A new Holiday Inn Express is scheduled to open near the Fresno-Yosemite International Airport in early 2024 Photo by Ben Hensley

With a wet winter, mild spring and summer temperatures unseasonably low through May and June, tourism in Fresno County is showing promising signs of rebounding to pre-pandemic numbers, with conventions and organizations once again attracted to the prospect of a geographically centralized city to host events.

Wet weather draws crowds

With an unexpectedly wet winter and spring, Fresno County lakes and rivers are at full capacity and show little signs of receding, thanks largely to the heavy snowpack that had China Peak measure more than 700 inches of snow throughout their operating season.

After a successful Blossom Trail and Fruit Trail this spring, Hayley Salazar, marketing and communications manager of the Fresno/Clovis Convention and Visitors Bureau, said that the National Parks continue to be the driving force behind tourism in Fresno County.

“With the extra water that we’ve had, a lot of the falls within the National Parks or even Stevenson Falls…it’s flowing beautifully,” she said. “They can expect to see that a lot more and for longer; the water will most likely be flowing a lot later into the fall than we’ve seen in the past.”

Unfortunately, due to the wet winter, many roads and trails in the parks were forced to undergo or are currently undergoing repairs – one of few things hampering tourism in the National Parks.

“There is going to be traffic, especially with the amount of damage to the roads,” said Lisa Oliveira, president and CEO of the Fresno/Clovis Convention and Visitors Bureau. “They’re working as quick as they can to prepare those roads but it’s just something that comes with those mountain cities.”

Oliveira said that both the National Parks and Visitors Bureau work to update visitors on last-minute or emergency road closures or changes through their website and mobile apps.

Salazar and Oliveira also said the interest in tourism has spread to smaller communities, with Salazar emphasizing visitors’ growing interest in ag tourism, highlighting Sunshine Farms in Fresno and Solace Lavender Farm in Kerman.

More hotels, more visitors

Last year, Fresno saw multiple new hotel constructions begin, including a Courtyard Marriott located adjacent to the Fresno Convention Center in Downtown Fresno.

The addition of a new hotel in the Downtown region will fill a much-needed void left by the closure of the Radisson, the future of which remains uncertain.

Nichole Castillo, Axis Hotel Group’s Area Director of Sales, said the downtown Courtyard Marriott, which broke ground last August, should be completed in late 2024, with the Holiday Inn under construction near the Fresno Yosemite International Airport slated to open early next year.

“The Courtyard [Marriott] is going to be huge for conventions downtown,” Oliveira said. “That’s a common question that we get – how many rooms do you have available within walking distance of the convention center.”

With a new downtown hotel on the horizon and a new airport hotel, including a shuttle service to and from Downtown Fresno, preparing to open even sooner, the bureau hopes conventions will be attracted to return to the Fresno area.

This year, according to STR (Smith Travel Research) data, combined Fresno and Clovis average daily rates are up $26 from 2019 ($102.28 in 2019 compared to $128.02 in 2023), leading to room revenue growing from $16.9 million in 2019 to $18.4 million in 2023.

That growth is despite occupancy rates falling from 72.9% in 2019 to 66% in 2023.

Oliveira said that the loss of the Radisson led to a major deficit in room inventory numbers, possibly leading to groups and organizations looking elsewhere for convention site hosts.

The addition of the five-floor Courtyard Marriott, which will include 144 rooms, a conference room, swimming pool and full-service amenities, will hopefully present a more attractive option for future conventions.

“Soon, we’ll see a lot more businesses and restaurants popping up on Fulton Street,” said Fresno City Council Member Miguel Arias during last August’s groundbreaking ceremony.

Castillo said that weather did play a factor in the progress of both projects, with nearly a two-month delay in work on the projects due to rain earlier this year.

Convention rebound on the horizon? Bureau is hopeful

With the pandemic almost immediately shutting down nearly all conventions nationwide, Fresno unfortunately suffered from a combination of factors that led to many organizations pulling out of the city as a viable option for conventions.

Now, three years removed from mandated closures, and with multiple hotel projects underway or in the works, the Fresno/Clovis Convention and Visitors Bureau is hopeful that organizations will once again be attracted to the city — the largest and arguably most accessible city in the Central Valley for “meeting halfway” between the state’s two main population centers.

With that in mind, Oliveira said that the bureau has been focusing on getting back to the basics of hospitality and being visibly welcoming to potential conventions.

“Things are very competitive and a lot of cost issues have come up so we’re trying to get creative on how we can not only get them here for one year but book them multiple years so that the hotels also have that inventory in the future,” she said.

This month, the American Junior Golf Association will visit Fresno in the first of a three-year contract that will see young golfers from around the country meeting at Copper River Country Club and other sites in Fresno.

The Fresno Fairgrounds will also host a cornhole tournament this summer and hopes to see multiple tournaments.

“We’re trying to incorporate cornhole as one of our rotating [guests] – getting them here multiple times a year so that not only can the locals participate in these tournaments but it’s also bringing in visitation from outside the area,” Oliveira said.

The attractiveness of the Central Valley, Fresno in particular, is likely to continue to grow in the eyes of convention planners; Castillo added that the Axis Hotel Group has an additional seven additional new projects planned over the next five years.

Oliveira added that with the closure of the Radisson and the Marriott not yet completed, many local hotel properties are making changes to accommodate more convention attendees.

“Other properties nearby have started to reflect on how they can change their property to make sure that convention center attendees can visit their property,” she said.