TEMECULA, Calif., March 20, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Temecula Valley, Southwest California will be Southwest Airlines' "Featured Destination" on their web site www.southwest.com March 20-27, 2007.
Through a joint marketing effort of the Southwest California Economic Alliance, the regional job and business attraction group, consisting of the cities of Murrieta, Lake Elsinore, Temecula and parts of unincorporated Riverside County, and the Temecula Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau, the local tourism marketing group, the two entities contracted with Southwest Airlines to feature Temecula Valley, Southwest California on their web site as a tourism destination. As the "Featured Destination" the area will be exposed to 5.6 million Southwest Airlines e-mail subscribers. The airline's web site www.southwest.com is the number one revenue producing airline web site in the world, receiving more than 11 million unique visitors per month.
Special air fares will be offered by Southwest Airlines for flights in and out of San Diego and Ontario airports in conjunction with Temecula Valley, Southwest California being the week's Featured Destination. In many cases "the domino effect" occurs where competing airlines serving the same destination will match the fares along with online and offline publications such as Travelzoo, Smarter Living and Texas Monthly, which often features Southwest Airline's Featured Destination. This type of cross marketing further exposes the region to the nationwide tourism market. In addition to the special air fares, local hotels and motels and car rental agencies will support the promotion with special rates.
To promote the many recreational opportunities in the Temecula Valley, Southwest California area, travelers will be directed from www.southwest.com to a special web page with detailed information on the Featured Destination. The page created for Temecula Valley, Southwest California will feature a collage of photos depicting some of the area's most popular attractions, along with six sub paragraphs describing things to do in the following categories: Outdoor Adventures; Special Events; Music and Art; Wineries; Shopping; and Pechanga Resort & Entertainment. There will also be a link to www.southwestcalifornia.com and from there a prominent link to www.temeculacvb.com for further details.
"The Temecula Valley and Southwest California are now positioned to become a national, regional and state-wide tourism destination, targeting multi-day vacationers," according to Kimberly Adams, Executive Director for Temecula Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau. "Being promoted as a 'Featured Destination' with Southwest Airlines has been part of our marketing strategy. Joining with the Alliance to market the area makes it a win-win for everyone," says Adams.
The Southwest California Economic Alliance has been successfully marketing this area as "Southwest California" nationwide for several years. "I attend many economic development trade shows throughout the United States each year. Being able to identify the area I represent as Southwest California provides instant area recognition, or at a minimum limits the inquires to are how close are you to Los Angeles and San Diego," states Stevie Field, Executive Director of Southwest California Economic Alliance. "It not only separates this area from the many other Southern California competitors trying to attract new businesses or those who are looking to relocate their business," says Field. This is the second year the Economic Alliance has enjoyed a marketing partnership with Southwest Airlines.
Marketing tourism destinations and economic development together has never been more dynamic, competitive and important than it is today. "The marketing of tourism destinations and economic development opportunities jointly has proven to be very successful for many area groups," according to Jerry Regier, Director of Marketing for Cutting Edge Marketing, whose agency has handled the marketing for Southwest California Economic Alliance for the past six years. Many times a business owner will take a vacation and end up looking at that area for relocating the company or selecting it as a place to hold a company convention or conference. This type of joint marketing also helps with the branding of an area nationwide as a place with an outstanding quality of life as it is featured as a tourism destination. This allows for the destination and its businesses to be positioned and more clearly differentiated from competitors. While this marketing approach is normally very successful, it takes time for measured results. It's like launching a new product, it takes repetition and a consistent message to establish the brand with the potential customer. Having a brand like "Southwest California" and the joint effort of the these two groups allows the area to compete nationally with better known areas such as Palm Springs-Palm Desert, Napa Valley, Silicon Valley and San Diego and even tourism destinations such as Disneyland and the beaches. It also allows the region to be competitive with the other marketing areas that have million dollar marketing budgets.