Shayan Mallick | New Delhi ‘Mono County’ and it’s only incorporated town ‘Mammoth Lakes’, were recently in India to explore the market here, engage with the travel trade and showcase their beautiful destinations for its raft of attractive tourism products, and above all, for its pristine nature, fresh air, clean water and breathtaking mountain landscape. Mono County and Mammoth Lakes are easily accessible from Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Las Vegas, some of the key gateways frequented by Indian travellers.
Mono County’s key attractions are Mono Lake, nearly as salty as the Dead Sea, and the abandoned yet well preserved Bodie town, a Wild West remnant, that was once a thriving community during the California Gold rush of mid-19th Century. It is also very close to the picturesque Yosemite National Park and the famous Death Valley National Park.
Pitching the county as the year-round destination with great winter and summer attractions and activities, Michael Vanderhurst, Director – International, Mammoth Lakes Tourism, said, “Both of our destinations (Mono County and Mammoth Lake) have two stories. We have got Winter story and the Summer story.” Vanderhurst said that with the area receiving an average annual snow fall of 8 – 12 meters, tourism in the Winter months are built around Skiing. One of the top skiing destinations of the world, Skiing has a long season in the area, continuing from November until June or 4th of July. “When you think of big snow, huge mountains and long Ski season, it’s all there in California,” he added.
Tourism in the Summer is built around outdoor adventure with vast array of exciting activities like hiking, mountain biking, bicycle riding, horseback riding, paddle boating, fishing, visiting the National Parks, scenic highways for some amazing road trips, among others, in the midst of myriad lakes and scenic mountain landscape.
Vanderhurst also points that there is lot of value in staying at Mammoth Lakes with over 4000 room nights, all very economical and mostly four star luxury at three star price points. Besides, there are no less than 65 restaurants from “elegant to casual and something for everyone.”
Pitching for the Indian market to be in the top five inbound visitation for Mono County in the next few years, Jeff Simpson, Economic Development Director, Mono County, said, “Depending on the time of the year you come, you have a unique proposition. If you are coming in the winter, you are seeing skiing and snow. If you come in the Spring, all that snow is melting and gushing through the full-waterfall that can only be seen during the Spring. Whereas in the Summer time, it is cooler than any other place in California with mild temperature.”
Furthermore, he informed that the fall season is Mono County’s very own ‘Cherry Blossom’ with a six week window and is also one of the top domestic product.
The town of Mammoth Lakes is located in the southern half of Mono County, in the heart of California’s Eastern Sierra Nevada mountain range. Located on the Pacific coast and home to landmarks like Hollywood, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Golden Gate Bridge, Disneyland, Universal Studio, California is also the most populous, third largest by area and the largest economy among the 50 US states.
