LTVA Bulletin – March

Welcome to the March edition of the 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.

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The Reno Tahoe International Airport, only one hour away from Tahoe South, wants to hear from you! Please take a few moments to help RTIA make this the best airport it can be and be eligible to win a $250 gift card!

Public Relations Update

LTVA works with partners to host media on assignment to reinforce various story angels with tailored first-person experiences. This winter a handful of media have already produced content with more visits scheduled for this spring.

This was a co-op effort with Visit California: @themomtrotter. Here’s results from hosting Monique / My Perfect Itinerary to inspire winter visits from Las Vegas as well as Alison Bailin Batz highlighting California markets with FabulousCalifornia.com on where to stay, play and dine. In addition, ongoing media relations, pitching and working with journalists help to result in articles such as the LA Times.

Marketing Update

LTVA President and CEO, Carol Chaplin, Noble Studios Client Success Manager, Erin Stiehler, and LTVA Director of Marketing and Conference Sales, Stuart Maas holding a Poppy Award.

The Lake Tahoe-Truckee region was recognized in five categories and six awards at the Visit California Poppy Awards, more than any other regional destination in the state. The event was held in San Francisco, Feb. 15, 2022, honoring the best and brightest of California tourism during the conclusion of Visit California’s Outlook Forum Conference.

The Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority and the Incline Village Crystal Bay Visitors Bureau, executed by Noble Studios, were recognized for Best Paid Social Media Campaign with their “Trade Texas for Tahoe” campaign. The VCB’s launched a cooperative digital effort that focused on driving consumer interest and travel to the region through a comprehensive paid media and promotional plan, leveraging nonstop flights from Dallas and Houston to Reno. Efforts resulted in more than 26 million impressions, exceeding industry benchmarks for performance. The landing page for the campaign totaled 66,000 sessions and 55,000 users and earned 5,000 partner referrals.

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At the direction of the South Lake Tahoe Tourism Improvement District, the LTVA issued an RFP on February 16, 2022 inviting event promoters to submit bids for a 3-day music festival over Memorial Day Weekend 2022.

Sales Update

Director of Leisure Sales, Juraj Sojka, recently participated in another virtual Brand USA Marketplace, this time focused on the UK and Europe, where he conducted 16 one-on-one business meetings with tour operators and travel agencies from the UK, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, and the Netherlands. 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.

Go West Summit, a premier travel trade conference and marketplace concentrating on the American West, took place last month in Reno, where Juraj Sojka and Tony Lyle had a chance to represent our destination. It was an in-person event with over 300 participants that included top-rated international and domestic tour operators, media, and US suppliers. Lake Tahoe’s south shore was properly re-introduced to all interested operators during 45 one-on-one appointments, conducted over three days. With the cooperation of the RSCVA, pre and post-familiarization tours took place, which included the true Lake Tahoe experience for buyers ensuring the proper future product interpretation to the curious and eager travelers.

Did You Know?

• Honolulu, HI, Phoenix, AZ, and Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX were listed as the top three visitor source markets visiting South Lake Tahoe outside of California or Nevada in February. 
• Grocery Stores/Eating Places & Restaurants made up the largest part of visitor spending in tourism categories at 47% in February. 
• The Tahoe South website saw over 208,000 sessions with more than 161,000 new users during the month of February.

The Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority is powered by the South Lake Tahoe Tourism Improvement District and the Tahoe Douglas Visitors Authority.