LTVA Bulletin – January

Welcome to the first South Shore Bulletin brought to you by the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority. Our goal is to highlight tourism trends, strategy, initiatives, and programs that increase visitor awareness, support our community and environment, and strengthen our economy.

Public Relations Update

In its 25th year, Operation Sierra Storm is a cutting-edge meteorological forum and seminar for network television meteorologists from around the country. The Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority and the Tahoe Douglas Visitors Authority are the main tourism agency sponsors of the event which happens January 9-12, 2022. During the conference, leading scientists and experts discuss newsworthy topics, trends for today and the future. The attendees are treated to a first class destination familiarization experience that the meteorologists incorporate into their live broadcasts showcasing the south shore’s spectacular scenery, amenities, hotels, restaurants and activities. Since these broadcast personalities have large followings, the stories generated result in millions of impressions to key visitor markets. The notoriety of these meteorologists offers our destination an endorsement that we literally cannot buy.

Marketing Update

In the fall the LTVA started a brand health and strategy exercise which continues. This exercise kicked off with stakeholder interviews, long and short form surveys, a brand workshop, and a vision and goals meeting. We also executed in-market ethnographies, 1:1 interviews with locals and visitors, social listening, and a quantitative survey with over 1,000 contributors. The foundation of the marketing strategy is to create a positive image and unique destination identity –the brand– and our goal is to grow that brand in target markets, generating awareness and desire to visit.

With our integrated marketing services agency, Noble Studios, we continue our ‘Clearly’ winter digital advertising campaign in key source markets including Sacramento, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Seattle. These markets index high for our destination and represent both close in markets for impulse/quick getaway travel and farther out markets for longer stay and higher spend trips. Through channels and partners including Google Search, Google Display Network, Facebook/Instagram, YouTube, and Connected TV, our target audiences include the Affluent Adventurer, Outdoor Enthusiast, Entertainment Seeker in addition to traditional remarketing.

Sales Update

The LTVA’s Director of Leisure Sales, Juraj Sojka, braved the snow to attend the California Society of Association Executives (CalSAE) Seasonal Spectacular event, December 14-15, in Sacramento, California. Also in the Tahoe South booth: Tahoe South Events Center’s General Manager, Kevin Boryczki, Ashley Middlebrook from The Coachman Hotel, Katie Baumruck from Tahoe Ridge Resort, Drew Phillips from The Landing Lake Tahoe Resort and Spa, and Kelsey Weist from Clearly Tahoe. Seasonal Spectacular is one of the biggest events of CalSAE that connects association and meeting planners from northern and southern California with meeting and event venues, lodging properties and activities. This event consists of a trade show, one-on-one appointments between planners and exhibitors, and multiple engaging and networking opportunities over the course of the event.

Juraj also participated in a virtual Brand USA Marketplace focused on Asia and the Pacific, where he conducted 22 one-on-one business meetings with tour operators and travel agencies from India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The purpose of the marketplace was to help with international travel and tourism recovery, product and itinerary development, and rebuilding relationships with existing and potential clients that sell Lake Tahoe in their markets.