SeeCalifornia.com

Pismo Beach has long been known as the Classic California town. The easy going Central Coast city is popular with tourists because there are so many hotels on the beach or overlooking the Pacific Ocean. And the prices often are fairly reasonable, especially in the shoulder season.

But something about VWs with surfboards on top, or shiny Woodies didn’t quite capture the complete essence of what Pismo Beach, named for the Pismo clam, has become. So when we recently observed that the city trademarked a term, “Wine & Waves”, we were absolutely delighted that they “got it”. Pismo Beach is a beach town, first of all. But then there’s a growing wine industry and affluent travel audience interested in total immersion– sampling local wines and enjoying the region’s good vibrations that the Beach Boys sang about.

Of the approx. 107 American Viticulture Areas (AVAs) in California defined by their geographic locations, there are only a few located along the California coast. Pismo Beach is part of one such region, spanning neighborhing Arroyo Grande and small towns slightly inland from the coast.  Since Pismo Beach is the beach hotel mecca for the area, it seems only natural that they would mention wine in their marketing promotions.

The city offers an amazing example of how locals understand their products and can relay those important messages to the world, as seen in their new marketing materials such as a free visitors guide you can download from the web (classiccalifornia.com). Hats off to Suzen Brasile, long time Executive Director of the Pismo Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau!