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San Diego gains favor as destination for leisure and business: from urban resorts to desert oases, San Diego has a resort for all seasons

Los Angeles Business Journal, July 5, 2004 by Sandi Cain

The city of San Diego is California's most southern metropolis, but the county covers more than 4,200 square miles and attracts visitors to a diverse ecosystem that includes San Diego Bay and beaches, islands, deserts, mountains, coastal valleys and Mediterranean climate--all within about an hour's drive of downtown.

In April, San Diego was named by the Partners for Livable Communities as one America's Most Livable Communities based on the city's climate, economy, amenities and location. The American Podiatric Medical Association, called it one of the 12 best walking cities in the U.S., citing walkable places like the 12,000-acre Balboa Park and its almost 80 museums and theaters, 70 miles of coastline and 4,600-acre Mission Bay a few miles from the city's center and airport.

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By car, downtown San Diego is just an hour from South Orange County, making it an attractive weekend getaway for many Southern Californians. About 40% of San Diego's visitors come from other parts of the state.

"The region is ranked No. 3 in the nation (in popularity) behind New York and Oahu," said Robert Rauch, director of the Center for Hospitality and Tourism Research at San Diego State University.

Those heading for coastal areas will stay on I-5 from Orange County south to downtown San Diego or the Mexican border, while others may approach San Diego from the inland route on I-15--a more direct approach for visitors coming from Nevada.

A generation ago, San Diego was simply a Navy and Marine enclave. The military still has a strong presence in the county, as drivers will note as they pass through the heart of the U.S. Marine Corps' Camp Pendleton on their way south. But today San Diego has become a rising star among destinations in the Southland.

"It's reaching destination status," Rauch said.

San Diego keeps to its military roots at places like the Aerospace Museum and at the Navy Pier along the city's Embarcadero, where retired aircraft carrier U.S.S. Midway has been turned into the San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum. Though the museum only debuted in June, Visitor Bureau employees say they've been fielding calls from meeting planners about hosting events aboard the carrier for months.

"The Midway will be a hot venue," said Doug Wheeler, a La Jolla-based conference planner. "It's downtown on the water, easily accessible and is something new and different," he said.

In recent years, San Diego has become one of the most popular meetings destinations in the country, largely on the strength of a 20-year downtown redevelopment plan that is coming to fruition. The bayside San Diego Convention Center completed an expansion that doubled its size in 2001, and numerous new hotels have sprouted or expanded since then. Downtown condos have brought more people to the heart of the city, while the San Diego Trolley system carries people to the new Petco baseball park, Qualcomm Stadium, the business center of Mission Valley and east to El Cajon. It connects to an Amtrak station that takes long-distance commuters or tourists to Carlsbad in North County. If that isn't enough of a draw, the Coronado Bay Bridge, linking to that island's resorts is just a five-minute drive from the Convention Center.

In all, San Diego County has about 52,000 hotel rooms and 20 top-rated resorts, eight of them in the downtown vicinity and another five in La Jolla. It also boasts two top-rated spas and seven top-rated restaurants. Three San Diego properties--Four Seasons Aviara in Carlsbad; Rancho Valencia in Rancho Santa Fe and Hotel Parisi in La Jolla--are among the Top 100 Hotels in the World, according to the readers of Conde Nast Traveler

And there's more to come.

The recently opened 512-room Omni San Diego, linked to baseball's Petco Park by pedestrian bridge, sits across from the Convention Center as an anchor to the new East Village redevelopment and just a block from the popular Gaslamp Quarter for entertainment and dining. Its graceful curved facade looks out toward Coronado across the bay.

The Omni is the only hotel in the country linked directly to a major league baseball park. It also has a condo component on its top floors and a Padres Suite (in honor of the San Diego Padres) decked out in baseball memorabilia overlooking the park.

Petco itself is part Wrigley Field, part Coors Field and part just plain urban cool. It's got a grassy area just outside the centerfield fence called "Park at the Park" where game tickets are just $5. Game nights have sparked new interest in area dining and entertainment establishments and Hornblower Cruises offers a Tailgate Party Cruise on game nights from downtown's Embarcadero.

Joining the next parade of lodging development will be Conrad Spinnaker Hotel, designed in the shape of a sail and slated to open in 2006. A Hard Rock Hotel is set for the Gaslamp Quarter next year, as is Kimpton Hotels' first Southern California venture.

There are about 9,000 hotel rooms within a mile of the convention center. Average lodging rates in the county through April ranged from a low of $59 to a high of $198.

Business Services Industry

San Diego gains favor as destination for leisure and business: from urban resorts to desert oases, San Diego has a resort for all seasons

Los Angeles Business Journal, July 5, 2004 by Sandi Cain

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