See Monterey sees opportunity for growth in the tourism industry despite challenges.

Live music by young musicians from Just Jazz Future is Now and Samz School of Music and sparkling wine greeted about 400 attendees of See Monterey’s annual meeting at the Monterey Conference Center on Thursday, Sept. 17. The news from the county’s visitors bureau was hopeful for the industry’s future after several years of challenges.

The message was also tempered for a county that often deals with natural and human-made events that can deter visitors—the coming so-called “Super El Niño" could be one this winter.

Some of the coming positive changes in the county’s second-largest industry after agriculture, include 700 more new hotel rooms by 2030, new events that have the ability to attract visitors, including a Salinas Día De Los Muertos festival in November 2027, a possible train connecting San Francisco with Los Angeles during the 2028 Olympics, and other initiatives.

See Monterey President and CEO Rob O’Keefe started his presentation with the challenges the county already faced in the past several years.

“Remember 2021?” O’Keefe asked, displaying images of fire, the Big Sur landslide that shut down Highway 1 for months, and a chart showing Covid-19’s impact on local tourism. “We were really in the basement as a destination, as an industry.”

The situation has improved, with a 4-percent increase in visitor spending last year totaling $3.3 billion and a 6-percent increase in tax revenue to local jurisdictions for about $346 million. It also supported 27,760 jobs.

Fond of pairing a song with his ideas—he’s used Phil Collins’ “One More Night,” to push initiatives to get visitors to spend one more night in local hotels—this time it was a 38 Special Song, “Hold on Loosely,” which includes the refrain: “Hold on loosely but don’t let go.”

“We have to be versatile, adaptable, agile and adapt,” O’Keefe said of dealing with the natural and human-made challenges that can negatively impact local tourism. He said the overall outlook is that tourism is improving but unevenly. It could take two to five years to see larger growth.

Booking behavior has changed, with people turning more and more to AI to help them plan and book trips. Although, said O’Keefe, AI also provides opportunity: See Monterey created an "Otterficial" guide, using an AI otter, that saw a 109-percent increase in usage over the summer.

Competition from other destinations from the state continues to be a challenge, with Monterey County finding itself in competition with not just similar smaller destinations like Napa but also larger destinations like San Francisco and San Diego.

Acknowledging that social media "influencer fatigue” is real, O'Keefe said they are being strategic in utilizing influencers with large audiences to reach younger audiences ages 18-44, as well as encouraging influencers to add responsible travel messages to their content.

He reported that over the summer Monterey Regional Airport was averaging 9,000 air seats coming in each week, the highest in the county’s history, in part thanks to flights added to and from Chicago. 

(The day after the See Monterey meeting, Monterey Regional Airport officially announced that Delta Air Lines is returning to MRY with nonstop service to Los Angeles International Airport and Salt Lake City International Airport, beginning in late December. The airline last had service to MRY nearly 20 years ago.)

In general, See Monterey is expanding its efforts to reach fly-in markets that are farther and farther out across the country, he said, as well as continuing to reach audiences overseas.

Besides the Día De Los Muertos festival, O’Keefe said also coming in 2027 is the Ragnar Relay Series in June 2027, similar to the Spartan Games but with teams, with the ability to attract over 2,500 participants.

Some of the other possible additions being worked on include rail travel between San Francisco and Los Angeles during the 2028 L.A. Olympics with a stop in Salinas and expanding seasonal trolley service beyond Monterey to other visitor destinations.

According to the just-released 2025-2026 annual report, See Monterey’s targeted marketing efforts resulted in 9 million “traveling households” reached and $1.3 billion in visitor spending influenced, generating $461 in revenue for every advertising dollar spent, a slight increase over 2024-2025. The work also accounted for 1.2 million hotel room nights in the county.

The focus has been on expanding reach through targeted brand messaging to visitors who will stay longer and spend more, including to luxury and international audiences.

Business travel reported a record year, with 252 groups books, up 24 percent from the previous year. That resulted in 85,000 contracted room nights and $73 million in estimated economic impact to the county.

The complete 2026-2027 business plan and 2025-2026 annual report are available on the See Monterey website.