SANTA CRUZ – Santa Cruz County tourists are a generally satisfied bunch, with 76 percent being repeat visitors.

But some feel hotels are pricey, which could pose a challenge to those trying to attract more first-timers who stay overnight and spend more money.

Those are a few of the findings from two surveys of visitors and prospective visitors conducted last year when the county was in the throes of recession.

The Santa Cruz County Conference and Visitors Council, which commissioned the surveys for $47,000 with local government support, sponsored a Wednesday briefing at the Seacliff Inn attended by 75 people working in tourism.

Maggie Ivy, who runs the nonprofit tourism agency on a $1.1 million budget, said the goal was to quantify the role of tourism in the local economy and to gain marketing insights, especially to boost overnight stays in seasons besides summer.

Hotels have already dropped prices in wake of the downturn to lure guests.

Countywide hotel occupancy was 51 percent at the end of 2009 when the average daily rate was $108, Ivy said, compared to 57 percent and $117 the year before.

“This is a very middle class traveler,” said consultant Lauren Schlau, noting the household income of $77,900 and hotel ratings that were high on service but not as high on value. “They’re looking at price and what they get for the price.”

One survey interviewed 706 visitor “groups” such as families or couples during spring, summer

and fall. About 60 percent of the interviews were in the city of Santa Cruz, at the beach, wharf or downtown, with the rest at other locations in the county.

“First-time visitors are mainly from other states,” said Schlau, describing them as “high yield” because they tend to stay overnight and spend more time and money than repeat visitors. “There should be a balance between first-timers and repeats.”

Repeat visitors tend to stay with family and friends rather than a hotel, she said.

About nine out of 10 visitors were from Northern California and 63 percent were day-trippers. Day-trippers spent an average of $97 per day compared to $252 for overnight visitors.

About 90 percent of visitors surveyed were satisfied with the variety of things to do and family-friendliness.

“This is one of the highest I’ve seen,” Schlau said, noting the rating for parking and traffic was not as high.

The second study consisted of follow-up interviews – 297 by phone and 1,190 via e-mail – to see whether people who had requested information from the visitors council had actually visited.

About 70 percent of those who inquired did visit, up from 57 percent in 2000, when the previous survey was conducted, but first-time visitors dropped from 32 percent to 25 percent.

Each day-tripper spent $63 on average compared to $775 for each overnight visitor.

Source: www.mercurynews.com

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