Huntington Beach
Tourism Business Improvement District (HBTBID)
FY 2026-2027
ANNUAL REPORT
October 2026
VISIT HUNTINGTON BEACH FY 2026–27 ANNUAL REPORT
ABOUT VISIT HUNTINGTON BEACH
Visit Huntington Beach (VHB) is a 501(c)(6) private, nonprofit organization that's contracted by the City of Huntington Beach to conduct tourism marketing. Founded in 1989, VHB's mission is to drive overnight visitation by sharing the Huntington Beach experience.
FY 25-26 HIGHLIGHTS
▪ Public Relations
– Named Best Beach Town in Good Housekeeping’s 2026 Travel Awards, reinforcing Huntington Beach’s reputation as a premier coastal destination. – Generated 218 destination stories through VHB’s public relations efforts, including standout coverage in Time Out, Travel + Leisure, Fodor’s Travel, and California Post.
– Earned media coverage delivered 2.5 billion impressions and an estimated $20 million in advertising value. (Source: Muck Rack)
– VHB-hosted media visits directly resulted in destination features that showcased Huntington Beach to audiences nationwide and across the globe. ▪ Marketing
– Soft Season Media Buy: In partnership with Expedia, generated 44 million total impressions, with 202K total clicks, leading to 14,674 room nights from February-June 2026. Expedia reported $953k in economic impact.
VISIT HUNTINGTON BEACH FY 2026–27 ANNUAL REPORT
– SurfCityUSA.com: The VHB hosted website, SurfCityUSA.com, saw 1.2M overall sessions of which 521K were organic sessions and 144K were paid sessions, an increase of 29% year-over-year. The site also generated 2.2M pageviews and an average time on site of 1 minute, which is up 2.8% year-over-year. – Social Media: VHB achieved significant growth on all active social media platforms, ending the year with a record number of followers:
Instagram: 153,000 followers
Facebook: 107,515 followers
LinkedIn: 5,000 followers
TikTok: 6,883 followers
▪ Group Sales
– Record Group Room Night Production:
Exceeded the annual goal of 86,082 room
nights, closing FY 2025–26 with a record 92,059
room nights booked, achieving 107% of goal.
– Increased Destination Exposure: Expanded
opportunities for meeting planners to
experience Huntington Beach through
Familiarization Tours (FAMs) and targeted
client events, increasing exposure for the
destination and our hotel partners.
– Expanded Presence in Key Markets: Increased
Group Sales efforts in priority markets
including Denver/Colorado, Texas, the
Northeast and Southeast, broadening
Huntington Beach’s reach and creating new
opportunities for future group business.
▪ Tourism Enhancement Project (TEP) Programs
– Wayfinding: Completed installation of 7 gateway signs throughout the City, including replacement of damaged signposts in three locations.
Continued maintenance on all signs, including monthly cleaning and graffiti and sticker removal.
– Pier Sign: Completed design process and submitted Public View Analysis to City of HB.
– Huntington Beach Pier Lights: Funded installation of new colorchanging lights along the HB Pier. – PCH Light Poles: Designed and funded new sidewalk lighting along PCH between 1st and Main Street to improve nighttime safety and security along the popular walking path between Pacific City and Downtown HB. – Beach Restrooms: Funded expanded daily porter service and temporary restroom trailers next to the HB Pier during Summer 2025 and 2026. – Nighttime Ambassador Program: Provided funding to support the Nighttime Ambassador Program, which is run by the HB Downtown BID.
VISIT HUNTINGTON BEACH FY 2026–27 ANNUAL REPORT
– Accessibility: Funded Sensory Inclusive® Certification training by Kulture City for City lifeguards, police officers, firefighters and other public safety personnel, in addition to visitor-facing employees at HB hotels, restaurants, shops, and attractions. Over 1,500 people have been certified as of September 2026. – Bike Valet: Branding and marketing of the downtown Bike Valet program. – Improved HBISM Support in Preparation for LA28: Supported the HB International Surfing Museum’s move to the Downtown library.
– Downtown Seatwall Improvements: Committed 50% of funding for upgrades to the Downtown seatwalls along Main Street.
– HB Pier Interpretive Signs: Committed funding towards the creation of interpretive signs along the HB Pier.
VISIT HUNTINGTON BEACH FY 2026–27 ANNUAL REPORT
FY 26-27 IMPROVEMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
In FY 26-27, VHB staff will be focusing on five key areas:
▪ Funding
– Developing new funding models and the associated controls and processes to administer them. ▪ Identity & Voice
– Assessing, clarifying and focusing our Surf City USA® and Huntington Beach, CA brand, mission, and destination reputation to support future marketing efforts. ▪ Programming & Demand
– Exploring and developing multi-day events and other opportunities to fill need periods and take advantage of upcoming key events taking place in the greater Southern California area. ▪ Partnerships & Influence
– Reimagining VHB's partnerships to deliver more value to lodging, restaurant, retail, and activity partners alike. Some examples include through co-op trade show and conference representation, expanded exposure on VHB’s owned marketing channels, and increased referrals to the partner’s business, website, and social media.
▪ Organizational Excellence
– Setting baselines for tracking organizational impact and improving internal communications and processes.
Within these key focus areas, new initiatives in FY26-27 include:
▪ California Welcome Center
– Exploration of a California Welcome Center in partnership with Visit California in the current lobby of the VHB office on 5th Street.
▪ Accessible Huntington Beach
– Expansion of HB’s partnerships with Kulture City and Wheel the World, providing additional accessible travel programs and resources for visitors with disabilities. ▪ Leveraging Brand USA
– Partnership with BrandUSA to increase reach from 12 markets to 28 global markets. – Use of Brand USA’s MindTrip USA AI platform, which is the source for all of Brand USA’s itineraries. ▪ Reengaging the Australian Market
– Re-engaged with in-market representation to conduct travel trade trainings, sales calls, an in-market sales mission, and a dedicated co-op marketing campaign in Australia for the first time in 5 years, with a goal of converting travel advisors into destination advocates.
▪ Ramping Up Public Relations Efforts
– Re-engaging PR efforts in Canada, creating new partnerships with content creators, and increasing press trips to HB.
▪ Cvent 4-Diamond Listing Enhancement
– Secured an enhanced 4-Diamond listing on Cvent, where approximately 90% of VHB group leads are sourced, increasing Huntington Beach’s visibility and competitive positioning with meeting planners.
VISIT HUNTINGTON BEACH FY 2026–27 ANNUAL REPORT
▪ Expanded Group Destination Incentive Program
– Enhancing the Destination Incentive Program to drive group bookings and room nights during key need periods, including November–January, June and Sunday–Wednesday patterns. ▪ Meeting Planner Familiarization (FAM) Tour Program
– Increase hosted FAM tours for qualified meeting planners in key growth markets, creating new opportunities and driving future group bookings and room nights. ▪ Surf City USA® Brand Study
– Investing in a brand study to create a strong foundation for the future of Surf City USA® and Huntington Beach, CA marketing and promotion around the world, driven by an integrated strategy across all VHB departments.
TOURISM ENHANCEMENT PROGRAMS
In addition, approximately $1,000,000 is allocated to Tourism Enhancement Programs in cooperation with the City of Huntington Beach. These programs include:
– Wayfinding: Wayfinding sign maintenance in the beach parking lots and throughout downtown, installation of pedestrian signs at PCH and Main Street, maintenance of existing signs, and planning and permitting for vehicular signs along PCH and Beach Blvd (installation expected in FY 27-28). – HB Pier Sign: Planning and permitting for a new landmark sign at the HB Pier. – Beach Restrooms: Improving the beach restroom experience through the Summer Beach Restroom program and infrastructure improvements.
– HB Pier Interpretive Signs: Planning and permitting for interpretive signs along the HB Pier. – Accessibility: Expanded accessibility training and resources for partners throughout the city; improvements to beach Mobi mats.
– Additional Programs: Supporting the Downtown Ambassador Program, improvements to Main Street seat walls, Bike Valet, and the Huntington Beach International Surfing Museum.
VISIT HUNTINGTON BEACH FY 2026–27 ANNUAL REPORT
METHOD AND BASIS OF LEVYING THE ASSESSMENT
The Huntington Beach Tourism Business Improvement District (HBTBID) was formed in 2002 with a 1% self-assessment on hotel and motel stays under 30 days. VHB serves as the HBTBID's Owners Association.
Any licensed lodging property in Huntington Beach — hotel, motel or short-term vacation rental — is automatically included. Because lodging properties typically pass the assessment on to guests, most HBTBID funds are paid by out-of-town visitors.
State law requires that assessment funds benefit the
lodging properties that make up the HBTBID. Per VHB's
agreement with the City, funds must be used to increase overnight business and leisure stays at Huntington
Beach properties.
HBTBID lodging properties voted to increase the
assessment in 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2023; as of July 1,
2024, the rate is 6% of gross short-term room rental
revenue — separate from the City's 10% Transient
Occupancy Tax. Assessments fund marketing and sales
efforts that drive room nights, as well as Tourism
Enhancement Programs developed with the City to
improve the destination experience for visitors and
residents alike.
The HBTBID was renewed in 2019 and runs through
June 30, 2028. Its boundaries will not change in FY 26-27 (see map on the right).
HBTBID Boundary — City of Huntington Beach
VISIT HUNTINGTON BEACH FY 2026–27 ANNUAL REPORT
VISIT HUNTINGTON BEACH FY 26-27 BUDGET
Revenues
Revenue Source FY 26–27
Budget Notes
TBID Assessment Funds $10,321,773 Includes $9,776,436 from hotels and $545,337 from short-term vacation rentals.
Non-TBID Revenue $127,600
FY 25–26 Rollover $1,452,675
Total Revenues $11,902,048
Expenses
Expense Category FY 26–27
Budget
% of TBID
Budget Notes
Non-TBID Expenses $11,500 N/A
TBID Assessment Expenses
Administration $2,467,852 24%
City Collection Costs $97,413 1%
Contingency / Renewal $37,000 0%
Sales and Marketing $6,709,152 65%
Actual Sales & Marketing
expenses are $8.7M due to
planned use of rollover and
reserve TBID funds.
Tourism Enhancement Programs $1,032,177 10%
Actual TEP expenses are $1.85M
due to planned use of rollover
TEP funds.
Total Expenses $10,355,094 100%
Actual operating budget is
$13,163,427 (The VHB Board
approved the use of reserves to
cover the $1.26M difference).