Nevada County Conference & Visitors Bureau to open office at Holbrooke

Executive Director John Zurflueh said the new office space represents an important step for the privately funded organization that started a mere 18 months ago after a small group of hotel owners met.

Editor's note: This article first appeared in the January edition of the Nevada City Advocate, which is now available at locations throughout Nevada City, Grass Valley and the San Juan Ridge.

The Nevada County Conference and Visitors Bureau plans to open its doors to the public later this month at the Holbrooke Hotel in downtown Grass Valley.

Executive Director John Zurflueh said the new office space represents an important step for the privately funded organization that started a mere 18 months ago after a small group of hotel owners met.

“We wanted a location that is very visible and accessible, so the downtown location is perfect,” he said. “Our plan is to be open to the public on Friday through Sunday initially, when visitors are in town. Most of our members and potential members like the fact that they can be represented when visitors are in town.”

The CVB, however, is taking its reach far beyond the confines of the office on 212 W. Main Street.

The organization has created two web sites, attended trade shows, created a restaurant program, is developing a county booth for a Bay Area golf show, and has become an associate member of the Sacramento Convention and Visitors Bureau, which Zurflueh said gives the CVB a pipeline to conventioneers who may want to leave the valley while attending events there.

“When you hook up with them, it puts you into contact with anybody that comes to Sacramento,” he said. “Now, we have an inside track to their conference schedule and they have a staff of 50 and hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue.”

The Nevada County CVB, meanwhile, is running on a shoestring budget. At this time, it has four members – the Holbrooke Hotel, Northern Queen Inn, Sierra Mountain Inn and Grass Valley Courtyard Suites – that collect $1 per room for the organization’s budget.

Nonetheless, the organization brought a forensic society conference of 100 members here in September, and Zurflueh is now the chairman of the steering committee that is coordinating the California Preservation Foundation Conference that in May will bring hundreds of history buffs to Nevada City and Grass Valley.

For more information on the CVB, visit www.grassvalleynevadacitycvb.com.

Courtyard Suites owner Kathy Racz is the chair of the CVB. She believes the organization is making great strides in reaching beyond the county to attract more tourist dollars to western Nevada County.

“I think with the money and manpower we have, we’ve done a good job,” she said. “The more people know about us, the better off we’re all going to be.”