West Sacramento’s city council voted unanimously and enthusiastically on Wednesday night in favor of declaring its intention to establish a tourism marketing district.
The city has been getting a lot of attention over the past year with the temporary arrival of the Athletics, playing at Sutter Health Park on the city’s riverfront through 2027.
As part of the council discussion, city leaders say not enough people are taking advantage of the hotels and businesses West Sacramento has to offer.
The vote represents the first time in West Sacramento’s history that the city has put a major focus on tourism, the city’s Economic Development manager, Meaghan Stiles, told CBS Sacramento.
“Having a more strategic tourism voice is just going to attract not only visitors, but other businesses to come and invest here as well,” Stiles said.
Stiles gave a presentation to the council, outlining why establishing the tourism marketing district would help create new revenue streams and leverage for the city’s hotels.
This has been a part of the city’s strategic plan since 2023.
“Everyone, pretty much, in the region adjacent to us has a tourism marketing district of some kind. We have been trying to, not necessarily play catch-up, but kind of scrape things together and come up with marketing plans and ideas,” Stiles said.
For the city of West Sacramento, right now, the momentum is there to make tourism a top priority: from the A’s next two years playing at Sutter Health Park, to riverfront housing under construction at the Pierside development, and even the plan to build a hotel on West Sacramento’s side of the river.
In addition, new entertainment venues have recently opened like The BLVD! gaming and entertainment spot and Birdies, a restaurant and golf simulator attraction.
“We have a lot of new entertainment venues that are popping up, and it’s just the perfect time to get together and really have one united voice that we’re able to tell our story and what we have to offer,” Stiles said.
Upon final approval of the West Sacramento Tourism Management District, it would directly impact the larger hotels in West Sacramento that have more than 50 rooms.
The hotels will add a 2% fee to what they charge their customers. The money generated will be earmarked only for hotel tourism spending.
“It’s really just a way that the hotels can get together and have a pot of money that is specifically for them that they can use to market themselves as a destination and as a place to stay,” Stiles said. “They will get together as a board every year and decide exactly how they are going to spend those funds, whether it’s entering into a contract with a marketing agency, whether it’s hotel conferences or other things that will help them figure out how to market to the right audience.”
During regional events like Ironman, the Aftershock Music Festival, and A’s games that draw in a large visiting crowd, the goal is to remind more people that West Sacramento has hotels where they can stay.
The revenue stream from the new assessment on hotels is estimated to draw in nearly $500,000 per year.
“This is our time to be able to get our hotels and our entertainment folks together and create a cohesive message that can compete. Not compete in a mean way, but compete and bring ourselves to the table like we are a player in the region and we have things to offer,” Stiles said.
The vote represents the city capitalizing on a time of unprecedented tourism and exposure in West Sacramento.
In the near future, the city will also address forming a nonprofit agency similar to Visit Sacramento or Visit Davis that can be the bridge between the city and the hoteliers as decisions are made on how to spend the marketing money.
They also plan to host a public hearing before the end of the year. If there is final approval for the new tourism district, the projected start date is January 1, 2026.
Learn more about the proposal at this link.