The troops on the homefront are starting to rally. The foot soldiers of California vacations, millions of tourists, are beginning to look, book and hit the road. In one week alone, we saw the prices skyrocket from available rooms at Yosemite National Park to availability nearly gone on many in-park hotels during the height of the season.
San Francisco stats came in with reports that tourism (hotel rooms booked) has barely been impacted during this down cycle. That's simply amazing! Many cities are doing great. But not all are weathering the storm and that includes the likes of Huntington Beach, which had close to a 30% drop in hotel rooms bookings from Apr. 2008 compared to Apr. 2009. That city is requesting (like many destinations) extra money from the city coffers to promote their destination offerings.
Here are some great places to look for deals this summer: San Diego...prices won't be cheap, and they won't be great everywhere you look. But there are some soft spots on smaller hotels and some deals to be had on packages.
Best advice: Look at prices before you go. Sometimes a big event can really take up the hotel rooms. Also, with the gas prices half of last year's prices (not quite, but almost), there are going to be a lot more people driving on vacation. This means that you should expect crowds everywhere. Californians, alone, will be scouring the state for things to see & do. Then add the foreign travelers recognizing their money is worth a lot here, and you'll find that this is going to be one of the busiest summers in California travel.
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