Paso Robles is in the national spotlight after being featured on NBC’s "The Today Show" on Friday, June 18 as a top destination to visit this summer.
The “Third Hour” show highlighted Paso Robles' wine country, the new Stables Inn and the “Field of Light” display as the top California destination to visit this summer amid the state's official re-opening.
“We were just very excited! Our email and our phones were ringing off," Stacie Jacob, Execuive Director of Travel Paso said. "Everybody is excited about the 'Today Show' hit.”
Jacob said this isn’t the first time Paso Robles has been on the national stage. In January 2020, The New York Times published its list of the “52 Places to Go in 2020” ranking Paso Robles in sixth place.
“That national press has allowed us to be super successful in this reopening," Jacob said. "We’ve seen the highest occupancy rates that we’ve seen in recent times. People are coming back.”
Jacob said the show's spotlight couldn’t have come at a better time, as Travel Paso has launched its largest campaign to date, targeting drivers in Southern California.
“We have 90+ billboards throughout the community of Los Angeles," Jacob said. "Right now, people are going to feel most comfortable with, ‘where can I go within a 3-4 road trip?'”
With Paso Robles’ more than 200 wineries, Jacobs said they are targeting people to road trip to the countryside wineries.
“We love it when people can say 'Napa, Sanoma, and Paso Robles' — if that can just roll off the tongue in terms of top wine destinations for folks,” Jacob said.
Jacob said she’s aware some locals may not be a big fan of more tourists coming into the area, but reminds people that tourists help pay for the lifestyle that residents get to enjoy.
“ They are paying TOT — transient occupancy tax — that goes into our general fund that our community is using to provide safety, road improvement," Jacob said. "These go into our services that we as residents would have to pay for if we didn’t have this tourism economy.”
