By Keri Luiz
Assistant Editor

Sunset Celebration Weekend came and went earlier this month. On Thursday the Benicia Tourism Committee will be briefed on what the event meant for the city.

A gathering of representatives from various cities organized by the regional magazine Sunset, the event took place in Menlo Park on the weekend of June 2-3.

The weekend was “outstanding,” said acting Economic Development Manager Mario Giuliani. “The weather was fabulous. We had about 280 drawing entries (for a raffle) on Saturday, and 240 for Sunday.”

The raffles offered gifts such as glass art by Micheal Nourot and David Lindsay and gift baskets with a variety of items from First Street merchants. The heavy participation led to the collection of information on potential visitors, Giuliani said.

Benicia was featured in the June 2011 issue of Sunset magazine, and the city was invited to the magazine’s annual weekend event in Menlo Park for the first time last year.

This was the second year the city participated in setting up a booth and “selling” Benicia to a large prospective regional audience.

“It was a great two days to interact with potential visitors to Benicia,” Giuliani said.

In other committee business, the last of the slips for the Visit Benicia Spring 2012 Contest will be collected. Participation was “modest,” Giuliani said.

“I think with peoples’ schedules there just isn’t that high of an interest on the street to push the contest,” he said.

And while it will be on the agenda for the committee’s July meeting, Giuliani said he wants members to start thinking about the 2012-13 Work Plan.

Goals of the 2011-12 Work Plan were participation in the Sunset Celebration Weekend, the Visit Benicia Quarterly Contest, coordination of bus tours and monthly representation reports.

Now, Giuliani said, is a good opportunity for the committee to start thinking about goals for next fiscal year.

“There are certain things to think about. I certainly think that continuation of the Art Walk will be one of them, continuation of Sunset — things for the group to invest their efforts an energies.”

Also Thursday, updates on the Business Improvement District, state park negotiations, tour coordination and Art Walk will be heard.

If You Go
The Tourism Committee will meet Thursday at 9 a.m. in Room 1 at the Benicia Community Center, 370 East L St.

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