Visit Folsom reports visitor spending growth, credits marketing campaign for bookings

Visit Folsom presented the bureau’s FY 2024/25 annual report at the Feb. 24 meeting, highlighting visitor spending, employment and marketing results and describing programs designed to increase overnight stays.

Presenter Jody Franklin said visitors spent more than $38 million on accommodations in 2024 and that overnight visitor volume and spending rose modestly year over year. Marketing staff reported an 85% increase in website sessions and described a shift toward short‑form video and bundled hotel packages tied to marquee events that produced measurable bookings — staff cited campaign results that drove roughly 55,000 incremental travelers and more than 217 hotel nights from a regional campaign and reported 8200 clicks to hotel offers from a recent campaign.

Visit Folsom staff also summarized programs that support local events (destination support grants, transportation reimbursement grants, sports grant rebates) and noted outreach to feeder markets such as Reno and the Bay Area. Council members asked about the methodology for counting private‑home visitors and package performance; staff said phone‑location data and aggregated stay length are used to estimate private‑home visitation, and marketing metrics (clicks and booking conversions) are used to judge package effectiveness.

What happens next: Council thanked the presenters and accepted the report. Staff said they will continue marketing partnerships and return with program metrics and event‑support results as needed.