments on travel-related businesses, such as lodging establishments, attractions, and car rental companies. These funds support comprehensive global marketing and public relations campaigns designed to showcase California's diverse attractions.

Its activities include digital and print advertising, content creation like travel guides and itineraries, and collaborations with journalists, influencers, and tour operators. The organization also conducts and provides industry research to help tourism businesses understand market trends and opportunities.

Why it matters

Visit California's marketing efforts generate significant tourism demand, which directly benefits vacation rental owners by expanding the pool of potential guests searching for accommodation. By promoting specific regions, events, and activities, the organization helps drive bookings during shoulder seasons and brings attention to less-traveled areas.

Hosts can align their own marketing with Visit California's campaigns to attract travelers, for instance by creating blog content on their direct booking website that ties into a statewide theme, a strategy supported by platforms like Lodgify that enable hosts to easily manage their own site.

Examples

• A vacation rental owner in a lesser-known wine region sees an increase in bookings after Visit California features the area in its 'Undiscovered California' campaign.
• An Anaheim host uses the #VisitCalifornia hashtag on their social media posts to capitalize on the DMO's marketing reach and attract families visiting nearby theme parks.
• A property manager with cabins near Yosemite National Park references Visit California’s official travel guides on their direct booking website's blog to improve their site's authority and search engine ranking.
• The owner of a beachfront rental in San Diego offers a special package tied to a 'California Restaurant Month' promotion, attracting foodie travelers who learned about the event through Visit California.