The Yosemite/Mariposa County Tourism Bureau expects to take in about $2.99 million in the 2026-27 fiscal year.
That would be its first year-over-year revenue decline outside the COVID-19 pandemic, driven mainly by fewer international visitors, according to the bureau’s annual plan.
The Mariposa County Board of Supervisors received the bureau’s 2025- 26 annual report and 2026-27 Tourism Business Improvement District plan Tuesday as part of its consent agenda. The district is funded by an assessment on lodging businesses. The rate stays at 1.5%, with no changes to its boundaries or the businesses assessed.
The bureau’s budgeted spending for 2026-27 is $2,989,200. Its plan calls for international inbound travel at 75 percent to 80 percent of pre-pandemic levels. It also estimates that the temporary closure of the Wawona Hotel will cost about $100,000 in district funding.
Revenue for 2025-26 was $3,377,366, which the report says beat the plan by 7 percent and the original budget by $232,366. The bureau ended the year with a $316,436 carryover.
The report attributes that to a $302,188 check from Mariposa County “to make up for previously owed payments.”
The report calls the 2025-26 year “good.”
International travel was down and domestic travel was flat. California visitation was up, though the report says much of the Yosemite National Park increase came from day-use visitors from the Central Valley.
The new plan shifts from producing more content to getting more out of what the bureau already has.
It aims to stay visible in AI-driven search, and to grow overnight, midweek and shoulder-season stays.
Yosemite.com sent 1,036,061 referrals to Mariposa County lodging and other partners last year, up 10.4 percent.
The paid digital media budget drops to $850,000. The bureau is launching a formal meetings and conferences sales program, with $85,000 of that media budget set aside for it.
The bureau’s executive director, Jonathan Farrington, is stepping down after 8-½ years.
“I’ve done my best. It wasn’t always perfect, but it was always passionate,” he said.
The bureau’s board is down to five candidates for a replacement and hopes to name one before he leaves, he said.
Supervisor Shannon Poe praised Farrington’s professionalism and hard work.
A speaker during public comment said, “Jonathan will be greatly missed. Big shoes to fill.”
In what he called his final appearance before the board, Farrington used the budget hearing to make a pitch.
He urged supervisors to consider sharing transient occupancy tax revenue with owners of aging motels and hotels who upgrade their properties.
He said that could lift their rates and bring in more money for the county. The Wawona Hotel’s temporary closure could cost the county about $1 million in that tax, he said.
“You can’t cut your way to greatness,” he told the board.
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