MONTEREY >> The advocating and marketing organization for Monterey County, See Monterey, recently released its strategic plan which aims to steer the county’s hospitality and tourism industry through evolving changes between now and 2030.

The “Monterey County Tourism 2030 Roadmap” highlights challenges and opportunities over the next five years, and outlines a managed growth strategy for the tourism economy with the goal toward maximizing the long-term viability of Monterey County’s tourism economy.

“The tourism industry in Monterey County is showing signs of recovery but hasn’t fully returned to pre-pandemic levels,” said See Monterey President and CEO Rob O’Keefe, in an email. “In 2023, travel spending reached approximately $3 billion, a modest increase compared to previous years. However, critical segments like group travel and international tourism, particularly from markets such as China, are still lagging.”

O’Keefe said the plan’s goal is rooted in benefiting the community and will require unprecedented levels of stakeholder collaboration, adding that the tourism landscape over the next half decade is rapidly changing and a strategy for managed growth is imperative.

“As of 2023, visitor spending is approximately 8.6% below the pre-pandemic level of 2019,” said O’Keefe. “While we experienced a small year-over-year increase in travel spending, we are still working towards a full recovery, especially in lucrative segments like group travel and international visitors.”The Tourism 2030 Roadmap is an update to See Monterey’s 2022 first-ever, long-term strategic plan. The roadmap considers major changes that have come up during that time including hotel growth, advances in transportation, community development and evolving traveler behavior.

Countywide occupancy improved this summer, with July slightly up from last year and August showing a nearly 6% increase, O’Keefe said, adding that the pace of future meetings and conferences bookings is significantly surpassing 2019 levels, which are encouraging signs.

Monterey County Hospitality Association Executive Director Kristin Horton said there are currently about 13,000 hotel rooms in Monterey County, with an average occupancy rate of 66% with the majority of those rooms being on the Monterey Peninsula which typically sees the highest occupancy rates and where tourism/hospitality is the number one economic driver. The tourism and hospitality industry is the number two economic engine in Monterey County.

The next five years will see new hotels springing up in the county adding more rooms to the roster.

A Grand Hyatt in Seaside, and a Kimpton in Pacific Grove will be new. The Monterey Beach Hotel — formerly Monterey Tides — rebrand and renovation will now be part of Marriott’s Tribute portfolio. Two hotels coming up in Sand City, the American Tin Cannery project, a new hotel project in Salinas, a Holiday Inn Express in Soledad, and three more planned in Marina’s Dunes development.

On the transportation front, Monterey Regional Airport is progressing with a new and relocated five-gated terminal that will replace the current outdated facility with a single-level layout that promotes accessibility and easy wayfinding. The new SURF! Busway recently gained California Coastal Commission approval and is slated for an early 2025 construction start. The Fort Ord Trail and Greenway project is underway with the first segment being constructed in Del Rey Oaks.

Major development projects are on the way in Marina with the Dunes On Monterey Bay development adding to the housing stock, Seasides long-awaited Campus Town development progressing and additional commercial and residential development in cities such as Salinas and Soledad.

The Monterey County Hospitality Association worked closely with See Monterey to create and launch the Tourism 2030 Roadmap.

Current MCHA Board Chair Stefan Lorch said the organization’s mission is to ensure the sustainable growth of the local hospitality industry which is critically important not only to the tens of thousands of employees who work in the industry, but to the overall economic vitality of Monterey County,

But the hospitality and tourism industry relies on service workers that live a distance from their places of employment due to the cost of housing on the Monterey Peninsula.

“A significant portion of our hospitality workforce resides in Seaside and Marina,” said Horton. “MCHA has been a strong advocate for the (Monterey-Salinas Transit) SURF! line, which improves public transportation options for daily commuters.”

Horton said that transportation and housing remain central to MCHA’s advocacy efforts, and the organization is committed to advancing solutions that benefit both its workforce and regional visitors.

“The county’s recent short-term rental ordinance, alongside the Coastal Commission’s approval of the long-anticipated desalination project, are critical steps toward addressing long-term housing and rental needs in the area,” said Horton.

She pointed out that several MCHA members throughout the county already provide some form of staff housing, most notably its largest member employer, the Pebble Beach Company.

“MCHA remains open to ongoing discussions and exploring innovative approaches to optimize housing availability for our workforce,” said Horton.

The Monterey County Tourism 2030 Roadmap takes a proactive approach to shaping the future of Monterey County tourism, said O’Keefe, who added two foundational studies were used for the research-based plan — a Visitor Profile Study and a Resident Sentiment Study.

“A number of other studies, as well as hospitality industry and community input from the original strategic plan, were also factored in,” said O’Keefe.

After analyzing all inputs, three top priorities were identified which included enhancing quality of place by creating a connection between the desires of travelers and the needs of residents, stimulating economic development as growing a healthy tourism economy is vital to economic success and supporting managed growth by prioritizing community needs to ensure that tourism growth enhances rather than disrupts local life.

In addition, the plan includes 10 key themes from the research studies identifying what travelers want and what residents need, said O’Keefe. It also outlines key strategies and imperatives for creating managed growth, opportunities and barriers, key collaborators and more in-depth information on both research studies.

The MCT 2030 Roadmap, as well as See Monterey’s 2024-25 Business Plan, is available to view at www.SeeMonterey.com/Members/Tools/Reports.