Visit Napa Valley: hotel stays down modestly but spending per visitor is up, group tells Calistoga council

Lindsay of Visit Napa Valley told the Calistoga City Council that overnight hotel visitation to Napa Valley is down roughly 11–12% from pre-pandemic levels but that the money visitors spend in the destination is up about 30%, a pattern she said suggests fewer but higher-value visits.

The presentation came after a public question about how Visit Napa Valley tracks restaurant performance. An audience member, Miss Marcus, cited anecdotal reports that restaurant business across the valley has fallen "about 30%" and asked whether Visit Napa Valley tracks merchant-level trends beyond hotel occupancy data. Lindsay said the organization "does not have data on restaurants, directly" and relies on hotel and lodging metrics as its primary measurement.

Council member Eisenberg raised a related concern about the link between occupancy and sales tax receipts, asking whether higher transient-occupancy-tax (TOT) rates could push visitors away and depress local sales tax. Lindsay replied that Visit Napa Valley has "no role" in hotel pricing and that hotel rates have softened 5–6% year-to-date; she repeated that marketing, outdoor experiences and the destination brand have helped Napa Valley recover relatively strongly from the pandemic.

Mike Lennon, general manager of Calistoga Spa Hot Springs and chair of the Calistoga Tourism Improvement District (TID), described the local TID’s uses — including funding the Calistoga shuttle — and explained the renewal process. He said lodgings cast an anonymous weighted yes/no ballot and that a weighted majority (51%) of lodging participation is required to proceed to municipal endorsement and county review.

Lindsay also noted several programs intended to boost visits to small businesses, including website content focused on small lodging and a Napa Valley Restaurant Week campaign featuring more than 60 restaurants. She said the region’s marketing aims to steer visitors to a range of price points and experiences so merchants and restaurants share in tourism spending.

Next steps: councilmembers thanked Visit Napa Valley and TID representatives for the briefing and asked staff to continue monitoring visitor trends and to share more detailed data when available.