The California Tourism and Travel Commission has a $20 million budget to market California to the world. The state funds are matched by assessments on member-businesses. The commission funds marketing efforts and works with local businesses through regional visitors bureaus.

[1] California Tourism and Travel Commission

The California Tourism and Travel Commission redesigned its online travelers guide. The site is a big improvement on the old site, and comes with a catchy slogan: California–Find yourself here. It has simplified the navigation, offering three ways to navigate the site:

• The 12 Regions of California
• Things to Do, and
• Getting Around

There are some additional navigation options at the bottom of the page, including a link for members of the travel industry and press. Best of all for the participating busineses, there’s a very good “reservation engine” for visitors who want to book their travel online. The website focuses on the traveler, not the travel industry. There seems to be a paucity of resources for businesses, and little information about cooperative marketing opportunities and other benefits of membship. The photo animation is too hyperactive and the order form for the 2007 annual guide is too long.

If website visitors make it through the form, they will receive the 2007 Visitor’s Guide, which was successfully redesigned by [2] Sunset Publishing.

[3] Northern California Adventures

The Redwood Empire Association has an attractive and useful website for travelers planning their north coast trip, from San Francisco to the Oregon border. There are any number of ways to navigate the site–by county, scenic drives, events, lodging, activities and destinations. One missing feature–ability to make lodging reservations directly from the site.

The association works with area businesses and community organizations to promote tourism by creating cooperative partnerships to marketing and promote the regionopportunities. The organization is focusing its marketing efforts on California residents because of [4] market trends.