California Travel and Tourism Commission (CTTC) open their new UK and Ireland travel trade representation and PR office in Covent Garden. As part of California’s regular review of its international travel trade activities, the CTTC has appointed London-based specialist marketing company, Black Diamond, to represent it in the UK and Ireland.

The California international consortium consists of the C.T.T.C, Central Coast Tourism Council, Palm Springs Desert Resorts Convention and Visitors Authority, Sacramento Convention and Visitors Bureau, San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau, San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau and Santa Monica Convention and Visitors Bureau.

To service this prestigious contract, Black Diamond has recruited a highly-experienced team of travel trade and PR professionals and has equipped a separate, self-contained office suite within its Covent Garden headquarters. This provides the CTTC with a permanent, dedicated office presence in central London and a base for its activities throughout the country. The new offices will be commissioned on 1st August 2006.

Jennifer Jasper, CTTC Deputy Director, says “We are delighted to have retained the representation services of Black Diamond. They have been involved with us over the last 5 years on a number of specific marketing and TV projects and have always brought with them a positive energy for promoting California. Their whole team are genuine California enthusiasts and are keen to share the huge variety of travel and tourism options our state can offer the international visitor. We know they are the perfect partners to help educate and communicate with the travel industry in UK and Ireland and we’re confident their efforts will help increase our international visitations.”

Guy Chambers, Managing Director of Black Diamond, comments “I am delighted we’ve been chosen and I’m certain that Black Diamond is ideally placed to service the California account. We have taken a deliberate decision to concentrate our travel trade efforts on California alone. This is because we recognise that California’s tourism product is incredibly diverse and as such, each element demands expert individual attention. We know that our single-client focus will bring benefits to the industry here too and we’re extremely keen to get down to work.”

“California is one of the largest, most popular tourist destinations in the world and competition for the representation contract in the UK was extremely fierce. I’m therefore naturally very proud that we have secured this account. By coupling our new in-house expertise with the more mainstream marketing initiatives that Black Diamond already undertakes, I’m confident that California’s message will reach a wider UK and Irish audience than ever before.”

In 2005, Black Diamond secured the UK travel trade representation accounts for North Lake Tahoe Resort Association, Lake Tahoe Visitor Authority, Mammoth Mountain and Mammoth Lakes CVB.

The company has also recently produced two commission-led TV series with California… “California Golf” and “Taste of California.”

The UK & Ireland office will be responsible for the following activities:

• Travel trade representation



• Press liaison and enquiries



• Product training



• Sales mission coordination



• Trade and Consumer show coordination



• Press and trade familiarisation trips



• Travel promotions



• Online consumer initiatives



• Media planning, campaign management and direct mail projects



• Maintaining image and video libraries



• Event management and co-op marketing initiatives



• Television and creative solutions