Tag Archives: Tourists

Tourist Season Outlook: Bad

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But year-to-date figures through May show occupancy rates of 58.2 percent for Monterey County, compared to a national average of 60.1 percent. Demand for hotel rooms for the first five months dropped 3.3 percent compared to the same time in 2007.

The county is showing slight growth in its average daily rate for a room, which rose 1.1 percent, to $155.90, through May. But the growth lags behind the nation, which averages $108, so lodgings here may find it more difficult to bump rates than a less expensive destination, said Bowers.

Unless you are listening to our own minister of misinformation:

Pacific Grove’s 29 lodgings were booked full by Friday, said Chamber of Commerce president Moe Ammar.

Baghdad Moe

Tourist Season Outlook: Bad

Revenue Idea! Charge Tourists For City Services

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(USA Today)

Send some of that out of town money to the city, too!

Police can spend hours working a crash at the expense of the village’s taxpayers, Police Chief Dave Willoughby said, even though none of its 2,483 residents caused the problem.

Now New Richmond and a growing number of cash-strapped communities large and small are billing at-fault out-of-town drivers and their insurance companies to recoup some of the cost of responding to and clearing accidents outside drivers cause.

Ocala, Fla., a community of 55,000, approved an ordinance last Tuesday that aims to collect more than $350,000 in annual reimbursements for police services. Larger cities, including Tampa and Boston, have expressed interest, according to Regina Moore, president of Dayton, Ohio-based Cost Recovery Corp., a company that helps communities bill accident-causers for police time.

Revenue Idea! Charge Tourists For City Services

Hear What The Winter Tourists Come For

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(Sacramento Bee)

Joke all you want about tourists from Modesto but they in my opinion are the most down to earth visitors and much more tolerable than L.A. refugees that end up wanting to move here.

They are looking for enriching experiences that don’t necessarily mean spending lots of money on big meals, paintings, fake country charm or pretentious hosts. They want to get away from home and go back with pictures and memories. Maybe a sweatshirt if they thought it was warm in the spring (hint: best souvenir sweatshirt is one from Mission Ranch, affordable and impressive).

Exploring Monterey during Winter

And there’s this: The tourists who crowd the peninsula in the high season will be absent. That means you’ll actually be able to tour the Monterey Bay Aquarium, find a parking space in Carmel, book a dinner reservation before 9:30 p.m. and ride on the Monterey Bay Coastal Trail without getting entangled in a six-bicycle pile-up.

Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
Santa Cruz Surfing Museum

Moss Landing
Pot Stop at Little Baja
Phil’s Fish Market & Eatery

Monterey
Monterey Abalone Co.
Willy’s Smokehouse BBQ & Grill

Pacific Grove
Little Chicken House
Lattitudes

Carmel
Pine Inn
Chez Christine
Church of the Wayfarer

On the way to Big Sur
Point Lobos State Reserve
Rocky Point

Hear What The Winter Tourists Come For

P.G. Caves To The Tourist ‘Organization’

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“You’ve got to pay to play,” said bureau president John McMahon, who added that the bureau has been holding up printing the 2008 tour guide and map to include Pacific Grove if the city joins.

Nancy Grech, owner of the Borg’s Motel at Lovers Point, was the sole protester on forming the Hospitality Improvement District, under which lodging owners would pay an assessment of $1 per occupied paid room per night for full-service lodging and 50 cents per night for limited-service lodging businesses. The money goes to pay for marketing and promotional activities.

“You gotta pay to play, eh?”

Orgainized Crime

P.G. Caves To The Tourist ‘Organization’

Aint More Tourists Grand?

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P.G. caved and paid the $100,000 ransom to the Visitors’ Bureau. So the tourists will once again be advised that P.G. exists.

Also

On a 5-2 vote, the council referred the street signing project — which proposes to route traffic up Grand Avenue from Ocean View Boulevard to Lighthouse Avenue in order to move traffic through downtown — to the city’s Beautification Committee.

Residents of Grand Avenue, here’s to your street becoming a tourist path – Why Grand? There’s a tight bottleneck at the library. Or is that “beautification” include paving over the park so the tourists can make their way to the phony charm for sale?

Grand Ave

Aint More Tourists Grand?

Graffiti Attracting Attention In Carmel

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It was about a six foot stenciled gentleman holding a camera, and he’s wearing shorts, it said, “Do movie stars live here.”

The graffiti vandal hit two other locations, including the Carmel Plaza with the written phrase, “where’s the beach.”

Carmel city hall was also hit, with a statement, “Thanks for taking care of tourists, before citizens.”

A $1 thousand dollar reward is being offered for information that leads police to the vandal, who they believe is a local person.

Graffiti Or Art

This might be drawing valuable tourists away from PG. Let’s invite the creator to PG and welcome the paintings. Maybe even have a Graffiti Walk, with wine sipped out of a brown bag wrapped bottle.

Graffiti Attracting Attention In Carmel

Tourist Trades Not Happy With PG Tax Plans

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Opinions of Pacific Grove residents and business owners were all over the map at a standing-room-only meeting late Wednesday, as the City Council considered whether to put a tax increase measure on the November ballot.

City Manager Jim Colangelo recommended that the council support a 1 percent sales tax increase that would generate $1.3 million annually and would end after five years. The increase would raise the city’s sales tax to 8.25 percent, the highest in Monterey County.

Several hoteliers who spoke are part of Citizens for Responsible Government, a group that opposes tax increases.

Citizens for Responsible Government? These are the motel owners that inflate the room rates to the maximum and require 3 night stays. Not that I’m saying they can’t be citizens too.

Tourists are stupid – they wouldn’t know the difference and just keep paying more for the phony charm.

Tourist Trades Not Happy With PG Tax Plans

P.G. Motels Robbing The Tourists On MotoGP Weekend

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On Monday, the phones at Monterey Peninsula Reservations were busy with visitors seeking last-minute rooms. The few rooms available were mostly because of cancellations, said owner Donna Ibens.

Two-night minimums are pretty standard, he said, and rates climb as demand increases. So while the county’s average room rate in December and January was $129, the July and August rate average last year reached $180.

“The prices are scaring people a bit,” said Ibens. “I’ve had a lot of calls and they don’t want to pay $300 a night.”

The least expensive rooms were $250 a night in Pacific Grove and Carmel, said Ibens.

These are the hotels opposing a tax hike? $500 to stay in PG for two nights? Ow!

P.G. Motels Robbing The Tourists On MotoGP Weekend

Substainable P.G. Will Not Solve #1 Problem

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Letters From The Editor:

Calling P.G. a green town is admirable, but this will not build up businesses. Most people simply don’t care, and are shopping for a bargain or an exceptional piece of art. Don’t wish for a tourist town. Wish for a town tourists enjoy visiting, a place that reminds them of a place long forgotten.

Say it louder. Cater to and take care of the locals and the tourists will want to be part of it. Take care of just the tourists and you lose the locals that may carry you through off season times.

Substainable PG Will Not Solve #1 Problem

Business Group Wants To Sell Town’s Soul

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When people near and far imagine Pacific Grove, there isn’t necessarily one image that comes to mind. And that’s a concern to business owners who want to draw more visitors and boost sales in America’s Last Hometown.

Another issue that came up repeatedly was the fact that the Monterey County Convention and Visitors Bureau no longer promotes Pacific Grove.

Nancy Holland, owner of Reincarnation Vintage Clothing in Pacific Grove, said she went to the bureau’s kiosk at El Estero on Sunday to investigate because she hadn’t heard a single foreign accent in her shop this summer.

She asked the person behind the counter whether there were any “cute little antique shops in Pacific Grove.”

“She goes, ‘I’m sorry. They don’t want to participate. I can’t tell you anything. I’ll tell you how to get to the border (of Pacific Grove),'” Holland said, adding, “Talking about these idea are all well and good, but if people don’t come here, we’re going to die.”

It these businesses sold something people wanted in the first place, they would be found.

When I tell business associates that I live in Pacific Grove, the image is one of beaches and hotels, not antique stores or even restaurants. Tourists come to P.G. for a quiet hotel room, and then go to Carmel or Monterey to vacation. Give P.G. back to the locals. Or pimp the town and build a casino or music hall.

Business Group Wants To Sell Town’s Soul