HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-09-2026 TBID Agenda Packet
Tourism Business Improvement District Board
AGENDA
Wednesday, September 9, 2026, 10:00 a.m.
Council Hearing Room, 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo
The Tourism Business Improvement District Board holds in-person meetings. Zoom participation will
not be supported at this time. Attendees of City Council or Advisory Body meetings are eligible to
receive one hour of complimentary parking; restrictions apply, visit Parking for Public Meetings for
more details.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR PUBLIC COMMENT:
Public Comment prior to the meeting (must be received 3 hours in advance of the meeting):
Mail - Delivered by the U.S. Postal Service. Address letters to the City Clerk's Office at 990
Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, California, 93401.
Email - Submit Public Comments via email to advisorybodies@slocity.org. In the body of your
email, please include the date of the meeting and the item number (if applicable). Emails will not
be read aloud during the meeting.
Voicemail - Call (805) 781-7164 and leave a voicemail. Please state and spell your name, the
agenda item number you are calling about, and leave your comment. Verbal comments must be
limited to 3 minutes. Voicemails will not be played during the meeting.
*All correspondence will be archived and distributed to members, however, submissions received
after the deadline may not be processed until the following day.
Public Comment during the meeting:
Meetings are held in-person. To provide public comment during the meeting, you must be
present at the meeting location.
Electronic Visual Aid Presentation. To conform with the City's Network Access and Use Policy,
Chapter 1.3.8 of the Council Policies & Procedures Manual, members of the public who desire
to utilize electronic visual aids to supplement their oral presentation must provide display-ready
material to the City Clerk by 12:00 p.m. on the day before the meeting. Contact the City Clerk's
Office at cityclerk@slocity.org or (805) 781-7114.
Pages
1.CALL TO ORDER
Chair Pearce will call the Regular Meeting of the Tourism Business
Improvement District Board to order.
2.PUBLIC COMMENT FOR ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA
At this time, people may address the Committee about items not on the agenda.
Comments are limited to three minutes per person. Items raised at this time are
generally referred to staff and, if action by the Committee is necessary, may be
scheduled for a future meeting.
3.CONSENT
3.a MINUTES OF TBID REGULAR MEETING ON AUGUST 12 5
3.b SMITH TRAVEL REPORT (STR)11
3.c TRANSIENT OCCUPANCY TAX (TOT) REPORT 13
3.d SLO CHAMBER PUBLIC RELATIONS MONTHLY REPORT 15
3.e SLO CHAMBER GUEST SERVICES MONTHLY REPORT 19
3.f NOBLE STUDIOS & UNIQUELY DRIVEN MARKETING MONTHLY
REPORT
23
3.g BADGER BRANDING ORGANIC SOCIAL REPORT 29
4.BUSINESS ITEMS
4.a KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR BASELINES & REPORTING (15
MIN)
Representatives from Noble Studios will present a recommended
update to their KPI framework in FY 2026-27 for the Board's approval as
recommended by Marketing Committee.
4.b META VERIFICATION PROPOSAL (10 MIN)
Representatives from Badger Branding will present a proposal for social
media verification status for the Board's approval as recommended by
Management Committee.
4.c VISIT SLO CAL MEDIA MISSION CO-OP (10 MIN)
Staff will present an opportunity to participate in a media event in San
Francisco in Fall or Winter 2026 as recommended by Marketing
Committee.
4.d TBID PARTNER RECEPTION (10 MIN)
The Board will discuss plans for the first member reception of the FY on
October 28 as recommended by Management Committee.
4.e FY 25-26 TBID ANNUAL REPORT APPROVAL (15 MIN)
Staff and Management Committee will present the draft FY 2025-26
TBID annual report for recommendation to City Council on October 6,
2026. Pending the City Council’s approval of the report, the annual
public hearing for the TBID will be scheduled for the October 20, 2026
City Council meeting.
4.f FY 25-26 TBID ANNUAL REPORT HIGHLIGHT VIDEO (10 MIN)
Staff will present the TBID FY 2025-26 Annual Report highlight video for
the Board’s review. The highlight video will be presented to City Council
on October 6, 2026.
5.TBID LIAISON REPORTS & COMMUNICATION
5.a HOTELIER UPDATE
5.b MARKETING COMMITTEE UPDATE
5.c MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE UPDATE
5.d PCC UPDATE
5.e VISIT SLO CAL UPDATE
5.f TOURISM PROGRAM UPDATE
6.ADJOURNMENT
The next Regular Meeting of the Tourism Business Improvement District Board
is scheduled for October 14, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. in the Council Hearing Room at
City Hall, 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo.
LISTENING ASSISTIVE DEVICES are available -- see the Clerk
The City of San Luis Obispo wishes to make all of its public meetings accessible
to the public. Upon request, this agenda will be made available in appropriate
alternative formats to persons with disabilities. Any person with a disability who
requires a modification or accommodation in order to participate in a meeting
should direct such request to the City Clerk’s Office at (805) 781-7114 at least
48 hours before the meeting, if possible. Telecommunications Device for the
Deaf (805) 781-7410.
Agenda related writings or documents provided to the Tourism Business
Improvement District Board are available for public inspection on the City’s
website, under the Public Meeting Agendas web page:
https://www.slocity.org/government/mayor-and-city-council/agendas-and-
minutes. Meeting video recordings can be found on the City’s website:
http://opengov.slocity.org/WebLink/Browse.aspx?id=61016&dbid=0&repo=CityCl
erk
1
Tourism Business Improvement District Board Minutes
August 12, 2026, 10:00 a.m.
Council Hearing Room, 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo
TBID Board Present: Member Mark Eads, Member Christopher Morgan, Member
Dante Specchierla, Chair Clint Pearce
TBID Board Absent: Member Prashant Patel and Vice Chair Lori Keller
City Staff Present: Tourism & Community Promotions Manager Jacqui Clark-
Charlesworth and Tourism Intern Olivia Roman
_____________________________________________________________________
1. CALL TO ORDER
A Regular Meeting of the San Luis Obispo Tourism Business Improvement
District Board was called to order on August 12, 2026 at 10:02 a.m. in the
Council Hearing Room at City Hall, 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, by Chair
Pearce.
2. PUBLIC COMMENT FOR ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA
(Member Eads arrived at 10:05 a.m.)
Public Comment:
Rachel Lackmann
Carolina Ertani
Cathy Davis
--End of Public Comment--
3. CONSENT
Motion By Member Eads
Second By Member Specchierla
To approve Consent Items 3a to 3g.
Ayes (4): Member Eads, Member Morgan, Member Specchierla, and Chair
Pearce
Absent (2): Member Patel and Vice Chair Keller
CARRIED (4 to 0)
Page 5 of 37
2
3.a MINUTES OF TBID REGULAR MEETING ON JULY 8
3.b SMITH TRAVEL REPORT (STR)
3.c TRANSIENT OCCUPANCY TAX (TOT) REPORT
3.d SLO CHAMBER PUBLIC RELATIONS MONTHLY REPORT
3.e SLO CHAMBER GUEST SERVICES MONTHLY REPORT
3.f NOBLE STUDIOS & UNIQUELY DRIVEN MARKETING MONTHLY
REPORT
3.g BADGER BRANDING ORGANIC SOCIAL REPORT
5. BUSINESS ITEMS
5.a ANNUAL MEDIA PLAN (30 MIN)
Danni Winter from Noble Studios presented the Annual Media Plan and
responded to inquiries. It was noted Marketing Committee would review
quarterly media plans throughout the year for the full Board’s review and
approval.
Public Comment:
None
--End of Public Comment--
To approve the Annual Media Plan in the amount of $686,000 for FY 2026-
27 as presented.
Motion By Member Eads
Second By Member Specchierla
Ayes (4): Member Eads, Member Morgan, Member Specchierla, and
Chair Pearce
Absent (2): Member Patel and Vice Chair Keller
CARRIED (4 to 0)
5.b VISIT SAN LUIS OBISPO BRANDED PROMOTIONAL ITEMS (15 MIN)
Tourism & Community Promotions Manager Jacqui Clark-Charlesworth
presented the recommended branded swag items and responded to
inquiries.
Page 6 of 37
3
Public Comment:
None
--End of Public Comment--
To approve spending up to $85,000 from the TBID’s Fund Balance to
create new Visit SLO branded promotional items.
Motion By Member Eads
Second By Member Morgan
Ayes (4): Member Eads, Member Morgan, Member Specchierla, and Ch air
Pearce
Absent (2): Member Patel and Vice Chair Keller
CARRIED (4 to 0)
5.c DEL MAR WINE & FOOD FESTIVAL UPDATE (20 MIN)
Tourism & Community Promotions Manager Jacqui Clark-Charlesworth
presented the update on the co-op with Visit SLO CAL and responded to
inquiries.
Public Comment:
None
--End of Public Comment--
To approve up to $3,000 from the Tradeshows line item to support
additional inclusion of a culinary item.
Motion By Member Specchierla
Second By Member Morgan
Ayes (4): Member Eads, Member Morgan, Member Specchierla, and Chair
Pearce
Absent (2): Member Patel and Vice Chair Keller
CARRIED (4 to 0)
5.d PAINT THE PLAZA SPONSORSHIP (15 MIN)
Tourism & Community Promotions Manager Jacqui Clark-Charlesworth
presented the staff report and responded to inquiries.
Page 7 of 37
4
Public Comment:
None
--End of Public Comment--
To approve $1,000 from the General Events Promotion line item to
sponsor 2 large squares (12x6) at the September 19 Downtown SLO
event.
Motion By Member Eads
Second By Member Specchierla
Ayes (4): Member Eads, Member Morgan, Member Specchierla, and Chair
Pearce
Absent (2): Member Patel and Vice Chair Keller
CARRIED (4 to 0)
4. PRESENTATIONS
4.a MARKETING SERVICES YEAR END REPORT (25 MIN)
(Member Eads left at 11:12 a.m.)
Danni Winter and Cathy Davis from Noble Studios presented the year-end
report and responded to inquiries.
Public Comment:
None
--End of Public Comment--
Action: No action taken on this item.
4.b SLO REPERTORY THEATRE UPDATE (20 MIN)
Patty Thayer from SLO Repertory Theatre presented an update on the
organization’s move and invited the TBID, staff and partners to their
inaugural Tourism & Hospitality Night at SLO Rep on October 7.
Public Comment:
None
--End of Public Comment--
Action: No action taken on this item.
Page 8 of 37
5
6. TBID LIAISON REPORTS & COMMUNICATION
6.a HOTELIER UPDATE
Member Specchierla shared an update for Petite Soleil - now open for
brunch.
6.b MARKETING COMMITTEE UPDATE
No marketing subcommittee meeting was held.
6.c MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE UPDATE
No management subcommittee meeting was held.
6.d PCC UPDATE
Member Specchierla provided a brief update on PCC activities.
6.e VISIT SLO CAL UPDATE
Chair Clint Pearce provided a brief update on Visit SLO CAL activities.
6.f TOURISM PROGRAM UPDATE
Tourism & Community Promotions Manager Jacqui Clark-Charlesworth
provided an update on the tourism program.
7. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 11:36 a.m. The next Regular Meeting of the
Tourism Business Improvement District Board is scheduled for September 9,
2026 at 10:00 a.m. in the Council Hearing Room at City Hall, 990 Palm Street,
San Luis Obispo.
_________________________
APPROVED BY TOURISM BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT BOARD:
XX/XX/202X
Page 9 of 37
Page 10 of 37
August 2026
WD WE Total
WD WE Total
WD WE Total
WD WE Total
WD WE Total
WD WE Total
California 74.17 82.46 76.54
198.77 225.56 207.02
147.42 186.01 158.45
3.01 2.96 2.99
5.35 6.56 5.75
8.52 9.71 8.91
City of Paso Robles 70.38 89.94 75.97 167.12 281.28 205.73 117.62 252.99 156.30 -11.32 -2.79 -8.61 -7.60 1.97 -2.53 -18.05 -0.88 -10.92
City of Pismo Beach 79.26 83.82 80.57 275.14 405.36 313.85 218.09 339.77 252.85 -4.11 -9.04 -5.63 3.43 8.88 5.04 -0.82 -0.96 -0.88
City of San Luis Obispo 83.40 91.08 85.59 173.95 263.32 201.12 145.08 239.83 172.15 2.25 0.37 1.67 3.94 5.38 4.33 6.28 5.76 6.07
City of Morro Bay 80.49 91.36 83.59 161.46 255.54 190.84 129.96 233.47 159.53 9.06 3.71 7.33 7.02 8.65 7.14 16.72 12.68 15.00
WD WE Total
WD WE Total
WD WE Total
WD WE Total
WD WE Total
WD WE Total
California 71.81 81.34 74.53
203.71 236.45 213.92
146.28 192.34 159.44
4.29 5.22 4.58
6.39 9.91 7.60
10.95 15.65 12.53
City of Paso Robles 76.45 87.25 79.54 182.46 287.01 215.23 139.49 250.43 171.18 -10.22 -4.57 -8.52 -2.33 -1.18 -1.24 -12.30 -5.70 -9.66
City of Pismo Beach 72.89 86.68 76.83 302.66 454.10 351.47 220.61 393.62 270.04 -3.04 -3.29 -3.12 8.70 7.84 8.31 5.39 4.29 4.93
City of San Luis Obispo 76.13 89.25 79.88 186.80 303.20 223.96 142.20 270.61 178.89 -2.63 3.77 -0.67 8.20 12.40 10.70 5.36 16.64 9.96
City of Morro Bay 75.96 86.65 79.01 200.82 312.28 235.75 152.54 270.59 186.27 5.09 6.09 5.40 12.09 9.85 11.26 17.80 16.55 17.28
WD WE Total
WD WE Total
WD WE Total
WD WE Total
WD WE Total
WD WE Total
California 71.19 78.53 73.28
193.89 210.19 198.88
138.02 165.05 145.74
6.34 4.74 5.85
6.93 5.08 6.29
13.72 10.06 12.51
City of Paso Robles 68.42 81.28 72.09 164.94 266.64 197.70 112.84 216.73 142.52 5.33 21.74 10.11 -0.51 4.50 3.06 4.80 4.80 13.49
City of Pismo Beach 72.43 82.32 75.25 269.15 348.76 294.03 194.94 287.10 221.27 4.86 -7.64 0.60 10.18 10.72 9.57 15.53 15.53 10.23
City of San Luis Obispo 78.29 85.31 80.29 228.32 267.41 240.19 178.75 228.14 192.86 8.81 2.91 6.95 43.92 23.72 35.87 56.60 56.60 45.31
City of Morro Bay 73.08 81.88 75.59 164.81 225.62 183.63 120.44 184.74 138.81 12.76 4.32 10.01 14.97 9.18 11.96 29.64 29.64 23.16
WD WE Total
WD WE Total
WD WE Total
WD WE Total
WD WE Total
WD WE Total
California 67.33 75.87 69.77 187.70 206.78 193.63 126.38 156.89 135.10 9.44 -5.32 4.38 10.13 0.60 6.12 20.53 -4.75 10.77
City of Paso Robles 56.11 79.61 62.83 163.58 264.46 200.10 91.79 210.54 125.72 -5.03 -6.41 -5.53 1.71 -9.95 -4.43 -3.40 -15.72 -9.72
City of Pismo Beach 58.10 78.22 63.85 238.48 331.62 271.08 138.57 259.38 173.09 -4.00 -12.37 -7.10 8.84 -12.42 -2.60 4.49 -23.25 -9.52
City of San Luis Obispo 65.07 80.35 69.43 157.14 242.22 185.27 102.25 194.62 128.64 4.86 -10.10 -0.61 7.06 -0.67 1.65 12.26 -10.70 1.03
City of Morro Bay 62.27 73.96 65.61 138.77 210.65 161.92 86.42 155.80 106.24 7.62 -14.95 -0.85 8.13 -8.94 -3.04 16.38 -22.55 -3.87
RevPar Occupancy (%) ADR RevPar
ADR RevPar Occupancy (%) ADR
Current Week Totals Percent Change
Occupancy (%) ADR RevPar Occupancy (%) ADR RevPar
Current Week Totals Percent Change
Occupancy (%) ADR
For the Week of August 23, 2026
to August 29, 2026
For the Week of August 16, 2026
to August 22, 2026
For the Week of August 09, 2026
to August 15, 2026
For the Week of August 02, 2026
to August 08, 2026
RevPar
Current Week Totals Percent Change
Occupancy (%) ADR RevPar Occupancy (%) ADR RevPar
Current Week Totals Percent Change
Occupancy (%)
Page 11 of 37
Page 12 of 37
2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 2026-2027
Change +/- to
previous FY
July 508,195$ 541,806$ 591,184$ 636,778$ 699,845$ 761,346$ 844,845$ 877,391$ 861,241$ 884,317$ 913,019$ 530,064$ 1,214,080$ 1,297,863$ 1,245,883$ 1,296,972$ 1,310,543$ 1,436,063$ 9.58%*missing 1 hotel
August 511,564$ 542,194$ 574,395$ 623,655$ 674,244$ 732,271$ 774,501$ 765,232$ 728,932$ 775,513$ 826,465$ 623,523$ 992,620$ 1,057,478$ 1,037,434$ 1,118,215$ 1,174,918$
September 400,023$ 437,543$ 490,524$ 508,583$ 505,954$ 557,002$ 643,127$ 650,117$ 693,704$ 682,810$ 720,414$ 660,405$ 965,595$ 1,039,589$ 1,024,869$ 935,689$ 952,359$
October 414,870$ 442,586$ 437,805$ 469,977$ 509,435$ 594,032$ 642,221$ 628,049$ 601,208$ 650,101$ 711,393$ 632,733$ 889,485$ 993,400$ 986,681$ 921,418$ 1,083,144$
November 280,913$ 330,924$ 347,437$ 359,163$ 425,769$ 475,360$ 468,016$ 497,162$ 513,487$ 556,885$ 593,403$ 422,488$ 722,487$ 770,599$ 757,010$ 825,128$ 845,440$
December 246,684$ 274,417$ 314,784$ 319,451$ 355,315$ 391,132$ 429,600$ 434,836$ 473,701$ 488,296$ 488,757$ 236,391$ 638,253$ 628,735$ 628,260$ 637,018$ 690,460$
January 230,279$ 256,351$ 276,165$ 302,153$ 331,853$ 400,239$ 387,304$ 396,559$ 415,690$ 465,547$ 520,813$ 302,621$ 557,369$ 554,408$ 621,595$ 696,606$ 732,270$
February 273,373$ 302,246$ 323,359$ 344,160$ 366,980$ 431,510$ 466,915$ 439,735$ 503,451$ 524,327$ 596,021$ 426,144$ 716,045$ 735,450$ 687,480$ 745,586$ 844,531$
March 326,099$ 333,783$ 392,266$ 426,879$ 448,103$ 520,795$ 559,235$ 549,642$ 577,285$ 602,781$ 268,458$ 614,973$ 820,473$ 807,997$ 850,274$ 806,319$ 944,391$
April 423,158$ 451,133$ 475,913$ 486,850$ 564,617$ 610,894$ 609,439$ 708,724$ 641,919$ 741,364$ 69,184$ 742,477$ 1,068,408$ 1,056,663$ 1,025,966$ 1,034,160$ 1,160,966$
May 372,997$ 433,874$ 447,116$ 489,862$ 546,916$ 601,614$ 598,093$ 645,114$ 630,820$ 665,603$ 174,982$ 760,006$ 919,831$ 910,508$ 989,619$ 1,025,327$ 1,121,466$
June 490,326$ 512,543$ 578,234$ 610,948$ 630,729$ 727,028$ 731,038$ 765,362$ 796,899$ 835,727$ 409,945$ 973,975$ 1,100,000$ 1,160,330$ 1,201,226$ 1,317,578$ 1,420,045$
Total/Average 4,478,481$ 4,859,400$ 5,249,181$ 5,578,460$ 6,059,758$ 6,803,224$ 7,154,334$ 7,357,923$ 7,438,338$ 7,873,272$ 6,292,853$ 6,925,799$ 10,604,646$ 11,013,020$ 11,056,297$ 11,360,016$ 12,280,533$ 1,436,063$
2025-26 2026-27 Change +/-2025-26 2026-27 Change +/-2025-26 2026-27 Change +/-
July 81.5 84.5 3.7%203.65$ 213.08$ 4.6%166.06$ 179.95$ 8.4%
August 78.4 195.11$ 152.98$
September 68.6 186.68$ 128.14$
October 71.7 188.88$ 135.46$
November 64.9 171.69$ 111.36$
December 60.1 147.73$ 88.76$
January 61.7 145.77$ 90.01$
February 70.7 167.18$ 118.23$
March 72.5 162.88$ 118.12$
April 76.7 195.07$ 149.63$
May 71.5 192.74$ 137.79$
June 78.6 227.69$ 179.06$
Total/Average 71.41 182.09$ 131.30$ Updated: 09/03/2026
Occupancy (%)ADR RevPAR*Figures from Smith Travel
Research Report
TOT Comparison
Page 13 of 37
Page 14 of 37
Public RelationsContract
Report to the City of San
Luis Obispo – TBID & PCC
August 2026
SLO Chamber of Commerce
Page 15 of 37
SLO Chamber of Commerce
PUBLICATION PLACEMENTS UVPM RESULT OF
American Express Travel College Town Getaways That Make the Grade |
American Express Travel®41,442,642 Pitching
Observer The Best Dining Scenes in California’s Top
College Towns | Observer 382,044 Pitching
Implementation and Proactive Work
Hosted travel writer Jennifer Chan (LA Times, Lonely Planet, Travel + Leisure) in partnership with
Uniquely Driven.
Coordinated a stay at Madonna Inn for writer Zoey Goto and her photographer, on assignment for
National Geographic in partnership with Visit SLO CAL. (Sept 25-26)
Met with writer Esther Tseng (Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, LA Times, CN Traveler) and began
coordinating an itinerary for her Sept 16-19 visit in partnership with Uniquely Driven.
Met with writer Adam Robb (The New York Times, Time, Wall Street Journal, Condé Nast Traveler,
GQ, Garage, and Food & Wine) and began coordinating an itinerary for his Sept 25-28 visit in
partnership with Uniquely Driven.
2
Responsive Leads & Partnerships
Pitched “San Luis Obispo is where business travel meets unforgettable California Coastal
perfection“ in response to Visit CA content call for “Bleisure by design”
Media Features
Proactive Work
Page 16 of 37
Media Features
Media Monitoring
JULY TOTALS:
Placements: 14
UVPM: 78,291,177
YEAR TO DATE TOTALS:
Placements: 29
UVPM: 248,760,292
3
SLO Chamber of Commerce
PUBLICATION PLACEMENTS UVPM
Visalia Times Delta HGTV names California's best free attractions. Take a look 70,728
Explore.com California Locals Love This Scenic Road Trip Between Los
Angeles And Monterey 257,210
The Points Guy 9 tertiary cities in the US that are both charming and
affordable 3,919,853
New Times SLO Tourism booms in SLO County 40 years after 1980s
prediction - New Times San Luis Obispo 18,734
Pasadena Travels Pasadena Travels: The Apple Farm Inn, Where the Water
Wheel Still Turns – Pasadena Weekendr 2,600,000
Modesto Bee Top travel destinations in US? SLO CA ranked in top 10 |
Modesto Bee 214,764
New Times SLO The Damon Castillo Band plays Concerts in the Plaza for the
30th time on Aug. 21 - New Times San Luis Obispo 18,734
DecorHint 10 Central California Italian Restaurants That Make Every
Meal Feel Worth The Drive 126,367
Planetware This Artsy California City Is A Hidden Gem With Scenic
Vineyards And Wineries 97,609
TIME America's Best Colleges of 2027 8,128,305
Fast Food Club Ready For The Best Tri-Tip Around? These 8 California
Roadside Pits Live Up To It 29,602
Parade
Inside the Bubblegum-Pink Hotel Dolly Parton Vacationed
at Every Year—With a Suite Straight Out of ‘The Sound of
Music’ - Parade
21,366,629
Page 17 of 37
Page 18 of 37
Guest Services
Contract
Report to the City of San
Luis Obispo
August 2026
SLO Chamber of Commerce
Page 19 of 37
VISITOR INTERACTION
August
2025
July
2026
August
2026
Walk-Ins 5,126 4,670 4,010
Total Phone Calls 173 108 106
877-SLO-TOWN 37 18 31
Email & Digital 1,448 1,428 1,129
2
HOTEL REFERRALS
August
2025
July
2026
August
2026
Referrals 56 41 38
VISITOR TRAVEL MODES
Plane Car Train
August 2026 18%77%5%
INFORMATION REQUESTS
August
2025
July
2026
August
2026
Visit California 2 0 0
Organic Inquiry N/A 4 5
PRINTED MATERIALS SHARED
August
2026 FYTD
Visitor Guide 71 64
Downtown Map 129 96
DEMOGRAPHIC SNAPSHOT
International Travelers
Asia 14%
Europe 41%
Middle East 0%
Australia/NZ 0%
UK 22%
North America 11%
Central America 3%
South America 8%
Africa 3%
Domestic Travelers
West Coast 17%
Southwest 14%
Midwest 18%
South 21%
East Coast 30%
California Travelers
Northern CA 22%
Central Coast 38%
Central Valley 5%
Desert 2%
Southern CA 34%
SLO Chamber of Commerce
EVENTS SHARED
August
2026 YTD
VisitSLO.com 93 344
Page 20 of 37
SLO Chamber of Commerce
Farmers’ Market
The Visitor Center attended a very special
Farmers’ Market on August 20 as over
6,000 Cal Poly students visited as a part of
the schedule for the Week of Welcome
program. We were able to talk to students
and a couple parents about settling into
the community with restaurant
recommendations, suggestions for
transportation around town, and our
event calendar to stay informed about
things going on such as game nights and
concerts.
“You were the one that gave the presentation during
orientation last month. That was so helpful! ”
A couple from Huntington Beach who had just
moved in their daughter into the dorms that
recognized Brianna from the Cal Poly SLO Days
presentation given in July. They were excited about
their next trip to SLO that is booked in October to
explore our wine country. We were able to
recommend several Edna Valley wineries such as
Claiborne and Churchill, Baileyana, and Sextant.
Other Highlights
3
Guest Quote of the Month
Page 21 of 37
Page 22 of 37
Monthly Activity Report
Visit San Luis Obispo | August 2026
At-a-Glance Highlights
● Total Website Sessions: 71,645 (+16% YoY)
● Top Traffic Source: Paid Social
● Total Lodging Referrals: 4,301 (+7% YoY)
● Top Performing Ads by CTR on Meta:
○ SLO Life Coach | 65+ | Video | Intro | Long Form (12.871%)
○ SLO | 65+ | Video | MidWeekend | Long Form (8.82%)
○ SLO | 65+ | Video | Culinary | Long Form (8.41%)
● Earned Media Reach (Uniquely Driven PR Efforts):
○ Total Impressions/Circulation: 52,118,721
○ Placements: 5
Overall Performance Summary
While new FY Goals haven’t been set, total website traffic is off to a strong start in
August, up 16% YoY, with Lodging Referrals being up 7%. The majority of this traffic
increase was driven by Paid channels as Organic Sessions were down 22% YoY.
While Paid Social is a strong driver of users to the website, it is one of the lowest
converting channels, driving only 18 total Lodging Referrals for the month. This is in sharp
decline (-82%) YoY which means ads that were running last year could have been
targeted differently or had different content driving users to convert more.
Website
● Total Website Sessions: 57,306 (+6% YoY)
● Total Lodging Referrals: 4,282 (+13% YoY)
● Avg. Pages/Session: 1.98 (-7% YoY)
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● Average Session Duration: 2m 41s (+2% YoY)
● Top Lodging Referral Channels: Paid Search and Organic Search
Paid Media Snapshot
● Paid Search
○ Sessions: 6,060 (+15% YoY)
○ Impressions: 66,494 (+27 YoY)
○ Clicks: 5,782 (+13% YoY)
○ CTR: 8.7% (-11 YoY)
○ Lodging Referrals: 2,409 (+7% YoY)
○ Cost: $12,361 (-13% YoY)
● Paid Social
○ Sessions: 21,465 (+30% YoY)
○ Impressions: 1,228,669 (+39% YoY)
○ Clicks: 42,100 (+24% YoY)
○ CTR: 3.4% (-11% YoY)
○ Lodging Referrals: 18 (-83% YoY)
○ Cost: $13,933 (+39% YoY)
● Display, Demand Gen, & PMAX
○ Sessions: 17,038 (+95% YoY)
○ Impressions: 2,078,965 (+79% YoY)
○ Clicks: 20,359 (+145% YoY)
○ CTR: .98% (+37% YoY)
○ Lodging Referrals: 414 (+98% YoY)
○ Cost: $10,986 (+142% YoY)
● Demand Gen | Video
○ Sessions: 1,788 (+2.7 YoY)
○ Impressions: 362,767 (+97% YoY)
○ Clicks: 2,632 (+23% YoY)
○ CTR: .73% (-38% YoY)
○ Lodging Referrals: 59 (+490% YoY)
○ Cost: $2,487 (+101% YoY)
Key Insight:
Every paid channel delivered YoY awareness growth, reflecting the deliberate and
strategic shift of budget toward top-of-funnel tactics to keep progress toward our
lodging referral revenue goals.
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Display, Demand Gen, and PMAX were the strongest all-around performers, with
sessions nearly doubling and referrals growing, proving strategic awareness targeting
can lead to conversions, not just accumulating impressions.
Paid social video is outperforming static creative by 2-3x on efficiency across nearly
every audience segment tested.
One Callout: While Paid Social remained our top website traffic driver, conversions
declined YoY. Paid Social is no longer functioning as a trusted conversion source the way
it once did. Users are likely to bounce from a Paid Social click to a more trusted channel
like Google Search to complete their booking journey.
Owned Channel Snapshot
SEO + Content
● Organic Search Sessions: 12,745 (-22% YoY)
● Organic Search Partner Referrals: 2,794 (-4% YoY)
● Organic Search Impressions: 1.2 Mil (-32% YoY)
● Organic Search Clicks: 7,365 (-39% YoY)
● Organic Search CTR: 0.62% (-10% YoY)
● Sessions from LLMs (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, etc): 324 (+86% YoY)
● Partner Referrals from LLMs (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, etc): 54 (+17% YoY)
● Top Impression Gains: slo weather, yoga classes near me, farmers market, food
near me, san luis obispo airport, pet friendly hotels in san luis obispo, day trips
from san luis obispo
● Top Click Losses: things to do in san luis obispo, sinsheimer pool, concerts in the
plaza slo, san luis obispo hotels
AI Brand Presence & Visibility
● Generative AI impressions (launched in August 2026): 180K impressions
○ Top pages shown in AIO or AI Mode: Homepage, SLO Downtown, About the
City of San Luis Obispo, and Things to Do
● AI Total Ranking Analysis:
○ Visitslo.com is the top-cited domain across 50 tracked prompts on Google
AIO and ChatGPT, securing 60% total citations and a 15% share of mentions.
○ Visitslo.com substantially outperforms competing domains, including
slocal.com (35% citations / 5% mentions), YouTube (4% citations / 0%
mentions), and travelpaso.com (2% citations / 0% mentions).
● Google AIO Growth vs. ChatGPT Volatility:
○ Brand Mentions: Google AIO mentions grew +173% WoW to reach 12%,
closing the gap on ChatGPT, which dropped -18% WoW down to 18%.
○ Brand Citations: Visitslo.com continues to lead the space as the primary
reference domain, capturing 60% of total citations (62% on Google AIO and
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58% on ChatGPT). However, total citations contracted -12% WoW, primarily
driven by competitor slocal.com capturing a 48% citation share on
Google AIO.
AI Brand Mentions for the Week of August 23 2026 (compared to Week August 9, 2026)
AI Brand Citations for the Week of August 23 2026 (compared to Week August 9, 2026)
Email Marketing
● Emails Sent: 1 - CA Wine Month: A Toast to the SLO Life
○ Email sent 8/31/26
● Avg. Open Rate: 43.5% (33.2% Benchmark)
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● Avg. Click Rate: 1.3% (3.8% Benchmark)
● Avg. Unsubscribe Rate: 0.27% (0.35% benchmark)
● Total Sessions: 223 (-45% MoM)
● Total Partner Referrals: 38 (-63% MoM)
● Total Lodging Referrals: 18 (-65% MoM)
● Session Conversion Rate: 7.91% (-49% MoM)
● Engagement Rate: 22.53% (-61% MoM)
● Average Engagement Time Per Session: 27s (-37% MoM)
● Page Views Per Session: 1.54 (-19% MoM)
Web Maintenance & Creative
Website Maintenance, Repair & Optimization (MRO) Services
August MRO went primarily toward keeping the site current on critical WordPress
security releases and the follow-up security checks those required. Given that risk, we
prioritized WP core updates and a full review to confirm the site was secure before
returning to routine maintenance work in September.
Security
- Applies WordPress 7.0.2 critical security release: facilitated SQL injection in
WP_Query (CVE-2026-60137) and REST API batch-route confusion leading to
remote code execution (CVE-2026-63030 / wp2shell).
Website Services
● August Website Services Efforts:
○ 4.75h out of 124h were used for August 2026
■ Remaining hours: 114
○ Work Accomplished:
■ Travel Alert Page Updates
■ Home Page Event Updates
■ Backend Fix for Block Error
Creative Services
● August Creative Services Efforts:
○ 18.5h out of 120 hours were utilized for August 2026
■ Remaining hours: 75.50
○ Work Accomplished:
■ MidWeekend Experience Page Implementation
■ Spartan Ad Work
■ Wine Tumbler Design
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Earned Media Activity
Earned Media Highlights
Total Impressions/Circulation: 52,118,721
Placements: 5
Media Hosted: 1
Press Coverage
● 8/3/26: Travel + Leisure: These 10 Small U.S. Cities Are the Country’s
Up-and-coming Destinations—and No. 1 Has 47 Hot Springs (Stacey Leasca)
(Reach: 9,798,816)
○ Syndicated:
■ Yahoo News Malaysia (Reach: 484,210)
■ Travel + Leisure en Español (Reach: 11,009)
● 8/13/26: American Express Travel: College Town Getaways That Make the Grade
(Laura Kiniry) (Reach: 41,442,642)
● 8/20/26: Observer: Higher Education, Finer Dining: Inside the Culinary Scenes at
California’s Top College Towns (Allie Lebos) (Reach: 382,044)
Media Hosted
● Jennifer Chan, Freelance Writer (People, Travel + Leisure)
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SLO TBID - ShareSLO
Date: 09/09/26
ORGANIC SOCIAL REPORT
August 2026
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FOLLOWERS
ENGAGEMENT RATE
VIEWS
NET GROWTH
POSTS
ENGAGEMENTS
STORIES
INSTAGRAM
In August, our followers increased by 237 new users! Our views, engagements and engagement rate decreased slightly this
month. With the end of summer and back to school, lower activity is expected. Our top performing posts were trending
content, our local guide series reel, and a Cal Poly parents itinerary.
44,688 273
228 211
283,622 5,826
2.1%
.6%
6%20%
16%
TOP POSTS:
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FOLLOWERS
ENGAGEMENT RATE
TOTAL IMPRESSIONS
NET GROWTH
POSTS
ORGANIC
VIDEO VIEWS
ENGAGEMENTS
FACEBOOK
In August, our followers increased by 1,356 new users! Our impressions and video views increased substantially and
engagements also increased. The engagement rate decreased because of the big increase in impressions compared to the
smaller increase in engagements.
TOP POSTS:
111,085 1,356
17 267,781
1,489,248 317,127
.5%
1.3%
75%16%
29%
81%
7,042 24%Page 31 of 37
FOLLOWERS
ENGAGEMENTS
NET GROWTH
POSTS
ENGAGEMENT RATE
IMPRESSIONS
TIKTOK
In August, we saw increases across the board! Doubling our posting rate from one time to twice a week is helping our
followers, impressions, and engagements grow!
TOP POSTS:
3,774 175
9
1,943 5.5%
5%
251%28%
35,213 175%
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FOLLOWERS
ENGAGEMENTS
NET GROWTH
POSTS
ENGAGEMENT RATE
IMPRESSIONS
LINKEDIN
In August, we saw increases across the board on this platform as well! We increased by 12 new followers and our
impressions and engagements increased by about 30%.
TOP POSTS:
577 12
4
21 6.8%
1.9%
31%1.4%
308 29%
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AUDIENCE
IMPRESSIONS
ENGAGED AUDIENCE
OUTBOUND CLICKS
ENGAGEMENTS
SAVES
PINTEREST
In August, we saw a slight decrease in activity. Although the analytics have decreased, we are happy with the success we are
seeing on this platform and will continue to mirror from IG.
TOP POSTS:
2,860 197
1
5,430 256
8%
45 16%
1%
.4%.3%
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WHAT WE WORKED ON THIS MONTH
- 2 Ticket Tuesdays
- PACSLO (8.1k Views)
- SLO Symphony (5.2k Views)
- Trending Content
- 5 Things Worth the Money in SLO Reel (9.7k Views)
- Kinda Chic Reel (9.5k Views)
- Guess Which Generation Carousel (28.6k Views)
- Local’s Guide to SLO Reel : Elizabeth Willey (19.8k Views)
- New Businesses in SLO Reel (13.4k Views)
- Interactive Reel & Split Screen Reel Format
- Foodie Guide to SLO (4.6k Views)
- Matcha & Beaches Pairing (11.7k Views)
- 6 invited collabs (@sidecarslo, @slosymphony, @elizwilley, @shopblackwater)
- SLO Life Coach & Life Tip Reel & Stories, Events Highlights, PR Placements in Stories
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SEPTEMBER’S FOCUS
- Outdoor / Seasonal Content
- California Wine Month Reel
- Long Weekend Itinerary / Labor Day
- First Day of Fall Reel
- Ticket Tuesday Giveaways
- Luna Red Dinner for Two
- Good Vibez SLO Festival
- New Businesses in SLO Reel
- Hub n Spoke : Sidecar Tours
- Trending Content / Interactive Reels /
Video Carousels
- Reels
- New SLOMA Mural Reel
- Sustainability Fun Facts
- Breakfast Spots in SLO
- Date Nights Interactive Reel
- Happy Hours at Lodging Properties
- Local Interview: The Mountain Air & Switchback
- Peruvian Food in SLO
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THANK YOU!
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