Courtesy of Visit Anaheim

From California’s signature beaches to its majestic mountains, iconic cable cars and Hollywood Hills, the Golden State paints the perfect backdrop for groups in nearly every corner of its more than 163,000 square miles. While the state is still working to recover visitation back to 2019 numbers, group and tourism spend is on the rise.

According to Visit California’s forecast at the beginning of the year, domestic visitor spending in California was predicted to reach $130 billion this year, with $101 billion in leisure spending and $30 billion in business spending and expected to grow at a rate of 10% relative to last year.

Northern California

Despite continuing layoffs in tech and other industries in the Bay Area and other Northern California locations, there are signs of growing demand to host meetings and events. In San Francisco, Moscone Center has a full calendar for 2025 and 2026, according to Julie Van’t Hul, vice president of Convention Sales at the San Francisco Travel Association.

“We’re really seeing a lot of recovery starting in 2025,” Van’t Hul said.

Part of the appeal for booking at Moscone Center is the LEED Platinum certification for existing building operations and maintenance it received last year.

The city will be in the spotlight for upcoming sporting events including the NBA All Star Game in 2025 at Chase Center, with activations around the city including Moscone Center, and the Super Bowl in Santa Clara in 2026, which will include events around the city. “We’re very excited about some of these large sporting events that are bringing the world’s attention back to our city,” Van’t Hul says.

Though San Francisco’s downtown is still struggling to draw business, some of its empty retail and office spaces are being reimagined, including the Conservatory at One Sansome, a former bank building now renovated into an event space consisting of an atrium, the Holbrook House bar and restaurant, and the North Lobby, accommodating more than 2,000 guests. The former Macy’s men’s store in Union Square is now an event space run by Convene, with about 65,000 sf of meeting space.

Van’t Hul notes, “We’ve had a lot of great feedback all throughout last year. The groups that we’ve had in consistently have talked about how great the city looks. It’s not what they’ve heard. We think the city really shows well right now. We’ve got a lot of new business coming in as well, so we’re proud to say that San Francisco’s back open.”

The American Historical Association held its annual meeting for some 3,000 attendees at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square and neighboring Hilton Parc 55 this past January. Debbie Ann Doyle, director of meetings for the association, says “It was really nice having that centralized space for a meeting of our size because we’re a little too small to meet in large convention centers. It’s always nice when we find a meeting configuration that’s compact and also in the heart of the action, with lots of restaurants within walking distance.” Her group took advantage of the open seating configurations in the hotel’s common spaces, where attendees could meet and mingle spontaneously.

She adds, “One of the reasons we picked San Francisco is we like to be near airline hub cities. It’s also always nice when there’s mass transit downtown.” The group also took tours of San Francisco’s diverse neighborhoods during the meeting, including the Castro, the Mission and Chinatown. “I heard nothing but good things about the tours.”

For groups that prefer to stay near the airport, the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport  offers 69,000 sf of meeting and event space and 789 guest rooms and suites near San Francisco International Airport.

Further south, in the heart of Silicon Valley, San Jose is also looking at a more robust 2025 for group business. According to Matthew Martinucci, vice president of sales & destination services at Visit San Jose, many California state associations alternate meeting locations between Northern and Southern California to reach their membership across the entire state.

“Immediately coming out of the pandemic, Northern California rotations were omitted, but we are seeing an uptick in 2025 RFPs. San Jose has been top-of-mind for association planners who are realizing San Jose’s walkable downtown and thriving neighborhood businesses are welcoming to group attendees,” says Martinucci.

According to him, San Jose is an ultimate playground for attendees. He says, “Foodies will love our diverse culinary offerings from across the world and explore historic neighborhoods such as Little Italy, Little Saigon, Little Portugal and Japantown.”

A newer attraction is the miniature golf bar and restaurant Urban Putt. It opened in the spring and can host private events. Other interactive gathering venues include Topgolf and San Pedro Social for bowling and arcade games.

The San Jose McEnery Convention Center is a Certified Green Business within Santa Clara County and the State of California Green Business Network. With an added Innovator Certification, the venue is recognized to lead sustainability practices and support other San Jose businesses pursuing the same certification in the community.

Monterey County, which includes the city of Monterey, Carmel-by-the-Sea and Pebble Beach, draws for its natural beauty as well as proximity to the Bay Area. About 80% of its association groups are from California, according to Teresa Savage, See Monterey’s senior vice president of business operations.

“Groups can do lots of team building, outdoor excursions and scenic professional development to really take in the Monterey region,” Savage says. “We’re seeing a lot of the associations book further out. The larger groups are booking for ‘26, ‘27. But, we are also seeing a lot of smaller associations booking single properties in Carmel Valley. They want to stay out of the city centers and be out in the county area.”

The main meetings space is Monterey Conference Center and its two adjoining hotels, the Monterey Marriott and the Portola Hotel & Spa, making up the Monterey Conference Connection. The waterfront properties combined offer 80,000 sf of flexible meeting space, 19,150 sf of exhibition space and 700 hotel rooms. Portola Hotel & Spa completed a renovation of its ballrooms following upgrades to its guest rooms and restaurant.

Marriott Tribute also rebranded and reopened Monterey Tides under its original name, Monterey Beach Hotel, with more than 56,000 sf of meeting and event space. In addition, a Grand Hyatt will debut in Seaside with 330 rooms and meeting space, slated for 2026.

For groups looking for a serene setting, Wine Country offers properties throughout Sonoma and Napa counties, such as The Meritage Resort & Spa, which, when combined with neighboring Grand Reserve at Meritage, offers 80,000 sf of indoor and outdoor function space including the Event Lawn, Vineyard Deck and underground Estate Cave.

California’s capital city of Sacramento is a vibrant cultural draw for its museums and performing arts scene, as well as a culinary destination for its farm-to-fork restaurants. The city recently unveiled a $180 million renovation and expansion of its SAFE Credit Union Convention Center, featuring an expanded exhibit hall, a new 40,000-sf ballroom, additional meeting rooms and a new outdoor plaza.

“One of the things they did was to make sure that it can be segmented for different groups in a way that uses different entrances. You have your own entrance, you have your own space and you’re not crossing paths with other groups,” says Visit Sacramento Marketing Director, Brandon Darnell.

In addition, Sacramento International Airport last year announced SMForward, a $1.3 billion expansion project that will reshape the airport to accommodate projected passenger growth over the next seven years.

Sacramento is also a jumping off point for the Lake Tahoe region, including Olympic Valley near the site of the 1960 Winter Olympics. One of the main resorts in the region, Everline Resort & Spa (formerly Resort at Squaw Creek) offers 405 rooms, ski access, a championship golf course and 47,750 sf of indoor/ outdoor meeting and event space.

Southern California

Los Angeles Tourism is seeing an increase in both leads and booked room nights due to groups from the sports, entertainment and tech sectors. The city will host the FIFA World Cup and NBA All-Star Game in 2026, Super Bowl LXI in 2027, and the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2028, in what the city is calling its “Decade of Sports.”

The city is readying new enhancements, which will also help to boost meetings, events and conventions this year. The $1.2-billion Intuit Dome, home of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers, opened this summer in Inglewood. Work is also underway at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, which is expected to open in 2025. Also, Los Angeles International Airport’s (LAX) multi-billion Landside Access Modernization Program (LAMP) will give attendees easier access.

In the Downtown core, the Los Angeles Convention Center offers 720,000 sf of exhibit hall space and is slated to have an expansion next year.  Last year, the new, double-branded AC Hotel & MOXY Downtown Los Angeles (727 rooms) and The Delphi (207 rooms) opened. Just outside of downtown in Koreatown, Line LA is a gem for events with its 12,000 sf of indoor and outdoor event space and two Michelin star chefs.

Los Angeles’ coastal community of Marina del Rey, located a few miles from LAX, is showcasing significant hotel renovations and updates across multiple properties. In 2023, Marina del Rey Marriott, the largest hotel in the marina, completed a nearly $20 million renovation of all 370 guest rooms and suites. Other properties with new renovations include the Jamaica Bay Inn, Tapestry Collection by Hilton, Hilton Garden Inn, Marina del Rey and Sisley Spa at The Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey.

“The ongoing revitalization in Marina del Rey serves as a magnet for both tourists and locals, drawing them to experience our waterfront playground through dining, shopping, lodging and leisure activities,” says Janet Zaldua, CEO of the Marina del Rey Tourism Board. “We’re excited to see these hotel renovations and updates as they help reshape the charm and allure of the Marina’s accommodation options, and we are confident they will inspire more visitors to stay and play in L.A.’s Marina.”

North of downtown Los Angeles, Pasadena is an arts and cultural draw and offers the LEED Gold certified Pasadena Convention Center with 130,000 sf of space. Hotel Dena, Pasadena Los Angeles, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel, debuted last year in the heart of downtown Pasadena with live entertainment and a silent movie screening room.

Further north, Ojai Valley Inn & Spa announced in the spring that it is in the inaugural class of resorts to achieve the Responsible Hospitality VERIFIED designation, an industry-leading sustainability standard for luxury hospitality.

In southern Los Angeles County, Long Beach attracts for its waterfront setting. Its 1920s-era Breakers hotel was resurrected as the Fairmont Breakers, Long Beach, an upscale boutique property with a rooftop lounge and live jazz club adjacent to the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center. It is slated to open late this year. The historic spot has hosted the likes of Clark Gable, Elizabeth Taylor and Cary Grant. Plans are for 185 boutique hotel rooms and suites, a rooftop pool and terrace, an open-air rooftop lounge, a two-story spa, live jazz club, and 12,000-plus sf of indoor and outdoor function space.

“It’s a stunning hotel, and it will become a major regional draw,” says Visit Long Beach president & CEO Steve Goodling. “It’s definitely a draw for our conventions, especially our association conventions, who have memberships that need different levels of accommodations.”

Additionally, the City Center Motel is being transformed into the City Center Hotel. There will be a courtyard and a swimming pool that is a take on 1940s-era Palm Springs. “It’s going to be a very fun hotel that I think could easily be taken over by a group or a company as a convention because it’s 40 rooms and it’s self-inclusive,” Goodling says.

A Hard Rock Hotel will be built close to the convention center with more than 420 rooms, the tallest rooftop lounge on the Southern California coast and the largest ballroom in the city at 30,000 sf.

Delma Chwilinski-Sheridan, director of programs and events for the California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE), says her association’s annual conference, which has hosted more than 7,000 attendees, has been rotated between northern and southern California in the past, including in Long Beach. Their 50th anniversary will be at the Long Beach Convention Center next spring. “We pretty much use all the surrounding hotels and some of the outskirts of the hotels. We’ve used the Queen Mary, and we use the Best Western at the convention center,” Chwilinski-Sheridan says.

Attendance is always strong when the conference is in Long Beach, she adds. “Our people love Long Beach because this is a very diverse community, and we bring in different cultures and diversity. Long Beach opens up its arms to that.”

Orange County

Known for its theme parks, Anaheim is the heart of Southern California’s Orange County. At the beginning of the year, Visit Anaheim announced it had confirmed 148 conventions, meetings and events for this year with a projected 947,000 attendees coming to the area while contributing 610,000 room nights in local hotels.

There are new developments in the works. A new immersive district called OCVIBE, with sports and entertainment, as well as 20 acres of public parks and two hotels, consisting of 550 rooms total, will be built here in phases. In Garden Grove, one of the largest Kimpton Hotels in the nation will debut in 2026 as a four-Diamond hotel with 200 guest rooms and 10,000 sf of meeting space.

Orange County is also home to some of the region’s most coveted coastal communities, including Huntington Beach, Newport Beach and Dana Point, home to the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel.

San Diego continues to be among the most popular group markets in the country, according to Visit San Diego, with hotels selling a total of 2.44 million group room nights through 2023. San Diego group demand has recovered almost back to pre-pandemic numbers. The San Diego Convention Center is seeing strong attendance, including record-breaking attendance for several of its 2023 and 2024 events.

Popular hotels for groups include the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego, which offers 320,000 sf of indoor and outdoor event space and flexible meeting rooms in downtown San Diego. Town & Country Resort & Convention Center has 295,050 sf of meeting and event space and 671 newly renovated guest rooms.

Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina underwent a multimillion-dollar renovation of the Marina Tower focusing on public spaces, guest rooms and suites. A multi-million-dollar renovation is also complete for Hotel La Jolla, Curio Collection by Hilton, a landmark property in the seaside community of La Jolla Shores that is more than 50 years old.

A short drive or ferry ride away, Coronado features the Hotel Del Coronado, Curio Collection by Hilton as its centerpiece property. The iconic Victorian hotel, established in 1888, is undergoing a five-year restoration and revitalization. The Del will complete its final phase by early 2025: a more than $160 million restoration of the hotel’s historic Victorian building. The beachfront property offers 96,000 sf of total meeting space.

North of San Diego, Carlsbad offers ideal meeting resorts like the renovated Omni La Costa Resort & Spa, with over 100,000 sf of indoor and outdoor meeting spaces, and the Park Hyatt Aviara Resort Golf Club & Spa.

Gaylord Pacific Resort & Convention Center Chula Vista is set to open next spring, fronting the San Diego Bay to the west and the Chula Vista Marina to the south. The property will have 1,600 guest rooms and suites and more than 477,000 sf of function and convention space, including a 140,000-sf exhibit and meeting Flex Hall, as well as outdoor event spaces. | AC&F |