TV boosts tourism

The summer tourist season in Laguna was brisk this year, with

visitors from far and near traipsing into town to experience Laguna’s

art venues, beaches, restaurants and hotels.

Veteran merchants also took note of a new attraction driving

trade.

The TV shows “The OC” and “Laguna Beach: The Real OC” have made an

undeniable impression on fans seeking to experience the stomping

grounds of their favorite cast members and perhaps meet the stars in

person.

“The TV shows help,” said Bruce Baltin, senior vice president of

hotel consulting firm PKF Consulting.

Judy Bijlani, the Laguna Beach Visitors and Conference Bureau’s

executive director, reports “a very good season,” with over 3,000

visitors passing through its office.

“In many cases the teen was driving the visit for the family,”

said Bijlani, whose firm dispensed fliers illustrating filming

locations of the shows.

George Nelson, owner of Fawn Memories, said his shop had one of

its best summers in 31 years.

“The shows have been an excellent marketing tool,” said Nelson,

who sells T-shirts fashioned after the shows. Nelson has also begun

selling his goods online in response to demand from Internet

shoppers.

“We always get questions about Steven and Kristin,” said Amy

Leece, an employee of Fawn Memories. “The shirts are our

biggest-selling items.”

Javier Sosa Jr., manager of Javier’s Mexican restaurant on Coast

Highway, is often asked by tourists if people from the show come in,

and the answer is, “Yes, they do.”

Sosa said his flow of business is not affected too dramatically by

the tides of tourism, but he definitely sees a more local clientele

in the off-season.

According to Bijlani, another theme of the season was a higher

turnout of Europeans. An inviting dollar/euro exchange rate is a

likely driver.

While the TV programs may have brought in a new crop of

sightseers, it was business as usual for the local artists who make

the bulk of their sales during the tourist season.

Iris Adam, a local plein-air artist, said she had a “happy year”

after selling two of her biggest pieces.

The attendance and gross profits at Art-A-Fair were said by Adam

to be slightly down from a year ago, but it was generally believed to

be a good year.

“We are very grateful for tourism, and mainly people who visit to

spend money,” said Adam. “You never know what to expect each year.

Anyone can have a bad year. You wonder if it’s the subject matter or

colors, but you can never tell.”

Sawdust Festival spokeswoman Rebecca Meekma said her organization

doesn’t keep track of art sales due to the fact that no percentage is

collected from exhibitors, though she felt she saw some success from

new artists.

Illustrator Laurel Meister did far better than expected, seeing

her “best two months of sales ever.”

“People liked me because I was new [at Sawdust]”said Meister,

whose child-oriented illustrations of ballerinas and boys riding

dragons sold well with adults as well.

Meekma, who has been with the Sawdust Festival for five years,

said she had a smooth-sailing festival, with few complaints.

Sharbie Higuchi, spokeswoman for the Festival of Arts and Pageant

of the Masters, agreed that this was an excellent year for both.

“2005 was a phenomenal year for both the Festival of Arts

exhibition and Pageant of the Masters,” Higuchi said. “The Pageant of

the Masters show, ‘On the Road,’ not only sold out but also received

rave reviews from even the most critical of arts reporters. Art and

merchandise sales were brisk, and over 216,000 attended both the

festival and pageant.”

While irritation over heavy traffic and parking has been a staple

of the summer season, it goes hand-in-hand with increased business.

Laguna Beach City Manager Ken Frank said that “traffic seems worse

every year.”

As for whether increased traffic translated into bigger profits

for local businesses, this won’t be known until the quarter ends

September 30 and sales taxes are tallied.

The city’s free trolley reported its 13th consecutive season of

increased activity, with ridership up 15% from last year to some

351,000 passengers.

“The basic levels of service were the same as last year, though we

did extend our service five blocks south to the South Coast Medical

Center,” reports Bill Liebel, deputy director of public works.

South Orange County hotels in general have reported a higher

occupancy rate than last year.

According to Baltin, occupancy for south Orange County in July

came in at 83%, compared to 80% a year ago. Batlin sees this as “a

very healthy number.” August’s figures have not yet been compiled.

“Coastal resorts are continuing to take hold,” said Baltin, who

cites the Montage Resort in Laguna Beach as a premier destination

point.

“We’ve had a phenomenal year,” said Montage Resort business center

manager Chris Loidolt. “Our guests are very appreciative of the

unique aspects of Laguna Beach and the arts.”

Loidolt said her resort’s rates continue to increase as it

maintains a high booking rate throughout the year. “We see more of a

leisure group during the summer, but we’re always busy.”

Whether rising gas price prices put a damper on tourism is still

up in the air.

According to Skip Hull, vice president of full-service marketing,

economics and survey research firm CIC Research of San Diego, “It’s

too early to measure the effect of higher gas prices, as much of the

data concerning the issue is 60 days old.”

Chevron gas station manager Richard Carey believes there was a

notable surge in traffic this season, though he claims there was

little in the way of complaints over higher prices.

Carey said, “We don’t make any more money when the prices go up.”

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Is the city doing enough to foster tourism? Write us at P.O. Box

248, Laguna Beach, CA, 92652, e-mail us at

[email protected] f7or fax us at 494-8979. Please give

your name and tell us your home address and phone number for

verification purposes only.