California tourism officials plan to show off the Central Coast to visiting journalists this week even as engineers said repairs to state Highway 1 won’t be finished this year.
Visit California has invited foreign and domestic journalists on a coastal media trip to Monterey, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, the tourism agency said Friday.
The announcement came the same day that Caltrans announced it won’t be able to reopen the coastal highway, the backbone of Big Sur tourism, in 2024 due to continued land movement at Regent’s Slide.
A 6.8-mile stretch of Highway 1 has been closed by the massive landslide, 45 miles south of Carmel, since Feb. 9. The tourism agency underscored that almost 100 miles of the Big Sur coast remains accessible.
“Visitors need assurance that this bucket-list road trip can always be part of their California experience,” Visit California CEO Caroline Beteta said in a news release Friday. “Visitors can still responsibly experience an iconic Highway 1 road trip — without missing its most awe-inspiring sites — even if some portions are closed.”
“Highway 1 is a global attraction. Think about it: If the Eiffel Tower was closed for repairs, would you book that family trip to Paris, or wait until another year?”
Caroline Beteta, Visit California
The closed segment is one mile south of the Esalen Institute to two miles north of the community of Lucia.
“Highway 1 is a global attraction,” Beteta said. “Think about it: If the Eiffel Tower was closed for repairs, would you book that family trip to Paris, or wait until another year?”
The tourism agency said it expects 13 international and domestic journalists to take part in the media excursion “to showcase California’s unique style of luxury.”
Before excavation work on Regent’s Slide resumes, crews and equipment need to be positioned on stable ground above and behind the slide, Caltrans said.
Updates on the progress of repairs and an estimated reopening date at Regent’s Slide will be provided regularly, Caltrans said.
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