Travel Santa Ana's Wendy Haase to Welcome Visitors to Santa Ana

There's reason to rejoice in Downtown Santa Ana: a new agency called Travel Santa Ana quietly entered the world at the beginning of 2021 and Wendy Haase asserted her new role as the organization's first director this Summer.

What's Travel Santa Ana? It's the City of Santa Ana’s new tourism promotion organization dedicated to creating long term and sustainable economic growth for the region and its partners through innovative tourism programs, promotions, and partnerships. TSA is funded by the Santa Ana Tourism Marketing District, which includes 17 hotels and motels in Santa Ana, Calif.
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Having Travel Santa Ana as a partner to downtown is a game-changer as the organization will enhance the sales, marketing and communication of Santa Ana's brand as a destination for leisure, business travel and group sales.

Haase recently took a tour of Downtown Santa Ana along with Downtown Inc and Santa Ana Business Council marketing and communication teams. They met with business owners and had lunch with stakeholders who are eager to connect Wendy to communities of interest from sports to arts, venues to residents and whole industries.

​“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, to not only build a Destination Management Organization (DMO), but to bring to life a destination’s personality,” said Haase. “I am beyond excited to work with my board of directors and community partners to brand and promote Santa Ana.”

​Prior to joining Travel Santa Ana, Haase represented Destination Irvine for 11 years as vice president. Her travel and tourism career spans 22 years representing four different destinations and a luxury resort. She received her Certified Destination Management Executive Credentials from Destinations International in 2014. She currently serves on the board of directors for the California Travel Association.

So, what's happening next? Well, Travel Santa Ana recently surveyed its partners and the community extensively and will be utilizing the data procured to work on a strategic plan and to further develop the organization's brand and materials to represent Santa Ana's diverse offerings to a wide audience.

So say "Hi" and welcome Wendy! We look forward to continuing to develop partnerships and increase vibrancy of our neighborhood through partnerships with Travel Santa Ana.

Story and photos by Ryan Smolar