The Coronado City Council recently appointed two businesswomen to the advisory board of Discover Coronado, the city’s official destination marketing organization.
The appointees are Colleen Cavalieri, owner/operator of Coronado Tasting Room and vomFass Coronado, and Christine Stokes, executive director of the Coronado Historical Association.
Cavalieri, a longtime resident of the Coronado Cays, will serve as an at-large board member, joining David Spatafore, another non-hotelier, in the same capacity.
Cavalieri will represent small business owners on the island while Spatafore represents Coronado’s array of restaurants, cafés and eateries.
Stokes, who joined the historical association in 2016, replaces Dave Landon, whose term on Discover Coronado ended June 30.
Stokes oversees programming at CHA’s museum as well as its advocacy for preservation in the community. She will represent residents and property owners who cherish the history of Coronado Island.
Although overnight hotel guests pay the assessment that funds Discover Coronado, the organization features a board majority of non-hotel representatives.
Only four of the nine seats on the Discover Coronado Advisory Board are held by hotel operators, including the Hotel del Coronado, Loews Coronado Bay Resort, Coronado Island Marriott Resort and the Glorietta Bay Inn.
Together, the nine-person advisory board promotes Coronado as an ideal destination for group meetings and leisure hotel visits during the off-season.
Overnight guests pay a 10% transient occupancy tax which is the second largest source of funding for the City of Coronado, about $16 million annually.
Discover Coronado advisory board meetings are open to the public and are held the first Thursday of each month in Council Chambers at Coronado City Hall.
Discover Coronado was founded in 2010. For information on the economic impact of Discover Coronado, visit www.discovercoronado.com/impact.
