Lodi continues to become the place to be
Some stumble across Lodi on their way to Reno. Others stop to taste wine. No matter how they come, more and more tourists are finding their way to the San Joaquin County city of 60,000.
In the past year, Lodi tourism has jumped by more than 300 percent, said Nancy Beckman, executive director of the Conference and Visitors Center.
“Our claim to fame is the Lodi wine, but in addition to that, we have other wonderful attractions,” she said, citing Lodi Lake, various festivals and the renovated Downtown. “It’s the whole package that keeps people coming back.”
Beckman took her job in July 2001 after meeting Mark Chandler, executive director for the Lodi-Woodbridge Winegrape Commission.
He told her about the opening at the visitors center, and Beckman soon found herself in charge of Lodi’s tourism industry. She’s turned out to be the perfect person for the job, Chandler said.
“It’s a relationship business. You have to know somebody who knows somebody else before you get the wheels turning. And she’s done an excellent job doing that,” he said.
Beckman, who was born and raised in a Chicago suburb with a population of 15,000, moved to California’s Central Valley in 1980.
She was working at the Modesto Chamber of Commerce and knew about Lodi’s wine reputation. She also knew there was more to Lodi: When her son was young, Beckman occasionally drove to Lodi so he could see Micke Grove Zoo.
Beckman, who married Councilman John Beckman in 2002, is now the city’s unofficial tourism expert.
She attends trade shows throughout the state, encouraging groups and tour guides to include Lodi in their list of places to stop. So far, it’s been a success.
“I got a call from a tour operator in Palm Springs who had never brought a group to Lodi,” Beckman said.
The tour operator then scheduled two tours for 2005.
When groups take tours, they spread the word to others, and it soon becomes a sort of a snowball effect, Beckman said.
As more people discover that Lodi is in driving distance from snow, beaches and casinos, they begin to look twice at Lodi. Not only is Lodi located between Highway 99 and Interstate 5, but the city itself has a growing reputation.
“A lot more interest is being generate in the Lodi wines themselves. We’re being recognized in the industry for producing some really premiere wines,” Beckman said.
Once people come to Lodi, they find that the Downtown area adds to the atmosphere, she said.
Not only can tourists taste numerous wines at the Visitors Center, but they can also stroll the downtown streets of Lodi.
And when they’ve shopped at various stores that overlook the brick, green and yellow downtown theme, visitors can visit wineries tucked in fields of grape vines.
More tour groups are also becoming interested in the agriculture that surrounds Lodi.
“It’s something that’s new and interesting. You have people who live in the city and are constantly working. There’s something about being in an orchard or a vineyard that’s relaxing,” Beckman said.
One such group wanted to really experience the agricultural life, so Beckman was able to arrange a 2005 tour that will allow participants to pick their own fruit, then watch a cooking demonstration in the middle of the orchard.
Arranging the tours isn’t always easy, especially when the groups want the details finalized almost immediately, but Beckman seems to be up to the challenge, Chandler said.
For Beckman, it’s an exciting time for Lodi, and she’s glad to be part of it.