Trails, film history, a presidential library with outstanding exhibits, and a full festival calendar: the city's pitch to visitors is bigger than a place to sleep
(CLAIR | Simi Valley, CA) – Simi Valley beat the national and state hotel occupancy averages this past year, edged past Thousand Oaks and came within half a point of Agoura Hills. But the city's top tourism official told the City Council this week that none of that is really the goal.
The goal isn't just to fill hotel rooms, it's to give people a reason to visit Simi Valley in the first place, Anthony Angelini said. The city's draw, he said, comes from its open space, the Reagan Presidential Library, its film history, its arts festivals and a calendar of community events built to bring people in, with hotel stays following as a natural result.
People are coming to Simi Valley for a variety of reasons, Angelini said, and with that, they just so happen to also be staying at one of the local hotels.
Angelini, director of tourism and government affairs for the Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce and executive director of Visit Simi Valley, delivered the organization's annual report to the council this week, walking through a year of marketing numbers, hotel performance data and budget figures tied to the city's tourism marketing district.
First formed in 2014 and renewed in 2019 and again in 2024, Visit Simi Valley is funded through a 2% assessment on hotel room bookings. The city keeps 1% as an administrative fee, and the rest goes toward tourism services. In 2024 all six of the city's hotels voted to renew the program, and for the first time extended it for 10 years instead of five.
"Tonight's report will cover our budget, our digital footprint and our local occupancy rates," Angelini told the council, "but it all comes down to one big idea, that tourism is economic development."
The marketing push reached a wide audience this year, Angelini said, citing 207,730 visitsimivalley.com website sessions, 2.43 million Facebook impressions, 319,000 Facebook video views and nearly 75,000 Instagram views. "Exposure is important," he said, pointing to Expedia research showing more than 60% of consumers now use social media for travel inspiration, up from 35% two years ago. He said his organization is adjusting its approach as artificial intelligence increasingly shapes how people search for trips and book them.
But Angelini was careful to frame the effort as more than advertising. "Visit Simi Valley is more than just marketing for the city," he said. "Our goal is to bring hotels, attractions, events, the city and local businesses together around one shared visitor strategy that gives visitors reasons to love our community."
That strategy leans on national trends. Domestic travel accounts for 87% of travel spending nationally, Angelini said, and cost-conscious travelers are increasingly choosing shorter regional road trips. Expedia's 2026 research also points to cultural moments and events as major trip motivators, something Angelini said plays to the city's strengths given how many people live within driving distance and how much the city already offers, from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library to open space, film history and arts festivals.
The hotel numbers backed up some of that optimism, with caveats. Full-year occupancy came in at 70.8%, down 4.4 percentage points from last year, with room revenue declining 10.3%. June was the strongest month, with occupancy reaching 73.8% and revenue per available room up 5.4% from May. Even with the decline, Simi Valley outperformed the national occupancy average of 62.3% and the California average of 66.6%, landed within half a point of Agoura Hills and beat Thousand Oaks.
Part of the drop may trace back to last year's Palisades and Eaton fires that tragically burned more than 16,000 structures in nearby Los Angeles County. Angelini said Ventura County cities saw regional occupancy climb more than 8% in 2025 as evacuees, emergency personnel and service members used local hotels as a temporary home base, a spike that inflated last year's baseline and made this year's numbers look softer by comparison.
A statewide falloff in international travel also played a role, Angelini said. Visit California reported overseas visitation fell 5% in 2025, Canadian visitation dropped more than 20% and international visitor spending fell 4.4%. International passenger volume at LAX was down roughly 2% over the same fiscal year, trends that ripple into Simi Valley's visitor economy through the Reagan Library, family travel and regional road trips.
On the budget side, Angelini said the organization is finishing its final year of spending down an inherited surplus. Going forward, he said, the organization will operate solely on assessment revenue rather than surplus funds.
That revenue includes $89,000 for event partnerships, with a $12,000 growth fund built in to support proven multi-day regional draws alongside smaller community events with room to expand. Some events get that support every year without much debate, Angelini said, naming the Simi Valley Film Festival, Oktoberfest, the Happy Face Music Festival and Roundup as established regional draws that already bring people to town.
Looking ahead, Councilmember Rocky Rhodes asked what the city could do to prepare for the 2028 Olympics. Angelini said Ventura County is about to launch a regional Olympics task force, which he hopes to help lead through its arts and culture subcommittee, and the city manager added that Simi Valley already has a seat at the table through the county supervisor's office. Angelini said his focus is on educating a wave of new visitors on how to reach Simi Valley and what public transportation and regional hotel options exist. He pointed to the city's skateboarding history and skateboarding museum as the kind of regional draw that could help.
Councilmember Joseph Ayala asked how Angelini would measure success a year from now. Angelini said he'd like to see occupancy in the 73% to 75% range and, more importantly, higher average daily room rates. Aging hotel stock has pushed those rates down even as occupancy holds strong, positioning the city as a value destination that's good for occupancy but not for revenue, he said. He pointed to new ownership at the Grand Vista Hotel, which is planning a full renovation, including new carpets and furniture, as a reason for optimism on that front.
Mayor Dee Dee Cavanaugh said she expects a boost in November visitors tied to a new Princess Diana exhibit opening at the Reagan Library. The exhibition, "Princess Diana: Love Life Legacy," is slated to open Nov. 7 and run through May 31, 2027, marking its world premiere in Simi Valley before it travels to other cities.
