Meetings Are Back Live! | A Local Conversation with Brad Calkins, Executive Director, Visit Santa Rosa

Below is our interview with Brad Calkins, Executive Director of Visit Santa Rosa.

1.     Are there any special events or promotions that are on the horizon for your area?

For our leisure visitors, FeBREWary and our 6th annual Beer Passport launch our efforts for 2022.  We are also starting to see our artisan events start back up like the Cheese Festival and Wine Country Distillery Festival in March.  From there, events just take off all the way through harvest.

2.     With the recent surge of COVID due to Omicron, has this affected the projected meetings in your destination?  How has your destination been able to overcome these challenges?

We are working to overcome these challenges on two fronts.  At the end of last year we implemented a major meetings marketing campaign that will run through the first quarter of this year.  The campaign is targeted to the meeting planner primary on social channels with Linked In representing the largest effort. 

We are also working with our partners including Cal Travel and Sonoma County Tourism to educate government and health officials on how meetings and events can be hyper controlled with health and safety precautions.

As for the affect, we are currently in the process of evaluating the impact on our partners as this has both short term and long-term effects. 

3.     What responses from your Conference Planners & Attendees are you seeing with safety protocols / COVID requirements (i.e. masks, vaccination proofs, negative COVID tests)? Has it been more positive/negative?

The responses have been positive as the entire industry has worked together to develop and implement Covid protocols and standards.  Our goal has been to collect and share the information.  The one real negative response we have had is from national planners who have to navigate different rules from state to state and sometimes unique requirements from county to county. 

4.     What changes has your destination and/or Hotels made that you’ll continue to implement beyond the restrictions? 

We have worked more cohesively with partners outside the county in sharing protocols and best practices.  These efforts will defiantly continue as we have proven that consistent standards and messaging help everyone in our county and state.  When we are all united in our efforts, it makes it easier on everyone from the meeting planner to the attendees.

5.     What is your outlook for 2022 and beyond?

We are excited about 2022 and all signs point toward a positive trend for Q2 through 2023.  What energizes me is that we had three new hotels and over a dozen new restaurants open up in the middle of the pandemic that so many meeting planners and attendees have not had a chance to experience yet.  For those who have not had an event in Santa Rosa since 2019 it will seem like a whole new destination.

6.     Please feel free to share any other updates or information about your destination to our MPINCC Members.

We look forward to welcoming you to Santa Rosa! https://www.visitsantarosa.com/meetings