Tourism heads up in California--Slab city beckons

If spending by tourists is any indication of popularity, prepare to see more visitors in California in 2012. Golden State tourist spending is up 10% over 2010, and the projections indicate more is coming.

In a story carried by The LA Times, tourists brought over $95 billion into the state's economy in 2010. Consulting firm, Tourism Economics says $104 billion plus can be expected this year. Why the big jump? California's Tourism Board says it's the states wide variety of attractions and activities.

How do tourist dollars translate in to actual numbers of visitors? If you thought your visit this year was perhaps a bit crowded, then add 4% more to the crowd factor when you make your travel plans.

Here's a hint for snowbirds: Skip the crowded RV parks and try an off-beat alternative: Slab City, just outside Niland, California. A former military base cum-RV boondocker's paradise, Slab City may not have hot tubs, golf courses, and hookups, but it does have some of the widest variety of RVers you could ever meet. From half-million dollar motorcoaches to marooned school-bus conversions, you'll find any kind of RV and RVer possible camped out on the old concrete slabs that give the place its name.

Niland is squeezed between the Chocolate Mountains to the east and the Salton Sea to the west, down at the southern end of the big inland "sea," formed decades ago when an irrigation plan went awry.

slab city photo: fontplaydotcom on flickr.com