Santa Barbara County’s tourism industry has reached bottom, and the slow crawl out will mean reaching out to markets both close to home and across the Pacific.

That’s the message industry experts delivered to hoteliers and restaurateurs at a tourism and travel outlook forecast for the county on Nov. 17.

Particular bright spots are continued travel by the affluent drive markets that have long served as the Tri-Counties’ bread-and-butter and increased spending by emerging markets in China, South Korea and India.

Occupancy rates and average daily room rates at Santa Barbara’s hotels took a dive this year, and they’re forecasted to go up only slightly next year.

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