LAKE COUNTY — A new countywide tourism board funded by a special assessment on hotel revenues has hired a marketing firm to design a brand image and a unified marketing strategy for Lake County.
Visit Lake County California, the nonprofit that runs the Lake County Tourism Improvement District established last year, hired Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Cubic Creative Agency to conduct market research and develop a brand position for Lake County, said LCTID board member and Kelseyville hotel Suite On Main owner Brian Fisher this week.
The brand position, said Fisher, will communicate to potential tourists “who we are.” Fisher noted wine tourism, agricultural tourism and recreation are likely to play prominent roles in that message. A logo and written material that communicate this message will be part of the outcome of the firm’s work.
Cubic’s project also includes what Deputy County Administrative Officer Michelle Scully called “strategic marketing,” a data-driven process by which the firm will identify Lake County’s target audience, hopefully making for a more effective brand. “When you have a limited budget it helps to identify who your customer is,” Scully said.
Fisher said he expects the brand position to be forthcoming from Cubic toward the end of July.
“What we’re doing at the TID is the best plan that anybody has for tourism in the county,” Fisher added.
The LCTID “will be a major force in years to come,” said Lake County Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer Melissa Fulton, who said tourism improvement districts have been successful in bringing more tourism dollars to regions around California.
The LCTID was formed in October 2018 after garnering the support of the majority of lodging operators in the county. After the originally-proposed 3 percent assessment rate on lodging revenues was protested by more than 50 percent of Lake County’s hotel operators, the assessment rate was decreased to 1.5 percent. This won more than 70 percent support, but brought the LCTID’s predicted first-year funding down to $170,000.
Rachel Taylor, a representative of Civitas—a firm hired for about $65,000 by the county to develop the LCTID—said at the time that the funding drop would still leave room for the district to “see what can be done, even on a lighter budget.”
LCTID board chair and Twin Pine Hotel Director Larry Galupe said the district had $11,500 in assessment funds from its first quarter of operation, which spanned January through March. In addition, the district received $25,000 last year in fire-related tourism crisis assistance funds from statewide marketing nonprofit Visit California, noted Scully. These funds were used to hire Cubic.
To offer additional funding, the County of Lake plans to direct 30 percent of its transient occupancy tax revenues to the district, said Scully.
The nine-member LCTID board has gone through some changes since it was first seated in December last year. Representatives from both Lakeport and Clearlake now sit on the board, but local lodging industry leaders still make up the six-person majority.
The board meets twice a month at revolving locations. Its meetings are open to the public. The board’s next meeting will be held on July 16 at the Tallman Hotel in Upper Lake. More information about Visit Lake County can be found at www.discoveryourlake.com.
