California remains the top choice for Canadians travelling to the U.S., Visit California officials say.
“We’re the number one travel destination in the U.S.,” Andrew Levine of Development Counsellors International, a media relations firm that represents the state, said at a Visit California event in Toronto on Monday, April 4.
A January 2022 study found that the likelihood of Canadians visiting the Golden State was up 46.6%.
“The engine of travel is restarting,” Levine said.
Air Canada and WestJet fly from Canadian cities to California, as does Swoop and Flair. Canada Jetlines is expected to arrive soon, as is Air Transat. There’s also a chance Porter Airlines will use their new jets to fly to California in the near future.
Twenty two delegates from 16 California destinations gathered in downtown Toronto for a lunch and a series of one-on-one meetings with travel writers and the travel trade. That was followed by a cocktail reception at a posh event space overlooking the downtown core.
I caught up with a half-dozen tourism representatives during the event. Here are some regional highlights.
MONTEREY
Pacific Grove is a lovely town just west of Monterey, California. JIM BYERS PHOTO
The River Road Wine Trail highlights great wineries in Monterey County between Salinas and King City. There’s also a new show at the world-renowned Monterey Bay Aquarium called Into the Deep, which highlights creatures from the deepest part of the bay and other areas of the world’s oceans. There’s also a new, par-three golf course at Pebble Beach called The Hay, designed by none other than Tiger Woods.
SAN DIEGO
This is a terrific city with wonderful beaches, fabulous food and tasty craft beer. The San Diego trolley can now take you quite close to the airport and all the way out to the beaches of fabled La Jolla, where you’ll find great shopping and the wonderful La Jolla Playhouse, which often premieres top world plays (including Come From Away). Northpark is a booming area near the San Diego Zoo, with great shopping, bars and restaurants.
NAPA VALLEY
Hotels in the Napa Valley are earning revenue at 98% of 2019 values, I was told. “We’re getting higher and higher occupancy every week.” Wineries, of course, are very popular. Would-be visitors are advised to consider making reservations, which will guarantee you a tasting time and also provide a more intimate experience. There are more than 400 wineries open to the public. It’s a relatively new Four Seasons resort outside of Calistoga, a great town in the northern part of the valley. Here’s a story I wrote about the valley a couple years ago.
GREATER PALM SPRINGS
The Westin Rancho Mirage Golf Resort & Spa. JIM BYERS PHOTO
The Westin Rancho Mirage Golf Resort & Spa, formerly the Westin Mission Hills Golf Resort & Spa) recently finished a $15 million USD renovation, which includes a great set of waterslides at the free-form pool and an outdoor kitchen. I had the good fortune to stay there last month and loved it. Look for a new surf/wave pool at the Palm Springs Surf Club this year. Come November, they should be opening the new, 10,000-seat Acrisure Arena. The arena will be home to the Coachella Valley Firebirds fo the American Hockey League, a farm team for the NHL Seattle Kraken. They also will have musical acts in residence, so definitely look for that. The Agua Caliente Cultural Plaza will open later this year with a 48,000-square-foot museum dedicated to the Agua Caliente Indians, as well as a 40,000-square-foot spa with a garden and outdoor mineral pool.
VENTURA
This is an up-and-coming coastal town/small city between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. With just around 110,000 residents, Ventura is big enough to have a nice, walkable downtown but not so big as to have urban traffic jams. There’s also a terrific beach and great hiking and cycling opportunities. You’re only about 90 minutes from the Channel Islands, where you’ll find national parks that feature awesome kayaking and walking/hiking trails.
YOSEMITE/MARIPOSA COUNTY
Most folks have heard of the amazing Yosemite Valley, with its impossibly rugged mountain faces, deep green meadows and towering waterfalls. But Mariposa County, which includes much of Yosemite National Park, has tons of other offerings. Coulterville is a cool, Gold Rush town that feels like the set of a western movie, while the town of Mariposa has fun, lively bars with live music, such as The Hideout. You can go rafting on the Merced River in spring, or try fly fishing or tubing when the water settles down in summer or early fall. There also are several small museums that outline the area’s colourful history.
