SAN DIEGO -- As California copes with the most destructive
wildfires in its history, tourism industry officials tried to
reassure leisure and business travelers that the travel
infrastructure was still standing.
The massive fires hit the San Bernardino range east of Los
Angeles and the mountains of eastern San Diego County.
At press time, they were threatening the vacation towns of Lake
Arrowhead and Big Bear in San Bernardino County. Both are popular
resort areas for southern Californians.
The fires have not damaged the tourism infrastructure in the
major cities.
"No hotel or resorts were damaged," said Sal Giametta, vice
president of community relations for the San Diego Convention and
Visitors Bureau. "Our tourism infrastructure, including major
attractions and the convention center were untouched."
However, the fires threatened Julian, an historic mining town in
eastern San Diego County that is a popular day trip for visitors to
San Diego.
"With regard to our offerings to visitors, our back country has
been impacted the most. Trips to Julian and hiking and biking in
the mountains are part of our diverse product line," Giametta
said.
The main concern of travelers -- including meetings' planners
and convention organizers -- was air quality, said Giametta.
The bureau has 16 citywide conventions on the books from late
October until Thanksgiving and none has canceled.
However, two small meetings, one of 60 people and the other of
300 people, did scratch, he said, because their meetings included
outdoor activities that could have been affected by poor air
quality.
For the latest information, Giametta urges travel agents,
meeting planners and tour operators to visit the bureau's Web site
at www.sandiego.org.
He said it is too early to tell what long-term impact the fires
will have on tourism.
"The areas affected are away from the coast. We will be meeting
with hotels and other members to see what we might do in the coming
weeks to get that message out," he said.
At Paradise Point Resort and Spa in San Diego, Larry Kaufman,
director of sales and marketing, said the hotel had received "a lot
of inquiries" about conditions at the resort but few cancellations.
The first day of the fire, the resort was covered in a layer of
ash, which was quickly cleaned up, he said.
Agents have faced various levels of danger and disruption.
Joanie Ogg, president of the National Association of
Commissioned Travel Agents, an ASTA subsidiary, said the fires came
within two miles of her Valley Center, Calif., home -- which serves
as the West Coast office of NACTA.
San Diego's Acacia Travel has maintained its normal business
hours all week but with reduced staff as some employees were
attending to home and family emergencies.
Fire came to within five miles of one Balboa Travel location in
San Diego, but, said president and COO Jan Schultz, the Balboa
physical plant is "OK."
As to the staff, he said, "We had agents all over the county at
various levels of harm's way at different times."
About a half dozen of the agency's home-based agents had to be
evacuated, and among office staff, Schultz said, many have been out
because they were evacuating or standing by to move.
Aside from evacuations and the like, another issue, said Anthony
Lecce, director of operations, is air quality because
air-conditioning systems were delivering smoke into buildings. He
said the agency bought masks for everyone.
The fires also came within a quarter-mile of CSA Travel
Protection corporate headquarters in San Diego.
Although many employees were affected, the company said its call
center and claims department are up and running.
For agents having problems getting through by phone, CSA said it
will return calls "promptly" if agents can get through via the
Internet at www.csatravelprotection.com, e-mail at [email protected] or fax at (800)
336-6409.
Although fire raged in the hilly areas around Santa Clarita, a
Princess Cruises spokeswoman said the "the res centers [there] are
open" and the line's headquarters in the Santa Clarita valley were
in no danger.
To contact reporter Laura Del Rosso, send e-mail to [email protected].
Nadine Godwin and Rebecca Tobin contributed to this
report.