Welcoming Visitors Back to California’s Beach City

San Diego tourism is warming up. Starting today (June 12) the county has reopened for leisure travel in these sectors if they follow the state and county’s guidelines:

• Hotels for leisure business, including their pools
• Bars, breweries and wineries
• Museums, zoos and aquariums, including Balboa Park and the San Diego Zoo
• Outdoor activities including campgrounds, fishing and charter boats
• Family entertainment venues such as arcades, miniature golf and bowling alleys

(For a list of other reopening resources and guidelines, including how the San Diego Airport is ensuring travelers safety, check out the San Diego Tourism Authority (SDTA) COVID-19 toolkit.)

Among the businesses and institutions planning to reopen:

• Balboa Park’s Central Mesa will be open starting today as will the park’s San Diego Air & Space Museum and the San Diego Automotive Museum will open on June 19.
• The San Diego Zoo and Safari Park will open June 20 and the Japanese Friendship Garden plans to open to the public by June 22.
• Many of the other park institutions are targeting July 1 for reopening as is the USS Midway.

While these are important steps forward, there is still plenty more work to be done as theme parks, sports with live audiences, meetings, conventions and events have yet to be cleared for reopening. The San Diego Tourism Authority (SDTA) will continue to work with our local elected officials, industry partners and Members on responsible reopening efforts for all facets of our local tourism economy. 

As you know, the SDTA has a recovery marketing plan ready to deploy as soon as July 6 that is designed to support our local hotels and tourism businesses. It will first focus on the local market with a “Stay Diego” campaign that will rally San Diegans to stay, dine and play in their hometown. A member toolkit is being developed so members will have “Play Diego,” “Dine Diego,” “Drink Diego ” and “Shop Diego” digital assets so they can amplify the message in their market materials. The SDTA will begin marketing to regional audiences with a “Happiness is Calling You Back” campaign when appropriate with plans to restart national media as early as the first quarter of 2021.

The SDTA looks forward to inviting visitors back to San Diego to make some summertime memories. Together we will make sure that San Diego not only recovers but also comes back stronger and more resilient than ever before.