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Summit will explore tourism in Valley [The Modesto Bee](Modesto Bee (CA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 21--Promoters of tourism in the San Joaquin Valley will gather next week at a Modesto venue that's a fine example of how to draw visitors. The Gallo Center for the Arts will be the site Monday of the second annual San Joaquin River Valley Travel and Tourism Economic Summit. At the first go-round in Turlock last year, speakers told of how the region might market its farms, rivers, arts, historical sites and other assets. The Gallo Center, which has booked hundreds of top-flight acts over its seven years, has helped show the way. Valley tourism advocates face the perception that this is a place people need to get through quickly on their way to and from San Francisco, Yosemite National Park and other marquee attractions. The five counties involved in the summit -- from San Joaquin south to Fresno -- got just 2 percent of the $109.6 billion in visitor spending statewide in 2013, according to a report by Dean Runyan Associates. "We should be getting a larger share," said Virginia Madueño, a former Riverbank mayor who has helped organize the summits through her public- relations firm. Agritourism gets plenty of mention. It can range from a brief stop at a produce stand or winery tasting room to an overnight stay on a cattle ranch. "What better area to help with that than our great San Joaquin Valley?" Madueño said. The summit will feature a talk by Traci Ward, director of consumer marketing for Visit California, a state agency that promotes tourism. She will focus on a new campaign involving agriculture. Bill Center, a former El Dorado County supervisor, will talk about how recreation on the American River has helped boost the local economy. Attendees also will hear a panel discussion by people from convention and visitor bureaus in the Valley. The region might be best known for its flat cropland, but it also has hills to the east and west with ranches, parks and historical sites such as Knights Ferry. Fans of rodeo and other things Western can visit the Oakdale Cowboy Museum. "We find that we are a great stopping place for people," said Christie Camarillo, the museum's executive director. "We are two hours from San Francisco and two hours from Yosemite." Even with just the 2 percent share, the five Valley counties had $2.6 billion in visitor spending last year, according to the Runyan report. That created an estimated 27,000 jobs and $167 million in tax revenue. "We need to start looking at ways that we can grow and diversify our local economy in the Valley," said Ben Duran, president of the Great Valley Center in Modesto, in a news release. "Tourism is definitely an area that we should be paying more attention to and looking at how our region can create more opportunities for job creation and expansion." Fans of agritourism have a new online guide from Ag Link CONNECT, a Ballico-based company that promotes local farm products. The website www.aglinkconnect.com lists agriculture-related events and other information. Bee staff writer John Holland can be reached at [email protected] or (209) 578-2385. ___ (c)2014 The Modesto Bee (Modesto, Calif.) Visit The Modesto Bee (Modesto, Calif.) at www.modbee.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |