Southern California's weather, attractions and resorts bring rebound in business and leisure travel.

All indications point to a bright future for Southern California as a destination for both business and leisure travelers in 2005. And Southern California aims to get its fair market share.

California remains the second most-preferred destination among American travelers, according to a May report from Washington, D.C.-based Travel Industry Association. The TIA study is the most recent in a string of optimistic summer forecasts that indicate leisure travel is likely to increase 2% to 4% compared to 2004.

Though the expected number of nights away from home has dropped to seven from 7.6 a year ago, TIA's senior vice president of research Suzanne Cook said that reflects a trend to take several shorter trips rather than one long one each year.

Roughly 38% of U.S. adults plan to take one full week's vacation supplemented by shorter getaways throughout the year, according to Expedia.com.

That, too, bodes well for Southern California, which has a regional market of more than 20 million people, bolstered by visitors from other parts of the U.S.

"This should be a superb year," said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp.

The region offers much of what today's discriminating travelers want: beaches, parks, historic sites, theme parks, casinos, cultural events and historic sites.

Two-thirds of American travelers this year want to spend time at a beach, while roughly half want to visit urban areas and national and state parks. About a third want to attend performing arts events and visit museums, enjoy outdoor activities or visit theme parks. And 26% want to visit casinos.

The region is poised to meet those needs.

Overall, California has 420 public beaches, eight national parks and 272 state parks, many in Southern California. At this end of the state, there also are eight historic Spanish missions and countless museums, including Los Angeles County Museum of Art where the King Tut exhibit debuted in June.

Southern California also has unique geographic features and a diverse culture to explore.

The old adage about visitors being able to surf in the morning and ski in the afternoon may be tired, but it's still true. And despite all its attractions, meeting planners consistently say the weather is the No. 1 draw for coming to Southern California.

Equally true today: tourists can visit Disneyland, Legoland or Universal Studios with the kids for the day and relax at a top-rated spa in the evening.

Southern California offers Mexican, Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese and Indian neighborhoods. It has Native American casinos. And it has historic sites that reflect its Spanish and early rancher roots.

It's got the largest state park in the U.S. at Anza Borrego Desert (600,000 acres) in San Diego County, the largest national park in the continental U.S. at Death Valley, the largest beach resort on the West Coast at historic Hotel del Coronado in San Diego, the longest concrete municipal pier in the U.S. at Huntington Beach, the largest outdoor amphitheater in the world at the Hollywood Bowl and the largest privately funded performing arts center in the U.S. in Costa Mesa at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

Southern California also is a region of 'firsts.'

Catalina Island boasts the first California golf course, founded in 1892, while the island's Tuna Club is the oldest fishing club in the U.S., founded in 1889.

The University of California Los Angeles was home to the first node of today's Internet. Los Angeles also is home to the first freeway, gas station and supermarket and the Southland is the birthplace to fast-food chains like A&W, McDonald's, Carl's Jr., Taco Bell, Winchell's and Marie Calender's.

And don't forget the glitz factor of Hollywood, Beverly Hills and West Hollywood.

"We realize one of our biggest assets is the celebrity factor," said Carol Martinez, associate vice president for media relations at LA Inc.: The Convention and Visitors Bureau.

For visitors seeking the rural lifestyle, Southern California has agricultural 'capitals' in Encinitas (poinsettias); Buena Park (boysenberry); Fallbrook (avocados); Riverside (where the country's first navel oranges were grown); Indio (dates); and Oxnard (strawberries). Pasadena has the world's only banana museum.

Golfers can get their nature outing on any of almost 200 private and public courses scattered throughout the Southland, including some of the top-rated golf courses in the country like Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles, the Quarry at LaQuinta in the Palm Springs area, Valley Club in the Montecito section of Santa Barbara, Torrey Pines in San Diego and Pelican Hill Ocean North at Newport Coast in Orange County.

RESORT CAPITAL OF THE WEST COAST

Southern California is a natural for the resort lifestyle, with 56 full-service four--and five-star and diamond lodging options that range from urban oases to beachfront and desert resorts.

The 18 four--and five-Mobil star properties represent 29% of all properties with those designations nationwide. And California has the most four--and five-AAA diamond ratings of any state.

There also are 40 four- and five-star and diamond restaurants and six four- or five-star spas out of 45 total nationwide. (Mobil began rating spas two years ago. AAA does not rate spas.) The country's only five-star spa is in Laguna Beach at Montage Resort & Spa.

The Zagat Survey, which is based on consumer surveys instead of those conducted by staff professionals, lists the Peninsula Beverly Hills the No. 1 hotel in the country, along with its sister property in Chicago.

Zagat respondents also rank Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton as the top two chain operators nationwide. Four Seasons has five properties in Southern California, while Ritz-Carlton has three (see directory, page 25).

Hotels and resorts go to great lengths to attain a high star or diamond rating, for good reason.

Fifty-four percent of travelers say such ratings play a part in their choice of a destination, according to the 2005 National Leisure Travel Monitor by Orlando marketing firm Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell. And roughly two-thirds of meeting planners say ratings have affected their choice of a meeting venue.

"The consumer does more research now and makes travel decisions based on ratings," said Shane O'Flaherty, vice president of quality assurance for Mobil Travel Guide in Lincolnwood, Ill.

Oftentimes. top-rated properties offer both business and leisure travelers a chance to de-stress in elegant surroundings. And with more and more Americans on the job clock 24/7, there's never been a time when they needed it more--or a time when expectations were higher.

But demand for high-end properties is driven by more than just email and Internet frenzy.

A fall 2004 hospitality study by PricewaterhouseCoopers indicated the demand for luxury hotels and resorts is driven in part by a growing number of high net worth individuals who increasingly live a more upscale lifestyle.

Seventy percent of study respondents indicated that exclusivity, privacy, a sense of place and a location that satisfies experiential requirements were pre-requisites for choosing a luxury hotel.

"Consumers want properties to meet their expectation levels." O'Flaherty said.

Sometimes. he said, that means elevated service expectations for the hotels.

Southern California's resort properties have become masters of innovation in their efforts to exceed those expectations.

In recent years, it seems every hotel company has gone to great lengths to make high-end beds and linens a focal point of guest satisfaction.

But resort properties have gone far beyond the basics, offering everything from private boat slips, free use of sports equipment and Internet-equipped cabanas to surf butlers, beach butlers and personal trainers. Some offer nanny service and art galleries: others provide private label caviar and Personalized business cards with private, direct-dial phone numbers for guests.

But though many believe it's the amenities that contribute to a resort's rating, O'Flaherty said that's not the case for Mobil.

"The primary impetus to increase a rating is the service level," he said.

O'Flaherty said the proliferation of online rating systems--some of which are nothing more than one guest's rating based on one stay--have created confusion in the market.

"Mobil and AAA are the only two groups that actually visit and inspect the properties," he said.

"We try to ensure (they are) a good place where we'd send a friend."

Nevertheless, older resorts have scrambled to add or upgrade their spa facilities to capitalize on the growing popularity of the spa experience.

Spa-specific revenue per occupied room grew by almost 10% between 2003 and 2004, according to spa consulting company Health Fitness Dynamics of Pompano Beach, Fla.

Ojai Valley Inn in Santa Barbara County and Four Seasons Newport Beach are among the Southland resorts that debuted spas in the past year; Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel will join them this month.

RESORT MEETINGS REBOUND

Resort meetings are on the upswing again, after a couple of down years following 9/11. According to international hospitality consultants PKF Consulting, 45% of meeting planners have bigger budgets for 2005 than they did a year ago.

Fred Shea, vice president of sales operations for Hyatt Hotels Corp. in Chicago attributed the turnaround to several factors, including companies choosing to stay in the U.S. instead of traveling abroad, combined incentive and sales meetings and simply moving meetings to regional resorts easily reached by car.

"Corporate America is coming back to resorts," he said.

Tim Brown, managing partner at Meeting Sites Resource in Newport Beach, Calf. said resort amenities or recreation components such as discounts on golf or spa facilities are sometimes offered to add value to the meetings package.

And with education a key component of every meeting today, planners find resorts a welcome resource for everything from wine and cooking classes to health and wellness breaks and teambuilding programs.

Meeting attendees at coastal resorts in particular tend to add pre- and post-stay time to their trips. And several Southland resorts say that guests who visit first for a meeting are likely to come back for a leisure visit.

A big perk for planners: a resort within walking distance of shopping and dining or close to easily accessible public transportation.

New resorts--both urban and leisure--continue to dot the landscape and many others have done some serious renovation in the past couple of years.

Just since last year, the Southland has seen 10 new (or newly owned) properties open, including urban hotels The Chamberlain and The Huntley in L.A., The San Diego Marriott Gaslamp Quarter, Hotel Solamar in San Diego and the Hilton San Gabriel Valley in L.A.

In the Palm Springs Desert Resorts, Le Parker Meridien and The Viceroy reopened with new ownership and a major makeover, while the Morongo and Fantasy Springs Indian casinos added resort hotels. In San Diego, Tower 23--a W-style, ultra-modern hotel--opened recently at Ocean Beach.

And more are on the way. A Four Seasons is slated for the San Fernando Valley, a Hard Rock Hotel is coming to San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter, and at least two more hotels are in the works in Huntington Beach. In Santa Barbara, the Orient Express purchased the historic El Encanto and will begin an major remodel in 2006. And in Palm Springs, the former Marquis Resort will reopen as Hotel Zoso this fall.