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Destination Irvine Generates a Record $18.5 Million in Hotel Revenue

Wednesday, September 04, 2019

Destination Irvine generated $18.5 million in hotel revenue for the 2018-2019 fiscal year, a 117% increase from the previous year, and the greatest revenue generated in a single year for the organization. The total revenue is a combination of direct group sales and marketing campaigns conducted by the Greater Irvine Chamber’s destination marketing organization. Direct group sales efforts brought in more than $7.7 million in revenue and daily spend, compared to $6.8 million the previous year, and filled more than 31,800 room nights for meetings groups, sports events, leisure visitors, and business travelers. Destination Irvine’s marketing campaigns, including a CBS social influence...

Destination Irvine Winner in the 2019 Videographer Awards

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Destination Irvine recently received an Award of Distinction in the 2019 Videographer Awards for the organization’s “Irvine, The Sports Center of Orange County” video, and an Honorable Mention for its “Meet In Irvine, CA” video. The award comes after numerous others that the Chamber’s destination sales and marketing division has garnered this and previous years. Wendy Haase, vice president of Destination Irvine, worked with Lyons Studios on production of the video. “Our video content is an important component of our marketing strategy,” Haase said, “Video is an excellent mode to convey the many attractive aspects of Irvine and it is highly effectiv...

Irvine Featured in Gentry Destinations Magazine

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Irvine’s miles of hiking and biking trails and premier shopping and dining options were featured in the June/July 2019 issue of Gentry Destinations, a quarterly luxury travel publication. The feature was a result of travel writer Carolyn McCusker’s visit to Irvine, during which she was hosted by Destination Irvine for a one-day itinerary as part of the OC Visitors Association North America initiative. “Irvine provides a wealth of family-friendly activities. Whether you are a day-packer, a bike-rider, or just desire a peaceful stroll, with its 16,000 acres of open space and 50 miles of off-road trails, Irvine has a trail for ever...

Destination Irvine Attracts Pharmaceutical, Life Science Meeting Groups

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

The Destination Irvine team promoted Irvine as a top destination for meeting and conference groups this month during Cvent CONNECT 2019, the world’s largest event technology conference for meeting, event, and hospitality professionals. As part of her participation during the conference’s trade show, AnaLaura Becerra, director of corporate sales, Destination Irvine, hosted nearly 50 walk-in appointments with meeting planners from throughout the nation in the pharmaceutical and life science industries including Abbott Laboratories, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Phenomenex. “Irvine’s robust med-tech and life-science industries make it an ideal destination for meeting groups and event planners looking to connect with local thought leaders, an...

Destination Irvine, UCI Promote Irvine’s Esports Arena

Wednesday, July 03, 2019

Destination Irvine played an important role in the June EsportsTravel Summit held in Atlantic City. As part of the Greater Irvine Chamber’s destination marketing division’s ongoing promotion of Irvine as a sports destination, Dave Lucey, director of sports sales for Destination Irvine, and Samantha Anton, chief operating officer for the North America Scholastic Esports Federation at University of California, Irvine (UCI), promoted the city’s extensive esports portfolio. UCI is the first public university to create an official esports program and is regarded as one of the best and most comprehensive in the world. Destination Irvine has joined efforts with the university to promote Irvine and the UCI Esports Arena to attract esports tournament...

12 Top-Rated Attractions and Things to Do in Irvine, CA

Monday, July 01, 2019

A Southern California economic center, Irvine is a postcard destination of Orange County. Well-executed city planning and diverse natural spaces provide tourists plenty of places to explore, including the Irvine Spectrum Center outdoor shopping center with a Ferris wheel. Outdoor attractions and cultural appeal collide at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, with unique park amenities in the form of sports complexes, art galleries, and a big orange balloon ride. A popular day or weekend trip from Irvine, the neighboring city of Newport Beach provides the fastest route to the ocean and a scenic coastal getaway. From Newport Beach, th...

Greater Irvine Chamber Named a Best Place to Work for the Second Year by OCBJ

Monday, July 01, 2019

The Greater Irvine Chamber has been named a Best Places to Work in Orange County by the Orange County Business Journal, for the second consecutive year. “The Board of Directors congratulates the professional staff at the Greater Irvine Chamber for being named a 2019 Best Place to Work,” said Kate Klimow, chief administrative officer and director of external relations, UCI Beall Applied Innovation, and chair, Greater Irvine Chamber Board of Directors. “The Chamber staff has cultivated a winning workplace as it works to advance economic vitality in the region.” The professional staff at the Chamber benefits from a work culture that encourage...

Destination Irvine Releases 2019-2020 Irvine Visitors Guide

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Destination Irvine has released its 2019-2020 Irvine Visitors Guide, a resource that visitors use when looking for where to stay, play, meet, and eat in Irvine. Destination Irvine distributes 35,000 copies of the guide to locations throughout Irvine, including hotels, the Orange County Great Park Visitors Center, Irvine Metrolink/Amtrak Station, John Wayne and Ontario airports, California Welcome Centers throughout the state, University of California, Irvine, and the Irvine Spectrum Center visitor kiosk. The annually updated promotional publication is also distributed in key markets like Arizona, Seattle, and Texas. The guide is utilized at tradeshows and media marketplaces. View the 2019-2020 Irvine Visitors Guide digita...

Destination Irvine's AnaLaura Becerra Crafts Unique Experiences for Visitors

Monday, June 24, 2019

When a small organization reached out to Destination Irvine (Calif.) for help in planning a 40-person meeting, it had one challenge: a limited budget. Given Irvine’s beautiful outdoor settings and the group’s desire to make the experience memorable as it transitioned in a new board, AnaLaura Becerra, CMP, CTA (MPI Orange County Chapter), director of corporate sales at Destination Irvine, suggested a hike on the trails near the hotel. “Rejection—immediately,” Becerra recalls. The group worried it would be too hot or the trails would be too long for those who didn’t exercise regularly. Becerra soon came up with a way around that: electri...

Destination Irvine’s Wendy Haase Promotes California Tourism in Sacramento

Monday, June 24, 2019

Wendy Haase, senior director of Destination Irvine, and board member of the California Travel Association (CalTravel), this month attended Tourism Advocacy Day in Sacramento to promote California tourism. During the event, Haase met with representatives from the offices of Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris, Assemblyman Steven Choi, and Senator Scott Wilk to discuss the importance of travel and tourism, and the industry’s most pressing issues. Tourism Advocacy Day is vital to raising CalTravel’s visibility and helping the association advance and promote California tourism in the capital. Haase also attended the CalTravel Summer Board Meeting during the visit to the capitol. CalTravel is the unified voic...

Destination Irvine Attracts International Travel Buyers at Leading US Travel Trade Show

Wednesday, June 12, 2019

The Greater Irvine Chamber’s destination marketing team continues to promote the City of Irvine to travel buyers from around the world. Wendy Haase, senior director of Destination Irvine, and AnaLaura Becerra, director of corporate sales for the organization, along with four hotel partners, promoted Irvine as a destination to 100 interested international travel buyers this month at IPW, the U.S Travel Association’s leading international inbound travel trade show. As part of the trade show, the Destination Irvine team hosted more than two dozen journalists and buyers for a sightseeing tour that included a Pedego Electric Bike ride on the Jeffrey Open Space Trail ending a...

Growth in Irvine Tourism Spending is Four Times the State's Performance

Tuesday, June 11, 2019

By Bryan Starr, president and CEO, Greater Irvine Chamber, as published in the May 27 issue of the Orange County Business Journal. Irvine can no longer be considered a hidden gem of California. It has become a well-visited destination for travelers from across the country and the world. In fact, Irvine has outpaced the state’s growth in tourism spending four times over. The Greater Irvine Chamber’s destination marketing division, Destination Irvine, released last month statistics from the 2018 Visitor Impact report conducted specifically for Irvine by Dean Runyan Associates. The report indicates Irvine visitor spending increased a record 21 percent from 2017...

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