Elk Grove, California, may be known for its parks and family-friendly charm, but it’s also home to one of Northern California’s fastest-growing youth sports communities. When IR Academy chose Elk Grove as the host city for its Spring Cup soccer tournament, Explore Elk Grove knew the stakes were high. With hundreds of players and families arriving in town, lodging demand would surge—and so would the risk of missed economic opportunity.
Enter Ripe.
By using Ripe’s In-Market Travel Agency platform, Explore Elk Grove transformed its event support strategy. What was once a logistical headache became a streamlined, value-generating engine—keeping bookings (and dollars) local, while freeing up staff and suppliers to focus on what they do best.
Aaryn Val, Executive Director of Explore Elk Grove says, “Events like these deliver a strong return on investment for our hotels and businesses, while also driving meaningful benefits for the community, supporting local jobs, generating tax revenue, and helping Elk Grove grow as a welcoming destination for visitors and residents alike.”
Elk Grove’s Challenge
⚽ A large-scale youth tournament brought an influx of visitors—but managing hotel blocks was time-consuming and complex.
📉 Without a centralized booking solution, hotel bookings—and the associated traveler spend—often leaked to outside platforms.
📊 Lack of visibility into traveler data made it difficult to demonstrate ROI or fine-tune future campaigns.
The Ripe Solution
Ripe helped Explore Elk Grove take control of its housing strategy for the Spring Cup:
- Group Block Management: Five hotels across the region loaded group blocks directly into the Ripe platform.
- Traveler Services: Ripe handled all booking support, drastically reducing the burden on both the DMO and hotel sales teams.
- Local Value Integration: Each reservation came with a $10 Explore Elk Grove Yiftee gift card, encouraging in-town spend and supporting local businesses.
- Booking Site: The Spring Cup’s dedicated landing page on Explore Elk Grove’s lodging engine made the reservation process smooth and accessible for every team and family.
Results (Single Event Snapshot – April 22, 2025)
- 💰 $30,277 in booking volume — captured directly on Explore Elk Grove’s platform
- 📅 164 roomnights completed by traveling teams and families 💵 $6K in saved hotel commissions – Dollars that will stay in market
- 👨👩👧👦 284 travelers booked into local lodging
- 🏨 5 hotels participated in the program
- ☎️ 0 calls from hotels or guests during the event weekend
- 🎁 107 gift cards issued, driving spend at local shops and restaurants windows, ADR, and length of stay across both direct bookings and nearly 3,000 referral leads sent to hotels.
Why It Worked
- ✅ Hands-Off for Hotels: By managing group blocks and guest support, Ripe freed up local hotel teams to focus on new business.
- ✅ In-Market Retention: Booking dollars stayed local—no commissions lost to OTAs.
- ✅ Traveler Incentives: The gift card program enhanced traveler satisfaction and bolstered Elk Grove’s small business economy.
- ✅ Smooth Execution: With no reported booking issues, Explore Elk Grove could trust the process and focus on delivering a great event experience.
Looking Ahead
With proof of concept in place, Explore Elk Grove is well-positioned to:
- Expand use of Ripe for future sports tournaments, festivals, and city events
- Introduce dynamic campaigns using first-party traveler data
- Build stronger supplier partnerships through demonstrable ROI
Impact Statement
Explore Elk Grove’s partnership with Ripe illustrates how a forward-thinking DMO can transform a high-pressure group housing challenge into a seamless, revenue-generating success. By keeping over $6K in-market and providing real-time support to 284 travelers, Explore Elk Grove proved what we believe at Ripe: What happens in-market, stays in-market.
