The holidays are coming together nicely for us this year, starting with a bigger and better Community Winter Tree Lighting on Friday, December 2.  Lights, Santa and family fun will spill over into our neighboring city buildings at 3066 Highway 50, 5pm-7pm.  This is a community tradition and we invite all of you and your families.

The South Lake Tahoe TID, Heavenly Mountain Resort, the LTVA and Heavenly Village also pull out the stops for holiday cheer starting Dec 19 with Santa’s Workshop and culminating in a Eastern Standard Time New Year’s celebration with entertainment, music, fireworks and more.

Along with Santa coming to town, a new music event–negotiated by the City of South Lake Tahoe–takes on the night December 29-31, 4pm-1AM with 45 + bands on 3 stages at the Lake Tahoe Community College (outdoors).  The 3 day “SnowGlobe Festival” tickets are on sale now and are already the hot item.  Social media channels are buzzing, so look for sell out of this first time event.  We will support the event to supplement SnowGlobe’s own marketing efforts, so we hope you see additional reservation activity surrounding those dates.

We’ll be adding more detail to these events shortly.  In the meantime, think snow!

Carol Chaplin, Executive Director Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority

A huge thank you to all of the communities, businesses, sponsors, agencies, individuals and most importantly, the folks I was fortunate to work with on our Local Organizing Committee for the Amgen Tour of California.  While the Stage 1 Start was cancelled, the preparation leading up to the event was professionally executed.  Our destination was complimented on every aspect, beginning with the welcome to our community and ending with the clean up at the end of a disappointing day.  Although the thrill of seeing the world-class cyclists race through town – twice – was snatched from us by Mother Nature’s heartless humor, we can proudly say we rose to each and every requirement the ATOC hosting challenged us with.  And, without a doubt, the world-wide media attention received will afford the destination incredible exposure, yet to be calculated.

From the LTVA perspective, we have reporting work to do.  From the community perspective, we’ve stood up to be counted among premier outdoor recreation (cycling and otherwise) destinations, so what are the next steps?   While we are disheartened, the disservice would be to have a pity party.   This is a lemon to lemonade (or snow to snowball?) opportunity and we would be remiss not to capitalize on it.  This is when a little mountain town’s big spirit sings.  And while the cycling world’s interest is still piqued, we should be figuring out what the next verse is.

In the meantime, all of Lake Tahoe South Shore should stand up and take a bow.  This was a great dress rehearsal and each and everyone who dressed up and played a part deserves a round of applause.  Bravo!

Carol Chaplin
Executive Director
Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority

This will be a bullet-blog as its 5 days to the Overall Start of the Amgen Tour of California.  From my seat, here’s what I think are the important things to keep in mind this week:

Tell your work team members and your friends to plan ahead and expect delays on Sunday.  Go to ltva.org for our reader’s digest version of the delays.

Download South Shore’s very own free iphone app (Tahoe South) and tell your visitors to do the same for real time information on all that South Shore has to offer, including all of the events leading up to Sunday.

Events leading up to Sunday:  Gala and Team Presentation on Friday, May 13 at MontBleu Resort Casino and Spa.  Tickets are going once, twice and gone as of tomorrow, Wednesday, May 11.  Curtis Fong and Bike the West are our good partners on the Legends Participation Ride this Saturday, May 14.  Online registration is available through Wednesday, May 11th. Pre-Registered Participant Check-In and Late / Same Day scheduled for Friday, May 13, from 10am – 8pm, in the Horizon Casino Resort Convention Center.  Event Check-In and Same Day registration will re-open Saturday, May 14, from 6:00am to 7:30am, in the Horizon back Parking Lot C.   While you’re checking out the bike mechanics’ area behind Harveys, come by the Expo and say hello to your local business friends and sponsors on Saturday, 10am – 4pm and Sunday, 8am – 2pm.

You can’t get better than Rick Gunn, presenting his Around the World Adventure at MontBleu on Saturday, May 14 3pm.  And then it gets better, because it’s free!  Join us to get in the mood for Sunday when 18 internationally acclaimed cycling teams take the road!

As for roads and closures, the Highway 50 road closure information is on our app that you just downloaded and it’s at www.way2Tahoe.com.  Take a deep breath and it’ll be over before you know it.

I just know we’ll see the sun soon.  If you have any pull with the weather, please order it for Sunday!

Carol Chaplin,
Executive Director
Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority

It’s only a little more than 30 days to the overall start of the Amgen Tour of California in South Lake Tahoe.  Time flies when you’re planning for North America’s largest pro cycling event!  Are you ready?  Many of our South Shore businesses and organizations are.  And if you’re just waking up from a long (so long) winter’s nap, please come to the TahoeChamber.org’s and the LTVA’s annual Tourism Forum on Thursday, April 14 (5:30pm at the Horizon) to learn what it is, what we’re doing and what you might want to do.

This year, the Tourism Forum focuses strictly on the two events most important to this community:  ATOC and the Caltrans Echo Summit project.  Attend the Forum to hear about the work, the necessary 10-14 day full closure and the several-week partial closure.  It sounds scary for our fragile community, but the information we have for you may alleviate some of your concerns and definitely help you anticipate the event.

Speaking of closures:  please help us communicate to employees, friends, clients and visitors that the Amgen Tour of California Overall Start from South Shore and Stage 1 Finish at Northstar at Tahoe will cause traffic delays and closure to some portions of Highway 50/Highway 89 between 10AM and 2:30PM on Sunday, May 15.  Let’s not let anyone be surprised or inconvenienced.  Let’s plan around it, let’s run our errands Saturday or Sunday afternoon.  Let’s allow for more time.  Hey, let’s walk or ride our bikes!  Let’s make it a social opportunity, joining one of the many parties along the route.  Let’s celebrate this internationally renowned event being hosted right here in our home town!  Post it, say it, send it.  Let’s help our law enforcement agencies keep the road safe and clear for these elite athletes and let’s show the Tour that this is the best place for this event year after year.

Carol Chaplin
Executive Director
Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority

It’s been a blogless winter.  Time to catch up.  Check out www.TahoeAmgenTourofCalifornia.com for the latest on the Tour and the Overall Start here in Lake Tahoe South Shore on Sunday, May 15.  Only eight weeks out!  Come by the Amgen booth at the TahoeChamber.org Business Expo this Friday, March 25, 4-8pm at MontBleu and learn about opportunities, participation, volunteering, sponsorship, expo, events and more.  And the LTVA booth is right next door so stop by and learn about other ways the LTVA can help promote your business.  There’s lots of good information at www.LTVA.org.

The Caltrans website housing the latest information on the Hwy 50 Echo Summit project is live:  www.Way2Tahoe.com.  We’re looking for lodging offers for the 14-day closure period and beyond.  Send those to anne@LTVA.org.

Our 2011 (first run) Events & Entertainment brochure is in print and available for you and your guests. Let us know if you need a supply, or come by one of our Visitor Centers to pick some up.

Nineteen pro-cyclist teams will lap the lake in May and almost as soon as they race by in a peloton blur, American Century Golf will be upon us.  For the who’s who on the RSVP list, go to www.TahoeCelebrityGolf.com.  Special ticket prices are available to South Shore lodging properties.  Contact anne@LTVA.org for more information.   See you at the Business Expo!

Carol Chaplin, Executive Director

Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority

Congratulations to the Lake Tahoe team – a collaborative of LTVA, NLTRA and some passionate business partners – for success in the Host City award for the 2011 Amgen Tour of California!   You can read all about it and hear all about it today in your favorite media form.  And in the weeks to come, you can learn about opportunities to get involved.  Already, we have many to thank for their parts in the bid process.  We have many roles that will need to be filled going forward.  The Local Organizing Committee (LOC) is already up and running and is the official group that will be the liaison between the community and the tour.  The LOC will convene regularly and you will begin to find updates and information on community efforts and events surrounding the Amgen Tour of California on www.ltva.org.  Let the fun…and the work….and the rewards begin!

And if there was ever a reason to advertise in the LTVA’s 2011 Lake Tahoe South Shore Travel Planner, it would be the global exposure we are about to experience as a result of our Host City designation.  We anticipate a significant increase in interest in the destination, both domestically and internationally, and the travel planner is our primary fulfillment piece—both in print and online – for a potential visitor in the discovery and trip planning stages.  Act now as the deadline is October 15.  Travel Planner Sales Sheet.

It’s just a good news sort of day:

• the Aflac Iron Girl Sprint Triathlon attracted close to 500 first year participants and we meet next week to discuss year two.
• Hot August Nights is confirmed to cruise South Shore through 2013, with Sunday through Tuesday dates.
• Lake Tahoe Restaurant Week—another first year event—posted incredible results: Participating restaurants reported an average of 23% increase in the number of guest and a 20% increase in revenue, compared to the same time period last year;  24% of all guests ordered off the special Restaurant Week menu;  The public relations campaign generated $93,000 worth of editorial in regional outlets;  From here on Lake Tahoe Restaurant Week will start on the first Sunday of October.

For more information on these and other events in 2011, www.tahoesouth.com is constantly updated.  For opportunities related to events, don’t forget to check www.ltva.org

Carol Chaplin, Executive Director, Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority

Thanks, Curtis Fong, for another great Tour de Tahoe cycling event!  1,800 riders – most of them destination visitors staying and spending in South Shore spun through town this weekend for the ‘round the lake ride, boosting what is typically a sleepier September weekend for us.  I love this ride, and this year, looking at it from the LTVA perspective, I was careful to watch and listen to what these visitors were experiencing – some seeing the spectacular lake views from numerous viewpoints for the very first time.  I can’t tell you how many pictures were snapped, but the social media channels had to be on fire on Sunday with Facebook posts.  We forget how impactful our home is to those just spinning in and out, so hearing the ooh’s and ah’s made me smile and remember just how lucky we are.  And this year, Curtis brought another very cool element into the ride to support the National Youth Diabetes Research Foundation.  A monumental effort to sustain the Tour de Tahoe year after year and we appreciate how this event distinguishes and defines Lake Tahoe as a premier cycling destination.

On to other events – because you’ll recall that’s a major focus for the LTVA these days.  The inaugural Lake Tahoe Restaurant Week just wrapped up and initial feedback deems it a success.  We’ll have more information regarding restaurant activity soon.  In the meantime, initial conversations around the lake point to gaining momentum for year two and with Sample the Sierra, Lake Tahoe Restaurant Week, North Shore’s Autumn Food and Wine Festival and Harrah’s Lake Tahoe Food and Wine Festival, we suddenly have a month (or more) of culinary events to boast as a region.  Iron Girl, another inaugural, takes place on Sunday, with the swim of this sprint triathlon beginning at 7:30AM at Lakeside Marina.  If you’re a business operator in town, please be aware of the traffic plan in place for this event and tell your guests to share the road with 500+ women who will be riding and running in the Stateline area between 8AM and 11AM.  There will be no road closures.  Traffic lights will be set on red blink from Park Avenue and Highway 50 to Zephyr Cove. Uniformed officers will manage the intersections with lights and athletes will have the right of way. The bike course will run from Harveys Amphitheater to Cave Rock and back. The two inside lanes (lanes closest to the middle of the road) on Highway 50 will be barricaded and for bike athletes only. Business driveways and streets without lights will be staffed by volunteers to assist motorists. The run course is mainly on “Upper and Lower Loop Road.” The lane adjacent to Horizon, Harveys, Heavenly Village and the Embassy, Harrah’s and MontBleu parking lots will be barricaded and for run athletes only. Traffic will be one way, counterclockwise.   The map is posted on www.ltva.org.

And don’t forget Lake Tahoe Marathon week, neatly wrapping up our September sports events for this season.  Les Wright tells us he’s still accepting registrations on line for the numerous events peppering the week with fun and friendly competition for all ages.  With over 3,000, this event is undoubtedly a Tahoe tradition and draws visitors from all parts of the country – really.  I’ve been at the Expo and on the bus transport to the start line and it’s another great reality check about who’s digging into their pockets to enjoy a well-deserved getaway and an experience they’ll enthusiastically recommend to their friends.  If you’re a lodging operator, it should be a no-brainer that your website and your frontline staff should use these events to entice a perspective customer to come and partake.

Last but definitely not least:  our South Shore partners have an incredible and affordable opportunity to reach over 3 million travelers through our partnership with the Reno-Tahoe Airport and Southwest Airlines.  Southwest and the Airport celebrate a 20 year partnership in November and Spirit Magazine will dedicate its November 2010 issue to a Lake Tahoe lifestyle section.  The LTVA has negotiated a two page spread with 2/3 of a page featuring South Shore specific editorial.  The typical rate for this spread would be approximately $55,000.  The magazine is distributed on all Southwest flights across the nation and reaches an affluent audience with an average household income of $108,000

LTVA Partner Deal/Opportunity

Ad Unit: Logo and URL on 1/3 page vertical ad to be shared with up to 5 partners

Audience: 3,202,000

CPM: $0.31

Cost per partner to participate: $1,000

Added Value

Along with the special section in Spirit Magazine, Southwest will be hosting a celebration at the Reno airport on Monday, November 15th from 9am – 1 pm to commemorate the anniversary. The flights coming into Reno will be originating from the following cities:

• Las Vegas
• Phoenix
• San Diego
• Burbank
• San Jose

We worked with Southwest to create a customized added-value opportunity. The LTVA will reach the Reno-bound passengers at their originating airport when they are most receptive to our messaging. Travelers are a captive audience when waiting at the gate to board the plane for their flight, but when they land everyone is in a rush to get their bags and get out of the airport. By reaching passengers before they get on the plane they will have time to truly absorb the information.  Gate games, featuring Lake Tahoe South Shore trivia and destination prizes (overnight stays, activities, etc), will drive additional awareness for our partners.

The deadline for participation is Monday, September 20 at Noon.  Complete the insertion order today to take advantage of this terrific opportunity. Participation is limited to the first 5 businesses who respond.

Carol Chaplin, Executive Director, Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority

Taste of Tahoe was a sales event, executed by the LTVA Sales Committee and supported by Nevada Commission on Tourism and many of our lodging, attraction and retail partners. The purpose of the event was to identify key western region meeting planners and provide a first-hand, first class, South Shore experience resulting in relationships for future group and meeting business bookings. Only two months later, we know of at least 3 strong leads.

The RenoTahoe Meeting Co-op, promoting group business in the region, has enhanced its website with virtual tours of the properties able to host meetings and events. The Company contracted to produce the videos has been recently retained by Northstar-at-Tahoe and is offering a great opportunity to South Shore businesses to have a virtual video produced for only $1,200. If you’re interested, contact Mike Frye (mike@ltva.org) immediately to get on the list. Going, going gone on this one, so view the tours at http://rtmeetings.com/ and then contact Mike ASAP, as it’s happening now.

If you haven’t heard about the 21^st American Century Championship that just finished then you are among the few that don’t watch television, read major publications, listen to radio or get on line. It is truly a phenomenal event from every angle and there’s more to come on those. From local business involvement to corporate sponsors to celebrities to the biggest name in television – NBC Sports – it’s an event we all can take to the bank in more ways than one. Record attendance again this year put us over the 37,000 mark. And that’s with the Reno-Tahoe Open competing head to head and the California State Fair in Sacramento pushing dates back to conflict with the tournament. And the word on the street is that we’re all feeling pretty good.

Run Into Thin Air begins on August 12 and finishes August 15. Check it out at www.thinairdistancefestival.com and share the info with your guests. Last minute participants are welcome.

The LTVA is now accepting sign-ups for the Featured Property spots in our monthly e-newsletter. Only $400 gets you a month of front and center placement and the screaming deal is two months for $600. Act now!

And on the front burner for LTVA and TahoeChamber.org is an event cooked up for August 21 called Sample the Sierra. The first of events held “On the Run,” (Ski Run Blvd), in cooperation with the Ski Run Business Improvement District, which is a cooperative effort of El Dorado County organizations, growers, producers, and businesses to increase awareness of our region’s bounty, heritage, culture and activities through a market-to-table event. Natalie@TahoeChamber.org is the one to contact for more information on participation.

Hopefully you’re all seeing strong summer numbers at South Shore. The U.S. Travel Association today reports “Data Shows ‘Clear Evidence’ of Accelerating Recovery”.

Carol Chaplin, Executive Director, Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority

Sorry you missed the LTVA Board meeting last week. We caught a glimpse of our summer T.V. spots and they are great! You’ll have another chance, though. Join us for the Tourism Forum (co-sponsored by TahoeChamber.org) on Thursday, April 29th at the LTCC Duke Theatre for two jam-packed hours of what’s on the burner for this summer.

Did you miss the Lodging Association meeting, too? There were five presentations by our local attractions and outfitters, offering discounts and special pricing through these upcoming shoulder weeks. Definitely a way our lodging partners can attract those visitors looking for bargains. SoarNV, HeliTahoe, ARAMARK Lake Tahoe, Lake Tahoe Adventures and Carson Valley Golf. More details here

So, Austin Sass presented some great deals on late season snowmobiling at Zephyr Cove Resort, but you can ask him directly about those. What I want to bring to your attention is the Mark Twain’s Wild West Weekend he’s working on for June 12 and 13. He’s issued a challenge: come see how much cherry pie you can eat! Watching your weight? Then see if you win the crown in the Bold Face Liars contest! Got a secret chili recipe? There’s a cash prize for that! But wait, there’s more! If you didn’t have it on your calendar, it’s the 150th anniversary of Mark Twain’s death and his autobiography is released this year. Dinner and two renowned Twain authorities, not to mention a lake view backdrop at Zephyr Cove is the big treat on Saturday, June 12. Limited seating and you just don’t get this kind of content in this town, so jump on it! Plus proceeds go to help promote the literature and memory of this great American author. The icing on the cake, of course, is the Great Sternwheeler Race on Sunday, June 13.  Check out www.zephyrcove.com for this and more.

One more time: calling all restaurants for participation in Lake Tahoe Restaurant Week. Check out www.ltva.org for information, click on opportunities. Also on the .org site: sign up for opportunities to promote your business through our Facebook page. An inexpensive way to get to 35,000 people? Be our featured property for only $400. Yep, same drill, www.ltva.org. And last but not least, check out the .org site for the American Century Celebrity Golf lodging package ticket pricing. We can’t do it for you, but we’re sure trying to make it easy…

Carol Chaplin
Executive Director, Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority

     
National Tourism Week is May 8-16, 2010 and it’s more important than ever to recognize how important travel and tourism is to us! Help us celebrate our industry and our livelihood, and get national exposure as well, through our Tourism Week partnership with California Travel and Tourism Commission’s “Spend Tom” promotion. This is the best kind of promotion…it’s FREE to your business! All you have to do is be a California business willing to offer specially-marked $2 bills as change to your clientele when they shop with you. The bills will be stamped with the “SpendTom.com” website where the visitor can register where they received their “Tom” and how it was spent. This demonstrates how our tourism dollars generate revenue and create jobs. The visitor can also enter a contest to win prizes. You can view a short video of last year’s pilot program at www.SpendTom.com. For more info go to www.LTVA.org and click on “Opportunities”. Participation form needs to be completed and returned by March 30, 2010. Prizes for those who enter the contest are needed (certificates are preferred), please donate!

The Lake Tahoe South Shore Geocaching event will take place June 12-13 this year. Here’s another opportunity to showcase your business. Participation can be as easy as allowing a “cache” to be placed in or around your business. If you donate a gift certificate (Buy one/get one, $10 off, Free Appetizer, etc), you have the additional opportunity to generate visitation and spend. You know where to go now to find out more and complete the form…. www.LTVA.org “Opportunities”.

Want to know what the LTVA staff is up to right now? Here’s a snapshot:

Anne: Sending out the monthly newsletter to our 36,000+ opt-in subscribers. Leaving for Seattle to attend the Western Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus Destination Marketing Tech Summit (with a focus on web and social media). Anne applied for and received a grant for registration, travel and accommodations, so there’s virtually no cost to the LTVA.
Sue: Signing up businesses for the “Spend Tom” promotion. Leaving Wednesday for the Nevada Commission on Tourism’s Rural Round-up in Winnemucca. Did you know that Sue is the chairperson for the Reno-Tahoe Territory and has been asked by her peers to run for a fourth 2-year term? Just this morning, she hosted ten German travel writers and tour operators at the Nevada Visitors Center as they toured south shore and experienced first hand skiing, snowmobiling, dining and shopping.
Mike: Just finished hosting six top agents from Ski Max Australia. They are agents that have actually booked Lake Tahoe South Shore, but never visited. Forest Suites was their host property. They executed site tours of: Lakeland Village, Lakeshore Lodge, Inn by the Lake, Embassy Suites, MontBleu and the Ridge Tahoe. They skied Heavenly and Sierra. They got a taste of night life as guests of Opal at MontBleu. They absolutely loved the variety the South Shore offers.
Carol: Sue and I were invited to participate in the concepting process for the new California Welcome Center in El Dorado Hills. We spent a morning seeing the new facility and talking about how to highlight the region in order to stimulate visitation. I attended the SMG Technology Conference to get smarter about online advertising and social media. As part of a cooperative grant-funded project, I am working with the Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce on a geo-tourism centric, El Dorado County collateral piece for placement at events, in Visitors Centers and fulfillment, promoting a rich, regional experience. If you want more on geotourism, plan to attend the Tourism Forum on April 29th, Lake Tahoe Community College.

Carol Chaplin
Executive Director, Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority