Salinas heritage partners press city for signage, depot fixes as tourism numbers climb

Presenters Denise Estrada and Craig Kaufman told the Salinas Historic Resources Board at its November meeting that a regional heritage-tourism effort centered on a Salinas City Heritage Park and the California Welcome Center is drawing more visitors and could boost overnight stays. "For the month of October, last year we saw 536 people; this year we've seen over 800," Kaufman said, citing the center's door tally. He added that welcome-center visitors stay about 1.6 additional nights in the area, a figure the group uses to show tourism-improvement-district impact.