■ City to take part in Sunset Magazine celebration for 2nd year

By Keri Luiz
Assistant Editor

As new Tourism Committee members attend their first meeting Thursday, they’ll face a full slate of items for consideration, said Mario Giuliani, acting Benicia economic development manager.

Among those will be the choice of a coordinator for a city contest and plans for Benicia’s participation in a regional magazine’s annual tourism celebration.

The committee, part of the Benicia Economic Development Board, will hear about the ongoing Visit Benicia contest, an effort to draw visitors to the city. The contest involves slips of paper found in restaurants and stores throughout town that patrons are encouraged to fill out, indicating where they are visiting from and how they heard about Benicia.

The data become part of a drawing “for an overnight stay at one of the hotels, and usually a $100 certificate for a spa or retail,” Giuliani said, and the business noted on the winning slip will receive a $300 credit for advertising through the tourism campaign.

“The whole point of this is for us to measure the effectiveness of our tourism campaign,” Giuliani said. “It’s one of the few ways that we can really get hard data on whether they’re getting it from radio ads or magazines, that kind of information.”

The committee is also gearing up for Sunset Celebration Weekend, an event hosted by Sunset Magazine in Menlo Park the first weekend in June.

“Sunset Celebration is something we did for the first time last year,” Giuliani said. “It is perfectly situated for our demographics as far as income levels and locations where people live.”

The committee will attend the event to hand out promotional materials. “We’ve got to gear up for that, so we are looking for members of the committee to serve in that capacity,” Giuliani said.

Other items on the agenda: an update from city staff on the status of the Business Improvement District and an update on state park negotiations. The committee also will select a chair and vice chair.

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