At a special city budget workshop Wednesday, chamber officials noted that they launched a new tourism program — Visit Encinitas — last summer with some initial city funding. Now, they want to “sustain and build upon this momentum,” Carol Knight, the chamber’s community relations and hip director, said.
“Let’s keep building something amazing together,” Chamber CEO Sherry Yardley said.
It’s important for Encinitas to keep a strong focus on tourism promotion because other cities have “aggressive” programs that may take business away from Encinitas, chamber tourism board chair Michael Glenn told the City Council, adding that he believes Encinitas is “late to the game” when it compared to other places, including Oceanside and Dana Point.
The chamber is asking for $65,000 for its new Visit Encinitas program, plus $45,000 to expand other chamber programs. This money would be in addition to the $40,000 that the chamber was already slated to receive in the coming fiscal year, which begins July 1, Knight said Tuesday.
“These funds will empower us to broaden our programming, enhance tourism marketing efforts to attract high-value visitors, and collaborate with the city to implement systems that ensure both short-term rentals and businesses are accurately ed — helping to capture and reinvest vital tax revenue and tourism dollars directly into the Encinitas community,” Yardley wrote in an letter to the city on Tuesday.
Knight said that in its first 10 months of operation, Visit Encinitas has produced a “Hello, Encinitas” series of videos celebrating the city’s best attractions, established an advisory board, and embarked on programs to promote good behavior by tourists.
Council told the chamber officials that they were receptive to their new funding request, but said they wanted more information before they would commit to it. Council member Jim O’Hara said he was worried about playing favorites, noting that the city has three other business organizations — the Cardiff, Encinitas and Leucadia 101 Mainstreet associations.
The chamber needs to justify why the city should increase funding to it, and “not to the others,” he said.
Council member Luke Shaffer said he could hear an argument in favor of giving the chamber the extra money because it represents businesses citywide, while the other organizations focus on specific sections of Coast Highway 101. Council member Joy Lyndes said she also could the request.
“I’d like to see them build even stronger programs,” she said.
Wednesday’s meeting was the second of two special workshop sessions that the City Council had planned to host before releasing the city’s proposed spending plan for the coming fiscal year. After discussions went beyond the two hours that had been set aside for the meeting, the council agreed to have one more workshop before the proposed budget document is finalized.
City Manager Jennifer Campbell said that staff now will add that third workshop session to the council’s schedule in May. Council must adopt the proposed budget by June 25, she noted.
