Two tourism organizations will join forces in their effort to keep Redding tourism on an upswing, the leader of Visit Redding told members of the City Council during his semi-annual report about efforts to attract people — and their dollars — to the community.
Danny Orloff, tourism marketing director for Visit Redding, said his group and a second organization — the Redding Tourism Marketing Group — in April started working together more closely to streamline the city’s efforts to bring meeting planners and others to the Redding region.”We believe visitors, meeting planners, event organizers and respective residents are best served when they encounter one tourism brand, one website (and) one primary social media presence, rather than multiple organizations competing for attention,” Jennifer Johnston, CEO of Redding Tourism Marketing Group said at the council meeting.
The collaboration puts tourism marketing efforts solely under the Visit Redding name, which will help “avoid confusion and … make sure we’re not duplicating efforts,” said Orloff. The two groups will remain separate, he said.
Preliminary results show current tourism strategies are paying off.
Orloff said that the city’s share of transient occupancy tax (TOT) money, which goes into the general fund, is rising. TOT is a tax that hotels and short-term rentals charge their guests, with the money going back to the jurisdiction where the hotels and rentals are located.
Since most of Shasta County’s lodging establishments are located in Redding, the city collects the lion’s share of TOT receipts. Orloff estimated that in fiscal year 2025-26 ending the last day of June, Redding will collect $7.39 million in TOT, up from $7.19 million the prior fiscal year.
He said more visitors in the upscale “luxury travel” segment came to Redding for events such as Kool April Nites, which organizers said started out with 67 classic cars in 1990 and had 2,600 cars registered for the most recent event.
Hotel rooms booked rose by 3% from July 1, 2025 through April 30, 2026, contributing to a revenue increase of 4.7% during the period, said Orloff.
“We’re noticing people are starting to shift back to hotels; that we saw before COVID,” rather than stay in short-term rentals, a segment where revenue stayed flat or slightly fell, he said.
Redding’s first-ever IRONMAN 70.3 Northern California, a swim-bike-run competition taking place in August, has 1,500 athletes signed up so far and is expected to result in $10 million to $12 million in spending by up to 8,000 total visitors, he said.
“Right now, it’s too early to tell” what effect the upcoming changes and possible closure of the Redding Civic Auditorium will have on tourism, Orloff said during an interview with the Record Searchlight on Thursday, June 18.
The Redding council on Tuesday, June 16 also heard from John Truitt, executive director of the tourism organization Viva Downtown about what’s happened during the first several months of operations of Redding’s downtown entertainment zone.
The Redding City Council in 2025 approved the creation of a downtown entertainment zone — a place where people ages 21 and older can drink and carry open containers of beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages purchased from authorized restaurant and bars — on public sidewalks and streets.
Supporters believe such a designation would stimulate Redding’s economy and bring more people downtown to eat, drink and shop. The zone went into effect in December 2025 and includes about 24 businesses.
The city council’s approval of the plan followed the California Legislature’s authorization of State Senate Bill 969 which allows cities to open entertainment zones within designated boundaries.
In Redding, the space covers the downtown core, roughly from Eureka Way in the north — including Woody’s Brewing Company — and to the west along Oregon Street to South Street, where the area dips inward at Waldon and Lincoln streets. The southern boundary encompasses Pourboys Tapyard. The zone’s east border is along the Pine and East streets alley.
Redding Police Department data showed that public safety-wise, there have been no increase in calls for service or significant public safety issues or concerns related to the downtown entertainment zone.
Michele Chandler covers public safety, reports on major trials happening in Shasta County Superior Court, writes about restaurants and handles whatever else comes up for the Redding Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. Accepts story tips at 530-338-7753 and at mrchandler@gannett.com. Please support our entire newsroom’s commitment to public service journalism by subscribing today.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Redding tourism groups unite to bring more visitors to town
Reporting by Michele Chandler, Redding Record Searchlight / Redding Record Searchlight
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By Michele Chandler, Redding Record Searchlight | USA TODAY Network
