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Visit Redding reports visitor gains, urges restoration of marketing budget
Summary
Visit Redding's director told council that website visitors rose 14%, ad impressions increased 25%, average length-of-stay rose 12% and repeat visitation was up 10% year-over-year; the director warned marketing budget cuts will show negative impacts over time and recommended restoring funds.
Danny Orloff, Visit Redding’s tourism marketing director, presented quarterly performance indicators showing growth in key metrics after the Chamber assumed the Visit Redding contract. He told the council that room-night metrics and digital indicators have improved: website visitors were up 14% and impressions on advertising were up 25% over the prior year.
Orloff listed additional gains and measurement approaches: average length of stay was up 12%, average nights per stay up 2%, repeat guests up about 10%, and Visit Redding’s social accounts gained followers (about 25,000 new Instagram followers) while earned media placement reached an audience measured in the tens of millions. “Marketing and advertising is the fuel for sales,” Orloff said. “Every dollar in marketing spent relates back to $21 in visitor spend,” he added citing a Visit California figure.
Council members asked whether recent budget cuts had produced measurable declines; Orloff replied the impacts were beginning to show as a slight downward trend and cautioned that PR and earned-media loss can take months to show fully. He requested the council consider restoring some marketing resources to preserve gains in visitation and hotel occupancy.
Orloff also noted geographic shifts in visitation, with increased drive-market traffic (Sacramento, Eureka, Reno) and fewer long-distance visitors, and highlighted the role of events and local attractions (Sundial Bridge, rodeo) in sustaining visitation.
