TOURISM: BRINGING VISITORS TO VISALIA

Having done my share of traveling around the world, I believe that Visalia has much to offer to tourists.  Not only is historic Downtown Visalia a draw, but visitors are attracted to our surrounding agricultural lands, national parks, sports venues, and lakes.  In order to get the word out and to attract more tourism, in the mid 2000's, Visalia formed the Convention and Visitors’ Bureau (CVB).  The mission of the CVB is to promote the city and region as a premier destination for both conventions and vacations.  Visalia and our region represent one of the best undiscovered values in the state in terms of a place to visit and conduct business.  The CVB is committed to increasing the strength of this sector of the local and regional economy and to helping grow those businesses that cater to it.  

The CVB’s board of directors consists of city staff, hoteliers, restaurant owners and entertainment venue owners.  The board meets monthly to discuss leads, to track industry events and share general information.  Visalia is a desirable Central California meeting location where attendees can “meet in the middle.”  Meeting planners and event organizers are truly beginning to understand the value of holding meetings centrally in Visalia, and that Visalia is a great option for statewide and regional events.  In more recent times, the CVB has partnered with the Sequoia Tourism Council and ten other agencies in the county, including cities, the National Park Service and the National Forest Service, to promote area tourism.

In 2011, CVB sales had the following economic impact--overnight delegate spending:  $2,848,284.00; day trip delegate spending: $5,120,595; and event organizer delegate spending: $396,700.00, for a total impact of $8,365,579!  According to deputy city manager Leslie Caviglia, conventions that have contracted through the CVB that will take place in Visalia between 2011 and 2016 include the CA State Firefighters Association, Team West Conference, American Society of Agronomy, AmVets, Great Western Fan Festival, Dairy Calf and Heifer Association, CA Order of Eastern Star, DX Convention (ham radio operators), Odd Fellows/Rebekah Grand Lodge Session, Cal State University Counselors Convention, Aloha Spirit Championships, and others.  More leads are pending for conferences involving church, dancing, sports and agricultural groups.

For more information about the CVB and what Visalia has to offer locally, go to visitvisalia.org.  This website can provide visitors, as well as locals, with ideas on what there is to do in this area.  Visalia is a well-kept secret, but it doesn’t need to stay that way!  Let’s get the word out and let others know what a great place this is to visit and to live.

THIS PLACE MATTERS

On Saturday, June 9, I had the privilege of speaking at the unveiling of a bronze plaque from Visalia’s Historic Recognition Program involving an 1870's era home located at 525 N. Court Street in Visalia.  This Queen Anne style home is all that remains of a street once lined with Victorian-style homes.  From the front porch of this beautiful home, at one time you could see the Greek revival style county courthouse (which Court Street was named after).  However, the 1876 courthouse was torn down in the 1950's due to earthquake damage, rather than being repaired.  Each time we tear down an historic building in Visalia rather than renovate it, we lose a little bit of the soul and history of our community.  This is one of the reasons why I recently voted in favor of forming the Home Builders Addition Historic District, to preserve an entire neighborhood of historic homes near Mt. Whitney High School.

Congratulations to the George and Irma Cisneros family for their faithful and meticulous restoration of this historic gem in Visalia.  Their family has lived in this home on Court Street for over 30 years.  This place does matter, as does each of our remaining historic buildings.

198 CONSTRUCTION DELAY

You may have noticed that the equipment and work on West 198 between Visalia and Hanford have come to a grinding halt.  The standstill was caused by discovery of nesting Redtail and Swainson hawks along the highway.  The new Highway 198 expressway was slated to be completed by August.  It is now hoped that the CalTrans crews will be  back to work later this summer, with the new completion date to be November 2012 or later.  These hawks were found nesting along seven areas of the highway, and a concern was raised that the noise of heavy equipment would bother them.  I’ve seen estimates that the construction delay is only costing our cash-starved state approximately $1.8 million dollars!  What happened to proper planning and common sense?

If you have questions or topics regarding the city  which you would like to have addressed in future articles, please email Warren at wgubler@ci.visalia.ca.us, or call (559) 713-4400 x 3313.  For past articles, visit directfromwarren.blogspot.com.

Warren Gubler
Visalia City Council Member