Santa Rosa to solicit consultants for a city-focused tourism strategic plan under SRTBIA work plan

Scott Adair, the city’s chief economic development officer, told the advisory board the SRTBIA 2025–2028 work plan directs staff to produce a Santa Rosa–centric tourism strategic plan and to seek consulting support through a public solicitation.

Adair said the draft scope of work—about 15 pages—is intended to produce an inventory of tourism assets, a market-positioning analysis using data sources such as mobile analytics and point-of-sale data, and recommendations on programming, partnerships and governance. He said the study will coordinate with existing partners, including Visit Santa Rosa, the Chamber, and regional partners such as Sonoma County Tourism.

“The strategic planning process… will include an evaluation of Santa Rosa’s destination identity to understand and evaluate unique tourism opportunities here, to evaluate best practices in modern tourism promotion,” Adair told the board. He said staff plans to publish the solicitation as soon as possible and hopes to complete the RFP issuance within a 60-day timeline once finalized; study sessions for the board and stakeholder interviews are expected in calendar year 2026.

Adair said the scope will also incorporate recommendations to improve SRTBIA processes and procedures, including creating bylaws, written standard operating procedures, rules of order and clarifying roles and responsibilities consistent with the Streets and Highways Code and the city’s ordinance governing the assessment collection.

Board members and hotel and tourism representatives asked about baseline data and metrics to evaluate return on investment. Adair said staff will leverage Visit Santa Rosa’s existing data and third-party analytics to measure visitation, dwell time and business impacts, and will return with a finalized solicitation package that will be publicly posted for review.