STR Tracking for Sonoma County
Things to Note:

  • 49 of the county’s 112 hotels report to STR
  • The average from other destinations includes: Napa, Palm Springs, Monterey, South Lake Tahoe, and Vallejo/Napa Valley
  • For more information on how data is calculated due to hotel closures, please refer to this document
Smith Travel Research (STR) is the recognized leader in hospitality industry benchmarking around the globe. Powered by the world's largest hotel data sample, they deliver confidential data, accurate and actionable insights, and comprehensive solutions to empower decisions. Discover how STR collects data, how it is calculated, and a glossary of terms, by clicking here . 
Today's Takeaways
From SCT's director of marketing systems & insights, Ariane Hiltebrand
This week, Destination Analysts is seeing the fourth consecutive week of further setbacks in travelers’ sentiment due to the news of increasing COVID cases in many states. While concerns for personal and national finances did not increase any further, all sentiments towards future travel plans are affected this week.

California is considered a national hotspot for COVID-19 cases just behind Florida. However, we can still expect regional drive market travel to hold steady, as 44% of travelers still indicated that they will be replacing air travel with road trips. Travel destinations must ensure that travelers are well aware of health and safety protocols and the current state of closures and openings.
Destination Analysts Key Findings to Know
From the 7/6 Destination Analysts' Travel Sentiment Report
  • 63.0% of American travelers feel the pandemic is going to get worse in the U.S. in the next month—up dramatically from 34.7% at the beginning of June.

  • Americans reported ability to be inspired to travel in the next three months—even under attractive conditions—has declined with the worsening of the pandemic.

  • The percent of Americans saying there are certain destinations they would normally consider visiting but now will absolutely not jumped to 37.3% from 29.6% in just one week.

  • When asked what’s driving the avoidance of these destinations, rising coronavirus cases and the perceived unsatisfactory management of the situation, as well as the expected poor behavior of other tourists was most cited.

  • Nevertheless, there are many Americans who are still traveling or planning to: 16.5% took a trip for the Fourth of July holiday, more than double Memorial Day.

  • The profile of these holiday travelers—younger, male, urban, affluent—may offer clues to travel’s near-term.

  • Americans who already have a destination(s) in mind for their 2020 leisure travel plans continue to show an affinity for beaches.

  • The hotel operational practices that would make Americans feel most confident that their health is being looked after is employees wearing masks and gloves, well-explained cleaning procedures, enforced social distancing and being provided with sanitizer and masks.
Website Insights for sonomacounty.com
During the week of June 26-July 2 sonomacounty.com saw 12% week over week gains in traffic, with organic search also up 12% over last week. Top content that people were engaging with was Fourth of July editorial, the coronavirus info page, followed by the Life Opens Up summer campaign page, and editorial about what to do in Sonoma County this summer, outdoors activities, nature parks, coast, Russian River, Lake Sonoma and redwoods, glamping and camping, unique accommodations, wineries and road trips.

In terms of city geo locations for website visitors we see our California key-markets strengthening: San Francisco is the top source for website visitors with a share of now 19%, Sacramento is #3, San Jose is #4, Oakland #5 and Los Angeles #7. The only out-of-state city in the top 25 is Chicago this week (for several weeks in a row).