Sonoma Is Tasting Increased Events, Meetings Business

San Francisco isn’t the only choice for a northern California meeting. Business is booming for Sonoma County, with leads up by 7%, lead conversion up also by 7% and actual room nights generated by the Sonoma County Tourism Bureau up 25% over last year. According to sales director Mark Crabb, the bureau is getting more exposure due to the addition of a new sales manager to cover the Southern California/Southwest region. They’ve also gone after the social market, including weddings. “Since we are the only wine country in the North San Francisco Bay area that offers weddings at wineries, this has been an important piece of business,” he said.

Crabb also cited the area’s diversity of lodging accommodations, from campgrounds and value to high-end luxury as a reason meeting planners are attracted to the region. “It means that a Sonoma County meeting or event can be affordable for almost any budget. As the economy continues to improve, we expect our numbers to go up even more,” he said.

Another enticement to booking meetings in the area is The Sonoma County Incentive Program, which offers meeting and group tour planners a money incentive to book business in the area. Meeting planners who plan a meeting in Sonoma County receive a cash payment to the hotel master account ranging from $1,000 for 50-100 actualized rooms all the way up to $4,000 for 301+ actualized rooms. Eligibility is based upon new proposals, originated by the Sonoma County Tourism Bureau for multiple properties booked for one or more nights Sunday through Thursday. Cash incentives are paid to the master account within 30 days of the group departure. Groups booked in September and October, Sonoma Country’s high season, are not eligible for the cash incentive. Groups must actualize prior to December 31, 2011. For more information or to submit an Request for Proposal (RFP), planners can contact contact Susan Montes of the Sonoma County Tourism Bureau at sales@sonomacounty.com or (707) 522-5814.

Some of the traditional hotels in the area are experiencing big changes, according to Ken Fischang, president and CEO of the Sonoma County Tourism Bureau. He explained that the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn has undergone a complete refurbishment of all guest rooms and the Doubletree Sonoma Wine Country in Rohnert Park has renovated all meeting space and its golf course, and is continuing with its ongoing renovation of all guest rooms. 

However, like Crabb, he points to some of the more unusual venues as a lure for planners seeking something different. “Francis Ford Coppola is spending millions to open up new wineries with swimming pools so people can visit with their children. Others are putting together Do-It-Yourself wine hikes, either guided or independent, within the vineyard of a winery,” he explained. Many of the area’s wineries have sleeping accommodations, like the Vintner’s Inn, which is located on a 92-acre estate with 44 rooms and a 10,000 square foot event center, and larger groups can stay at the nearby hotels,” he said.

The Sonoma County Web site at www.sonomacounty.com/meeting/index, lists 20 wineries — the largest, Cline Cellars, offering as much as 8,650 square feet of indoor meeting space — and 11 golf courses as possible meeting locations.

More unusual still, said Fischang, are private villa and home rentals like the ones offered by Beautiful Places, which work well for executive retreats, board of directors meetings and team building for small groups. The collection can be seen at www.beautiful-places.com.  Villas range in size from two to six bedrooms.  Groups aren’t limited to just villa use, however — Beautiful Places can arrange activities such as hiring a well-known celebrity chef to conduct a cooking class along with a wine expert who will organize a wine tasting; inviting a renowned wine maker to join the group for dinner; involving participants in the harvest crush, or even racing cars at Infineon raceway.

KOA Cloverdale

At the other end of the spectrum are meetings held at a KOA campground, with locations in Petaluma and Cloverdale. Pamela Mendala, the owner of the 60-acre KOA campground in Cloverdale, about 90 minutes north of the Golden Gate Bridge, has been helping planners from printing companies, chambers of commerce, auto dealerships and even steel manufacturers use the venue for weddings and meetings for the past 10 years.  The campground features a commercial kitchen on premises that can prepare any type of meal service, a swimming pool, spa and hot tub, and meeting space to seat up to 100 persons at 8 foot tables that seat six apiece.

Accommodations sleep up to 90 persons, including nine lodges ($185-$235 per night) that sleep four to five persons (double bed, set of bunks and a double futon in the living room), and cabins that sleep four to six persons. There are also six tents furnished with sleeping bags, camp stoves and linens that sleep four to six persons, usually used by participants’ children while their parents are meeting. 

Mendala said that activities, such as swimming, hiking, fishing, basketball and miniature golf, are only limited by planners’ imagination and she’s brought in massage therapists as well as neighboring wineries to do wine tastings “to give it extra pizzazz.”  Mendala, who is also looking to sell the experience as individual incentive rewards, says that the advantage of meeting at a campground is “providing place for true relaxation while working in a beautiful environment, plus the ability to have families come along.  In addition, meeting planners can feel great about coming up with a unique idea. Air-conditioned hotel meeting rooms with plastic flowers have seen their day. This is cutting edge stuff,” she said. (www.winecountrykoa.com/)