Discover San Ramon reports marketing gains, outlines events and internship plans for 2026

Discover San Ramon board chair Dennis Garrison and board member Candice Estell updated the San Ramon City Council on Oct. 28 on the tourism organization’s first year of operations and plans for 2026. The presentation described a new website and brand, partnerships with local hotels and Visit California, sponsorships of city events, and new programming intended to drive hotel room nights and local spending.

The board said Spritz Marketing helped relaunch the group’s website and logo, and that Discover San Ramon recorded more than one million Google search impressions since the rollout. The board reported a 42% open rate for its new newsletter and said it has sponsored or partnered on 16 events and activations this year, including the city’s Art and Wind festival and the Innovation Tri-Valley Game Changer Awards.

“We are creating experiences and ensuring that we are the concierge of the city,” Estell said during the presentation. She noted that all six participating hotel general managers serve on the Discover San Ramon board and sit on monthly meetings to coordinate marketing and sponsorship decisions.

Discover San Ramon described several initiatives tied to next year’s budget and planning. The organization said it has committed $5,000 awards through an Event Innovator student competition and that winners’ projects will be supported in 2026. The group also described a proposed partnership with a new minor-league cricket team (the San Ramon Grizzlies), an expanded Rise Forward internship program (extending from four to eight weeks), a planned youth summit, and exploratory work on a San Ramon International Film Festival and a Drones & Light Festival.

Marketing activities cited included digital and print placements with regional outlets (Diablo Magazine, Marin Magazine, Local Getaway), social-media promotions and hotel rate codes used to track room-night production. Estell said the hotels can track room nights generated by Discover San Ramon through dedicated rate codes and QR-code promotions tied to marketing campaigns.

Council members asked about measuring success and tracking visitor impact. Estell and the board said metrics include website viewers, newsletter statistics, and hotel rate-code tracking; they said hotels reported measurable room-night bookings tied to specific promotions. The board also said it is developing expanded regional advertising to target markets such as Los Angeles and Sacramento.

Public comment on the item included a resident who said he was satisfied with Discover San Ramon’s work and withdrew a prior request for further council engagement.

The council received the presentation and thanked the board for the report. No formal council action was taken.