Resonance Consultancy Awarded Visit SLO CAL, San Luis Obispo County, California, Destination Management Strategy Project

LOS ANGELES, May 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Resonance Consultancy, the California-, New York- and Vancouver, B.C.-based leading advisors in tourism, real estate and economic development for countries, cities and communities, is pleased to announce their engagement with Visit SLO CAL, the non-profit countywide destination marketing and management organization for San Luis Obispo County (SLO CAL). Over the next eight months, Resonance will facilitate the development of a Destination Management Strategy to help identify ways to protect, improve and enhance the region's long-term quality of life, visitor experience and economic prosperity.

Resonance Consultancy will engage residents, business, public officials and tourism stakeholders to create a strategy that fosters growth, protects quality of life and empower champions for San Luis Obispo County.

Visit SLO CAL's Destination Management Strategy is a community-driven process. As the strategy is developed, hundreds of regional stakeholders from more than 22 municipalities and unincorporated regions who will be actively included in the process through interviews, strategic conversations, destination surveys, community surveys and regional visioning workshops. The project will include competitive assessments using social media and online rating data across 18 categories to help the county understand their strengths and weaknesses through the lens of the people who matter most: their residents and visitors.

"With more than 80 miles of pristine coastline, world renowned wine country, farm-to-table culinary culture, and an overall high quality of life, there is only one SLO CAL," said Chuck Davison, President & CEO of Visit SLO CAL. "By proactively mapping the future of our destination over the next 20-30 years, together we can protect and improve our quality of life and plan for sustainable economic growth."

Historically, the wealth of communities and nations has been determined primarily by geographic factors?climate, access to resources, ports and proximity to other centers and points of trade. For centuries, the luck of the geographic draw attracted capital and investment, created jobs and generated economic growth and prosperity. But as developed economies have shifted rapidly from a manufacturing orientation to services and technology in the latter half of the 20th century, geographic factors have become less important in determining the economic success of cities, regions, states and countries. Today, it is increasingly the perceived quality of place that determines where talent, capital and travel and tourism flow.

But what is it that attracts people to one place versus another? Research by Resonance Consultancy has shown that what attracts people to places to live is increasingly aligned with the very same factors that make places attractive to visit. Among them: the quality of the natural environment, parks and open spaces; the diversity of people; the variety of restaurants and nightlife; and the quality of arts and culture. These assets, and many others, shape the perception and identity of places in the minds of people as they consider and evaluate places to live, visit or invest.

"San Luis Obispo County and Visit SLO CAL are in a unique position to identify their strengths and weaknesses and develop a vision and strategy for the future that preserves the beautiful quality of life on the central coast and improves the region for both residents and visitors," says Richard Cutting-Miller, Executive Vice President of Resonance Consultancy.

Resonance recently produced visioning projects, destination development and branding strategies for Vancouver, B.C, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Cincinnati, Ohio, Bellevue Washington, and Snohomish County, Washington.

ABOUT RESONANCE CONSULTANCY
As leading advisors in tourism, real estate and economic development for three decades, Resonance combines business strategy and marketing creativity to shape the future of communities, cities and countries. Our services span place development strategy, place marketing, placemaking and place branding. Our team has completed more than 100 visioning, strategy, planning, policy and branding projects for destinations and developers in more than 70 countries. We work with developers, planners, architects, DMOs, economic development agencies and others to make places the best they can be. To learn more about us and our services, please visit ResonanceCo.com.

ABOUT VISIT SLO CAL
Visit SLO CAL is the non-profit countywide destination marketing organization for San Luis Obispo County (SLO CAL). Through marketing, advertising, public relations, group sales, promotions, events and sponsorship, our goal is to brand SLO CAL as a choice destination for regional, national and international travelers, promoting the region in feeder markets throughout the world. Visit SLO CAL partners closely with tourism industry-related businesses including lodging properties, restaurants, wineries, activities, golf courses and retail stores to create a unified marketing approach that fosters growth and creates life-long ambassadors for travel in San Luis Obispo County.

For more information or interviews, please contact:

Sara Fahy
Vice President, Strategy & Communications
Resonance Consultancy
1-949-887-4476
[email protected]

SOURCE Resonance Consultancy