Sacramento's COVID-19 Tourism Industry

California has introduced very strict coronavirus restrictions on many of the industries that make up the tourism industry in the state. These strict restrictions range from most theme parks throughout the state having to remain closed for the foreseeable future to museums having to rework how they operate. Even though Sacramento is in a stage two reopening on the Governor’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy much of the tourism industry in the city remains closed.   

Much of Sacramento’s tourism industry is dependent on the museums, historical sites, and memorials that are located throughout the capital city. These museums in the city include  Capitol Building where the government is ran from and many more. Although since California implemented coronavirus restrictions back in March at the start of the pandemic in the state many of these historical sites that drive tourist to the city have had to close down, and remain closed even with Sacramento being in a stage 2 reopening under the Governor’s Blue Print for a Safer Economy.   

Under a stage two reopening many of these museums, historical sites, and tourist destinations can reopen with a coronavirus precautions in place like guest wearing masks and limited capacity, but in Sacramento this is not the case. The reason though that many remain closed in the city is because of they are ran by the state, and the county government cannot tell them to reopen, only the state tells them to reopen. Luckily though Sacramento has a large selection of local and private run museums that have reopened. The California Aerospace Museum which is privately owned and operated was the first museum in the city to reopen and has reopened successfully by following state and local guidelines. The slow reopening of these facilities shows that museums and historical sites can successfully reopen and operate under the state’s COVID-19 restrictions, but it will be some time before they are all reopened again, and tourist coming to the city will have a limited selection of museums.  

Justin Martinez a front desk clerk at a hotel in Sacramento said, “most of the major tourism attractions being closed may have led to less people coming to the city, but we still see people visiting because a lot come here for our great outdoor recreation we have.”  

Under California’s coronavirus restrictions outdoor recreation is allowed in all phases, and the Sacramento area has a major outdoor recreation industry that drives people to visit the area. Major parks and recreations sites that attract visitors are the American River, Folsom Lake, the Sierra Nevada Mountain range, and the Sacramento River.  

“When you ask people the purpose of their visit many now say they are visiting to spend time at the river, lake, or to go mountain biking that’s if they are not here for business or family,” Martinez said. 

Emily Novak a cashier at a kayak rental shop said, “We have definitely seen a lot of new people come and rent kayaks from us for the lake and many are from out of town and a fair amount are even from out of state.”  

Sacramento is lucky to have to diverse tourist industry to keep attracting visitors during the pandemic unlike other California cities like Anaheim whose tourism industry and even city’s economy is dependent on theme parks that remain closed.  

“We are lucky that even before the pandemic outdoor recreation was social distanced and safe, so we did not have a lot of restrictions places on our industry like others have had,” Novak added.  

Sacramento may has seen a decline in tourism and less options for tourist to visit, but one thing that Sacramento has compared to other cities in the state is having a large option of COVID-19 safe tourist attractions.