Now the president and CEO of Visit Tuolumne County, Mayo said she first glimpsed the allure of travel in that 160-year-old brick building while meeting people from around the world and wondering how they had found their way to her little town. \
“As a kid serving ice cream, I would see all those people come in with accents and speaking different languages and wonder how did they get there,” Mayo said. “Now, I know. It’s all about the marketing and what we do as a destination marketing organization.”
That awe for travel and hospitality still drives Mayo’s work reaching out to potential visitors across the nation and globe. Destination marketing organizations such as Visit Tuolumne helped local businesses survive the industry-wide shutdown triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. Those organizations have also helped draw people back to California as coronavirus case numbers have declined.
Mayo said her typical day at Visit Tuolumne might include talking to the media about the travel impacts of an ongoing wildfire nearby or updating local politicians about her organization’s activities, which are funded by the county’s Transient Occupancy Tax. Visit Tuolumne also works closely with the state’s tourism bureau, Visit California, to coordinate public outreach efforts and share research and best practices for destination marketing campaigns.
In some ways, Visit Tuolumne has an easier assignment than other local visitor bureaus in California, Mayo said. About 60 percent of Yosemite National Park – one of the country’s most beloved national parks - sits within its borders. Mayo said her organization tries to build on Yosemite’s draw by introducing visitors to the Dodge Ridge Ski Area, bucolic Gold Rush-era towns such as Columbia and other local treasures.
“Tuolumne is a huge county, and we like to say we have one destination with three vacations,” Mayo said. “Yosemite of course is wonderful, and we have a lot of people who come to see Yosemite. Our goal is to try and tell them, ‘That’s awesome that you went there. Now, see the rest of the county.’”
Growing up near Columbia State Historic Park, Mayo said the tourism industry was always part of her childhood. As a girl, she would ride her bike through town wearing a T-shirt reading “I’m Not a Tourist, I Live Here.” Visitors would see the shirt and ask her about what else they should see around the area.
It may have been only natural that she would go on to study recreation administration at the California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. She went on to work at golf courses and wineries in California and later joined the Calaveras Visitors Bureau as its director. After 11 years there, she moved to neighboring Tuolumne County’s tourism bureau where her responsibilities include coordinating public relations, social media and other outreach efforts.
“It was one of those interests that I didn’t peg as tourism until I got into it at the destination marketing level,” Mayo said. “There are so many entry level opportunities in the tourism industry where you don’t really think that’s tourism, it's just a job I like. But the more you are part of it and the more passion you have for these things, you realize you can have a real impact.”
