News to Wright Enterprises Courtesy of Frances Wong...

MEDIA ALERT                                                                                                                                                                      MARCH 24, 2017

TOURISM VOLUNTEERS GIVE BACK TO OAKLAND AT CHILDREN’S FAIRYLAND, LAKE MERRITT AND NEW MURAL IN JACK LONDON

Oakland is Only West Coast Destination; Part of Industry Initiative to Support City Tourism

             WHAT         175 travel professionals will donate their time and service in Oakland

             WHEN         Friday, March 24 @ 9AM – 3PM                                                                                                                                                

           WHERE         Children’s Fairyland, 699 Bellevue Avenue

                                 This storybook theme park has been open for 60 years. Volunteers will enhance animal

                                 exhibits, build storage sheds & greenhouse, and help with general cleaning and painting.

                                  The Gardens Lake Merritt, 666 Bellevue Avenue

                                  An urban oasis in the middle of Oakland, Volunteers will be pruning & planting a rose

                                  garden and creating “seed balls” to help Oakland kids learn about bees and pollination.

                                  Independent Brewery, 444 Harrison Street

                                  One of the craft breweries on the new Oakland Ale Trail, volunteers will be able to participate in a “paint by numbers In

                                  collaboration with local muralists Dragon School.

               WHO         Visit Oakland, the city’s official destination marketing organization, is excited to partner withTourism Cares, the philanthropic

                                 community of the tourism industry. Visit California is a sponsor of the program in Oakland.

                WHY         Oakland was chosen as part of the 2017 Tourism Cares for our Cities series and the only West Coast city in this year’s sites.

                                 Tourism Care’s focus on city tourism aligns with the UN World Tourism Organization’s (UNWTO) recognition that city tourism as                                                                     

                                 critical force to sustainable development.

                                 Tourism in Oakland is a proven economic driver for the city. In 2015, visitor spend was $1.5B with Oakland welcoming a record                                  

                                 3.6M visitors. Over 2.6M stayed overnight in an Oakland hotel. Tourism directly supports 7,000 full-time jobs in Oakland and

                                 94,000 full-time jobs in the Oakland East Bay region.

      CONTACT         Frances Wong, Senior PR Manager, Visit Oakland    C: (510) 396-8367  E:frances@visitoakland.com

                                 Allie Neal, PR & Marketing Coordinator, Visit Oakland     C: (925) 286-5284  E:allie@visitoakland.com

Follow Visit Oakland and the Tourism Cares program on social media: @visitoakland, @tourismcares and#oaklandloveit.

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ABOUT VISIT OAKLAND

Visit Oakland is a private, not-for-profit, 501(c)(6) organization, with a 21-member board of directors and full time staff whose goal is to increase tourism’s economic impact to Oakland through destination development and brand management.  For more information, visit www.visitoakland.com and follow @visitoakland on social media.

ABOUT VISIT CALIFORNIA

Visit California is a nonprofit organization with a mission to develop and maintain marketing programs – in partnership with the state’s travel industry – that keep California top-of-mind as a premier travel destination. According to Visit California, spending by travelers totaled $125.9 billion in 2016 in California, generating 1,090,000 jobs in the state and $10.3 billion in state and local tax revenues. For more information about Visit California, go towww.travelmattersca.com. For story ideas, media information, downloadable images, video and more, go towww.media.visitcalifornia.com.

ABOUT TOURISM CARES

Tourism Cares, Inc., a US 501(c)(3) public charity, maximizes travel’s potential to be a global force for good by leveraging the care that travelers and the industry feel for the places we love. We unite the travel industry to make a greater impact on shared priorities, and to help each company fulfill its giving goals. Together, with leading travel and tourism companies and associations, we make a greater difference on three shared issues: helping destinations in need, supporting our workforce, and improving our corporate social responsibility. Learn more atwww.TourismCares.org and @TourismCares. 

Visit Oakland 
Frances Wong | Senior Public Relations Manager 
frances@visitoakland.com | visitoakland.com
Direct: (510) 208-0561 | Main: (510) 839-9000 
481 Water Street, Oakland, CA 94607 
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