TOURISM UP AS FESTIVALS BOOST AREA HOTEL TAX FUNDS AIDING CITY.

Byline: Eugene Tong Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - The city Tourism Bureau's annual report cited an 8 percent increase in daily hotel stays in Santa Clarita in 2004, and a 4 percent increase is expected in 2005.

The recently released Tourism Year End Report cites these figures extracted from PFK Consulting's 2005 Southern California Lodging Forecast. The city also tallied increases in hotel taxes - some $1.53 million over 2004-05 compared with $1.43 million the year before.

``We are pleased to confirm that tourism to our valley has once again increased over the last year,'' said Carrie Rogers, the city's economic development and marketing manager.

Among the most attended annual events sponsored by the city tourism office in 2004, local home and garden shows drew some 28,000 visitors, the report said. The Concerts in the Park series brought 25,000 visitors, the annual International Family Film Festival had 15,434, and the Cowboy Poetry Festival about 8,000.

``With the wealth of cultural experiences Santa Clarita has to offer, we are confident that the city will continue to be popular destination for visitors and our local economy will only benefit from the boom,'' Rogers said.

According to the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau, each travel party to the region spends an average $1,449 per day, and usually stays 4.2 nights. Each group consist of roughly three people.

City officials are exploring new ideas to bolster local tourism, including annual studies to measure their progress and new events.

``One of our goals is to be able to do some bench marking,'' Rogers said. ``It would be important for us to be able to compare the bench marks from year to year.''

`'We are going to do some internal brainstorming here. There are a lot of events that go on. ... We've talked about some kind of discount coupon book for families who are attending those events.''

Ideas for a car show or a wine festival have been considered, Rogers said.

``We're looking at coming up with some other ideas - the kinds that involve spending a night and spending to eat,'' she said.

Other ideas include promoting the city - a rest stop between between the San Francisco Bay Area and the Southland - as a convention destination. During spring break, officials partnered with the Oxnard Convention and Visitors Bureau for the $70,000 ``Coast to Coaster'' campaign, which encouraged an trips from the seaside city to the roller coasters of Six Flags California's Magic Mountain in Valencia.

``We do have a lot going for us,'' said Jenny Aurit, a project technician for the economic development office.

Eugene Tong, [phone]

eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com