Guide incouraging visitors to travel around the Golden State.

CALIFORNIA’S FREE ROAD TRIPS 2011 GUIDE

GETS VISITORS TRAVELING

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) – The newly released California Road Trips 2011 encourages visitors to travel around the Golden State, especially by car, with special two- to three-day driving getaways along with more detailed routes for longer vacations.

“The road trip is an intregal part of the California experience. When visitors travel our roadways, they can experience some of the best our state has to offer, from breathtaking coastal highways to majestic mountain drives and everything in between,” said President and CEO Caroline Beteta of the California Travel and Tourism Commission (CTTC). “California Road Trips 2011 reinforces the best of the California lifestyle and gives consumers the inside scoop on things to see and do statewide.”

This year, the theme of the guide, produced by CTTC and Sunset Publishing, is “Wine and Food Getaways,” a focus that has special resonance in California, with its abundant wine regions, innovative cuisine, world-class chefs, and increasing emphasis on locally grown and artisanal foods. In addition to worthy culinary stops along designated routes, the itineraries also present a range of other activities for all kinds of travelers, inviting people to stop, explore, learn and have fun.

Inside California Road Trips 2011, readers will find inside scoops on things to see and do and the abundance of activities they’ll find throughout the state of California. As part of the guide’s “Desert Delights” trip, drivers can fuel up for dune rambles and canyon hikes. In “Down in the Valley,” visitors discover California’s agricultural heartland on a trip through fertile farmland, wine country and friendly rural towns. They can also head for “High Peaks and Haute Cuisine” while sampling outdoor adventures in California’s dramatic High Sierra. California’s snowcapped volcanoes and winding rivers also make the perfect backdrop for recreation and culinary surprises in the Shasta Cascade.

This year’s issue of Road Trips will see one million distribution, with 600,000 guides being distributed in the June 2011 issue of Sunset magazine; the remaining 400,000 will be distributed through domestic and international direct fulfillment and trade shows. Road Trips 2011 will also be available for free in digital format on visitcalifornia.com. Visitors can also get a copy by calling 1-877-TOP-DRIVES begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              1-877-TOP-DRIVES      end_of_the_skype_highlighting.

CTTC is a non-profit organization with a mission to develop and maintain marketing programs – in partnership with the state’s travel industry – that keep California top-of-mind as a premier travel destination. According to CTTC, travel and tourism expenditures total $95.1 billion annually in California, support jobs for 873,000 Californians and generate $6.1 billion in state and local tax revenues. For more information about CTTC and for a free California Visitor’s Guide as well as California Road Trips 2011, go to www.VisitCalifornia.com.