Few tourists would schedule several days to visit, say, the Reagan library in Simi Valley. But throw in the San Buenaventura Mission, Ojai artists' studios and the Salsa Festival in Oxnard, and you just might have a full vacation.
At least that is the logic of the Ventura County Cultural Tourism Confederation, which was formed to promote tourism countywide.
And it's not looking to promote just any sort of tourism. The confederation figures the county's history and culture might be the key to attracting more visitors and in the process improving the area's quality of life.
Amusement parks and sports teams are one way to draw tourists' dollars, but the confederation cites studies showing that cultural tourists--those who travel to museums and festivals, for example--spend more money per visit and stay longer.
The difference in this latest effort lies in its regional approach. Individual cities and areas in the county have marketed themselves, alone, sometimes in competition with each other. But the confederation sees greater success coming from cooperation, Chairman Ed Robings said.
"With cultural tourism, we on our committee have decided that the way to get a person to stay one more day in a hotel or visit us in the first place is . . . to tell them about the whole county," said Robings, director of the Ventura County Museum of History and Art.
"There's not enough to do possibly in any one city to keep anybody more than a day or two, but if you interest them in exploring the whole county, they might stay longer."
Across Ventura County, cultural tourism projects are springing up, such as Ventura's Chamber Music Festival and downtown redevelopment, Santa Paula's public mural project and Broadway shows at Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza.
A forum to discuss how the county can capitalize on cultural tourism will be held Wednesday at 4 p.m. at the old Camarillo State Hospital site, the future home of a Cal State campus.
Two consultants will speak and a presentation will be made on a confederation survey to be distributed to visitors at county attractions and hotels.
"The results of this survey will provide insights into just who is visiting Ventura County," said Ronda LaRue, whose company is designing the survey. "The survey will provide a seasonal profile of who visits, where they come from, what they do while here, their spending and so on."
Relating Tourism to Local Economy
