Southern California's Gold Coast is a magnet for leisure and business travelers.

If 2003 was the year of the new resort in Southern California, 2004 is the year that will mark their coming of age. From Santa Barbara to San Diego and inland to Palm Springs, resorts that debuted or unveiled renovations last year are finding their niche in a competitive marketplace. It's not surprising that most are performing well.

According to Hendersonville, Tenn.-based Smith Travel Research, the luxury hotel sector has outperformed other sectors for more than a year and no end is in sight.

"Year-to-date revenue per available room is up 12% in the luxury sector," said Jan Freitag, research director at Smith Travel Research.

"There are very positive signs," he said.

According to the most recent American Express Leisure Travel Index, the number of U.S. travelers planning to spend more than $5,000 on a vacation this year is 11%, up from just 6% in 2003. On average, the survey said, travelers expect to spend about $3,000 on a vacation this year, up 37% from $2,200 in 2003.

But it's not just loosened purse strings and higher consumer confidence that drive people to Southern California resorts. Southern California has unique attributes that are a magnet for visitors, even in an age when more cities, counties and states are taking a proactive stance in frying to draw tourist business.

California still ranks second among leisure travelers as a place they want to visit, said Peter Yesawich, partner in the Orlando marketing firm of Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Rusell (YPB&R)

"It's a destination with great appeal," he said.

"Its variety is very appealing and truly remarkable with sophistication in places like San Francisco and Los Angeles, family destinations like San Diego, the Hispanic influence and a rich cultural landscape," he said.

In short, it has a culture and lifestyle that people want to experience.

That might mean dining in Beverly Hills, shopping Rodeo Drive in search of stars or riding dune buggies in the desert. It can mean sampling the spa at urban resorts like Four Seasons or kayaking the sea coves near La Jolla. Add in numerous championship golf courses, tennis, beaches--and, of course, the weather--and it's a region that's hard to resist.

"Two-thirds of leisure travelers say they want a beach or lake experience," Yesawich said.

Whatever the draw, Americans are ready to get on the road again--in bigger numbers than at any time since 2000, according to the Travel Industry Association, a Washington, D.C.-based trade organization.

A recent study conducted by Portland, Ore.-based Dean Runyan Associates on behalf of the California Travel and Tourism Commission projected travel to and through California in 2004 will be up by 2.1% from last year, led by the leisure travel segment--and there's no sign that long lines at the airport or security snafus will put a damper on that determination, though gas prices might if they reach much above $2.50 per gallon.

Even the threat of terrorism doesn't appear to be a deterrent this year.

In a May survey by YPB&R, co-author of the National Travel Monitor, 62% said the threat of terrorism on U.S. soil would not have and effect on their summer travel plans.

Southern California resorts are aiming to get their share.

"We're seeing the true resort properties getting a lot of business," said Bruce Baltin, senior vice president of PKF Consulting in Los Angeles.

"We're also seeing a fairly active urban travel market," he said.

The Southern California region has a diversity, of resort products that offer everything from surf buffers, private phone numbers and in-room tubs to personalized excursions to the region's finest shops, personal trainers and yoga lessons or docent-led excursions of Pacific tidepools.

And its string of new and renovated resorts plays into the trend of restless Americans seeking new adventures. According to YPB&R, 81% of leisure travelers say they prefer to visit new destinations on vacation.

"Eight out of 10 leisure travelers say a desire to go to a place they've never been before affects their choice of destinations," Yesawich said.

But travelers increasingly don't want a one-size-fits-all type of experience. In fact, 38% of them say they will pay more for personalized services--exactly the kind of service that might be found at upscale resorts.

Though no Southern California city ranked among the top 10 people want to visit on the National Travel Monitor. San Diego crone in tit No. 12. with 43% of leisure travelers expressing a desire to go there-slightly more than the number who identified Las Vegas. Palm Springs was named by 34% of travelers, while Orange County was named by 32% and Los Angeles by 31%.

Resort Capital of the West Coast

This year, AAA and Mobil Travel Guide named 56 four- and five-diamond and star properties in Southern California--up from 55 a year ago--along with 33 top-rated restaurants. In addition, there are eight four-star spas in the region--a new designation that Mobil Travel Guide unveiled for 2004. That's 16% of all four-star spas nationwide.

Hotels and resorts go to great lengths to attain a high star or diamond rating, and there's good reason for that. According to YPB&R, 50% of all leisure travelers say that star and diamond ratings are important in their choice of lodging; 63% of meeting planners say AAA's diamond ratings have affected their choice of a meeting hotel and 35% say the same for the Mobil Travel Guide's star ratings.

That bodes well for Southern California's highly rated resorts. The region has four of the 30 five-star resorts and 11 of the 15 five-diamond properties in California, as well as the spas mentioned above. (AAA has not yet ranked spas). And 33 restaurants in the Southland qualify for high star and diamond honors.

But the grading systems raise some eyebrows as well. For instance, one requirement for an umbrella in every room seems silly during much of the year in this Mediterranean climate. Another requirement: valet parking. That in particular hurts properties like La Casa del Zorro in Borrego Springs, where management believes valet parking would detract from the resort experience, given the layout of its intimate casitas buildings.

Ranch resorts like Alisal Creek outside Santa Barbara take a hit because they don't have phones mid TVs in every room--even though that's part of the ranch experience.

And historic properties like Riverside's Mission Inn or the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego sometimes fail to attain the highest ratings because of the very thing that makes them unique: their historic character. The Mission Inn, for instance, does not have standard size rooms.

A big factor today in reaching the top rating is a spa. Landlocked resorts without space to expand can be hard-pressed to achieve that fifth star or diamond without a full-service spa, even if adding one would squeeze out other amenities. The Surf & Staid in Laguna Beach removed some older retail shops to make way for its spa, while the Lamina Cliffs Marriott used open space on its property for its new spa.

What this all means for travelers is that each resort has its own set of unique attributes that appeal to a wide variety of people. While ratings are important, leisure travelers who know what they want from their resort experience may consider amenities as well as ratings when making a choice.

Another challenge in today's 24/7 world: technology. Just four years ago, top-line hotels provided dial-up Interact access. Today, high-speed DSL is a minimum standard for meetings--an advantage for newer resorts that include the infrastructure when they build.

Meeting planners enjoy the resort experience in Southern California, they say, because they can choose from remote hideaways for executive retreats to urban elegance such as the Century Plaza, St. Regis, or Loews Santa Monica Beach Resort in Los Angeles. Or they can select golf resorts like the Lodge at Torrey Pines in La Jolla or St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort & Spa in Dana Point.

Resorts also add to team-building mid social options and allow attendees a degree of autonomy between meetings without leaving the grounds.

A growing trend for planners is the use of all-inclusive resorts or conference centers where all costs are predetermined, including meals. And those within walking distance of shopping and dining districts, such as Rancho Las Palmas and The River in Palm Springs, earn extra kudos for eliminating transportation woes--as do waterfront resorts like Montage in Laguna Beach, where a planner can arrange a morning yoga break as easily as a coffee break.

"As society gets more pressurized, you still need time to de-stress," PKF's Baltin said. "And that drives resort business. There are 20 million people here (in the regional market) and a limited number of resort properties."