Excellent Year For Tuolumne County Tourism
Although the official revenue amount is not yet known, the number of tourists visiting Tuolumne County was one of the largestest in a decade.
Nanci Sikes, Executive Director for the Tuolumne County Visitors Bureau was Friday’s KVML “Newsmaker of the Day”.
The 2011 fiscal report compiled by the Visitors Bureau, will include the number of individuals who called and/or e-mailed the Visitors Bureau requesting more information about the services and attractions within the County.
Hotel and lodging numbers were up significantly compared to recent years.
Sikes attributes the strong numbers at the beginning of the year to a tremendous amount of snow fall. This brought snow skiers, boarders, snow mobilers and snow-shoe hikers up to the Sierra Nevada.
During the snow melt, the water falls in Yosemite were full and spectacular.
“And during the Spring, we hosted the International Pow Wow, which is made up of influential travel writers and those who have the ability to steer large amounts of tourists our way,” said Sikes.
Over the Summer, there were fewer forest fires than usual and the Visitors Center was able to open up a new location, by renovating a fire station in Chinese Camp to help capture Highway 120 travelers.
Looking ahead into 2012, Sikes sites the lack of snow as an immediate concern. The potential closure of Railtown 1897 is another large concern. Sikes is working with several regional leaders to help come up with a solution.
On the positive side, Sikes is looking forward to large events such as the Amgen Bicycle Race in May.
“We will have a fun marketing campaign that will target the Motherlode Round-up, the Amgen Tour and the nearby Calaveras Jumping Frog Jubilee, all taking place in May,” said Sikes.
The “Newsmaker of the Day” is heard each weekday morning on AM 1450 KVML at 6:47, 7:47 and 8:47am.
