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By Stephen Nellis / Friday, February 14th, 2014 / Special Sections, Technology, Tourism / Comments Off on Meet, greet and click: Firm connects event planners, conference centers
Elite Meetings International is a company that started out aiming to make it easier for corporate planners to find a good luxury hotel but ended up helping those same hotels do more business by creating better booking software.
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By Staff Report / Wednesday, February 5th, 2014 / Latest news, South Coast, Tourism / Comments Off on Granada Theatre gets $1 million gift from local philanthropists
The Granada Theatre and The Santa Barbara Center for the Performing Arts have received a $1 million commitment to the theater’s endowment fund from Sarah and Roger Chrisman.
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By Christine De La Cruz / Friday, January 31st, 2014 / South Coast, Top Stories, Tourism, Tri-County Economy / Comments Off on Cruise control? Thirty ships slated to call on Santa Barbara in 2014
When 30 cruise ships float into Santa Barbara’s harbor this year, several will have poor-to-failing environmental grades. And all the ships will carry passengers that, on average, spend about a quarter of what day-trippers and overnight tourists do.
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By Christine De La Cruz / Friday, January 24th, 2014 / South Coast, Tourism, Tri-County Economy / Comments Off on Remodels abound as South Coast hotels focus on keeping up appearances
The area has seen a boom in hotel remodels and renovations recently, with upgrades to Hotel Santa Barbara and Fess Parker’s DoubleTree Resort, among others.
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By Staff Report / Thursday, January 23rd, 2014 / Agribusiness, South Coast, Tourism / Comments Off on State economist cautions that California is still on the mend
Santa Barbara County’s economy relies heavily on its billion-dollar tourism and agricultural industries, two of the fastest-growing sectors of California’s economy by number of jobs. But those are also industries with highly seasonal workforces and generally low-paying wages.
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By Staff Report / Wednesday, January 22nd, 2014 / Latest news, South Coast, Tourism / Comments Off on Cruise ship industry floats $2.4M into Santa Barbara
The cruise ship industry had an estimated $2.4 million economic impact on Santa Barbara last year, with more than 50,000 passengers visiting the city, according to a recently released survey.