California: new attractions
San Diego
Sea World: new attractions include a Shipwreck Rapids water park featuring raging rapids, waterfalls and other encounters as visitors journey on raft-like inner tubes. The park has also opened a 215,000-gallon centre called Manatee Rescue featuring the rare plant-eating mammals.
Legoland California: the 128-acre family park is now open with six separate play areas, including attractions, rides and brick-building sections. Areas include the Imagination Zone, Fun Town and Miniland.
Vintage train rides: new back-country tours organised by the San Diego Railroad Museum include trips into Mexico and a wine-tasting itinerary that visits wineries in Baja Mexico’s Guadalupe Valley.
Long Beach
Queensway Bay project: $558m redevelopment of Long Beach’s downtown waterfront, including Rainbow Harbour, Shoreline Park and the new Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific. Features restaurants, cruises, entertainment and speciality shopping, with shuttle links to the Queen Mary Seaport, Pine Avenue nightspots, convention centre, Shoreline Village and major hotels on Ocean Boulevard. The entire 320-acre Bay project will be completed next year.
Palm Springs
New night tours: Desert Safari’s Moonlight Hiking Expedition to some of the most picturesque canyons and trails in the Coachella Valley, and a guided cosmic itinerary of the desert region with Sky Watcher Star Gazing Tours.
Casa de Liberace: tours are now available of Liberace’s 7,000sq ft Spanish-styled estate, which was originally a bed-and-breakfast establishment known as The Cloisters. It was built in 1924 and purchased by Liberace in 1968.
Indian Wells Tennis Garden: $63m tennis complex including a 16,000-seat stadium on 189 acres in Indian Wells. First major tournaments scheduled for this year.
San Francisco
Wax Museum: new $15m complex opens on Fisherman’s Wharf in the spring, including the Hall of Religion and Palace of Living Art.
Forbes Island: 700-ton, 50ft-long boat themed as a fantasy island attraction on Pier 39, featuring sandy beach, palm trees, waterfall and lighthouse with observation deck as well as an underwater restaurant.
Brewpub tour: San Francisco on Tap is a new 5hr tour with brewpub tastings in districts such Haight-Ashbury, the Embarcadero, Fisherman’s Wharf, Chinatown and North Beach, including lunch.
Los Angeles
Staples Centre: new $375m sports and entertainment arena complex in downtown LA and home to top ice hockey and basketball teams. Events will include top national concerts and other musical events for the 20,000-seat facility.
Hollywood and Highland: $430m entertainment area in the heart of the ‘new Hollywood’ district and the new home of the Academy Awards. Features include nightclubs, broadcast studio facilities, multiplex cinema, shops and restaurants. Developments are ongoing, with the new look spreading to the whole of the Hollywood Boulevard district by 2005.
California is now the fastest-growing destination for most UK tour operators, whose new 2000 brochures feature a wider choice of independent product.
Thomas Cook Holidays US product manager Matt Hill said:”California and the west is one of our most explored areas because of the diversity of the region and the fact that people can reach the key cities – such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and even Las Vegas – within the duration of their holiday.
“They use these as a base to explore outlying areas and key national monuments, such as the Grand Canyon, Mount Valley, Death Valley and Yosemite. Others becoming more popular are Napa Valley, Lake Tahoe and Mammoth Mountain.”
“We have introduced a lot more pre-planned itineraries in our flydrive section to cater for this demand,” he added.
United Vacations says 40% of its total business from the UK is now to California, served by parent United Airlines’ twice-daily flights to San Francisco and once daily to Los Angeles.
Product and marketing manager Zia Bapuji said: “California continues to be our number-one destination. We saw tremendous growth in 1999 to Palm Springs and San Diego in particular as a result of expanding the product last year.
“Forward bookings continue to look positive to most California destinations, particularly to Palm Springs and Santa Monica.”
Flydrive is the most popular product, with pick-ups from either San Francisco or LA from £338 per person, or San Diego and Palm Springs, from £345 and £378 respectively, all for seven nights.
Premier Holidays says its sales for the West Coast are currently running 52% up on last year.
Product director long-haul Rob Haynes said: “People are spending longer in other Californian destinations outside Los Angeles and San Francisco.
“There is also a trend towards early booking for California as well as Las Vegas. The average Las Vegas stay is three to four nights, usually combined with California or Arizona.”
And more clients are booking their own choice of hotels, according to British Airways Holidays US product manager Nicki Herrington.
She said: “We have increased our range of go-as-you-please properties because we’re getting more sales of three-centre stays in California. Clients are doing three nights in both San Francisco and Los Angeles and four nights in San Diego, and transferring themselves between these cities.
“Most of our clients are on independent flydrives and we are seeing more demand for accommodation in Tahoe and Yosemite, as well as national park properties.”
Unijet introduced its first dedicated California and Las Vegas brochure for 2000 late last year and has just produced a second edition with prices for winter 2000/2001. It has also included more hotels in San Francisco and Carmel in line with demand.
Even escorted coach-tour clients opting for California are booking stay-put add-ons after their trip, said Jetsave.
Product director Alberto Boeri said: “Our regular touring clients told us that they want to be a bit more independent so for this year we have introduced a series of flexi-stays. Clients can spend three, four or five nights in either San Francisco, Los Angeles or San Diego.”
California
Thomas Cook Holidays: three new West Coast flydrives – 14-day American Canyon Country from £892; 15-day Western Values from £765; and 21-day Pacific Northwest Wonders itinerary from £1,415. Prices include flights, accommodation and car hire.
Unijet: new 14-night Western Classic flydrive departs Los Angeles and includes Arizona, Yosemite, San Francisco, Monterey, Santa Barbara and back to LA. Prices start at £899 in May and include scheduled flights with Continental, accommodation and car. Features many other pre-planned flydrive itineraries.
Travelpack: three new escorted tours in the west. Western Wonderland for nine nights from £509; Golden West Adventure itinerary for four nights from £234; and a Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park tour of nine nights from £1,134 including most meals. All tours exclude flights.