Travel experts are predicting that 2015 will be the best year ever as 2014 data starts flooding in about tourism in the tri-county coastal area. Tourism is expected to grow by 2.1%, with Santa Barbara on the South Coast picked as the most popular destination. If you want to start a profitable career that is projected to keep growing, becoming a travel merchant in California may get you there.
Travel merchants looking to hit pay dirt will find a plethora of clients who want to vacation in Santa Barbara. According to the transient occupancy tax (TOT), the Santa Barbara South Coast saw a 7.4 percent increase in the daily rate along with a 3.5 % increase in occupancy since last year.
Kathy Janega-Dykes, Visit Santa Barbara President and CEO, projects that there will be a 6.5% growth in lodging for local hotels and motels. For the first time MMGY Global surveys show that California is the domestic ‘dream destination’ that many people want to visit. In fact, millennials ranked the highest of the age groups interested in visiting Santa Barbara. Not only is the city attractive to domestic travelers, international travelers are also expected to grow. Affluent travelers from Mexico and China, are expected to select the city to visit.
The new tourism business improvement district (TBID) Santa Barbara division, recently expanded its programs over the last three years. TBID funds are credited with allowing the market to remain competitive with other popular destinations like Los Angeles, and San Francisco. But Santa Barbara isn’t the only city in California that will see an influx in tourism. The Central Coast’s hotel occupancy levels are anticipated to be on par or better than the record years of 2006 and 2007. This means that travel merchants have a wide variety of cities in the region to send their clients on a memorable vacation.
This year is predicted to be one of the biggest years for tourism in California. Becoming a travel agent is quick and profitable in a hot market. The expert account managers at eMerchantBroker.com will set up your travel merchant account, for a low cost, low hassle account management experience.