Growth of the city's tourism industry dependent on educating regional travelers about Vacaville's tourism assets and growing family travel, shopping and special events markets.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (October 5, 2005) — Destination Analysts has completed a new study commissioned by the Vacaville Conference & Visitors Bureau that shows regional travelers widely perceive Vacaville as a safe, family-friendly travel destination, with easy access, good restaurants and great shopping. The results of the study suggest that Vacaville’s simplest path to growth would be to capitalize on these attributes, and develop markets for family travel, shopping, and special events such as sporting competitions and military reunions. .”

As part of its effort to support the city’s economy by increasing travel to Vacaville, the Conference & Visitors Bureau hired San Francisco-based Destination Analysts, Inc. (www.destinationanalysts.com) to conduct a branding study of the Vacaville market. “This study was designed to help us understand how potential visitors actually perceive the city now, and then from there, determine the most lucrative travel markets to pursue,” says Antonette Eckert, Executive Director of the Vacaville Conference & Visitors Bureau. “This study will serve as a benchmark and resource for our strategic planning as we move forward in marketing Vacaville.”

According to the study, Vacaville’s greatest immediate potential is in marketing the city for special events, family travel and shopping to travelers from surrounding regions like Sacramento and San Francisco, but its “Achilles heel” is these travelers’ very low-level awareness of things to see and do in Vacaville. “Prospective visitors just don’t know much about the many great things we have to offer in Vacaville. The potential is clearly there, and a great deal of excitement exists about the Nut Tree redevelopment, but right now we’re simply not on travelers’ radar screens. Our job will be to creatively use our brand attributes to educate the regional market about Vacaville’s many offerings, and get them here to spend money in our restaurants, stores, hotels and attractions,” says Eckert.

Research conducted for the report, Vacaville Market Assessment and Brand Audit, included three consumer surveys covering residents of surrounding regions, travelers planning a trip to Vacaville and visitors staying in a Vacaville hotel. Additional qualitative data was collected in extensive personal interviews of regional travelers. The full report is available for download here.

About Destination Analysts: Based in San Francisco, California, Destination Analysts (www.destinationanalysts.com (www.destinationanalysts.com) is one of the travel industry’s premier boutique marketing and research consultancies. Destination Analysts was established in 2003 to pioneer affordable, technology-based market research and marketing solutions for tourism and lifestyle-related businesses. The company’s portfolio has quickly grown to include Jackson Wine Estates, the Fiji Islands Visitors Bureau, the United States Forest Service, and DDB-Seattle. The needs of our clients are carefully analyzed and are the centerpiece of everything we do. David Bratton, founder of Destination Analysts, says it best, "Our entire reason for existing is to help our clients thrive, and our goal is always to provide them with affordable and innovative methods to make their marketing soar."