Stockton Hopes To Draw In Visitors By Highlighting Its Instagrammable Locations
STOCKTON (CBS13) - Stockton is part of the 209 that some think has gems worthy enough to visit for Instagram.
"There are some places in Stockton that are definitely 'Instagrammable', like downtown by the river," said Thomas Foronda, who recently moved to Stockton.
"There's a lot of hidden gems in the City. I think it's great to bring more people in to see that," said Jesse Gutierrez, who visits Stockton frequently.
That's what visit Stockton is trying to do. It's behind a new and bigger push to showcase the Instagrammable places in the city as the pandemic limits.
"There's a lot of things during the pandemic that all of a sudden taken new notice of, right? And I think people are looking for new things to do outdoors," Wes Rhea, CEO Of Visit Stockton, said. "And all of these locations are outdoors. This is kind of that list to go to."
Some of the goals of getting people to take selfies or other iconic Instagram posts are to show people from outside of Stockton some of the hidden gems and also bring more business to the city.
Download the CBS Sacramento News App
"Everything we do, we hope for that trickle-down right? We hope that if you come here to visit the University of the Pacific and take some great photos, you'll stop by the Miracle Mile and grad a lunch or stop in one of their stores," Rhea said.
The webpage for Visit Stockton has the 13 most Instagrammable locations so far.
Some locals think having more memorable posts for the right reasons will bring people to Stockton instead of turning them away.
"Unfortunately, when you get certain titles or certain reputations, they're hard to shake even though that's not the reality we are living here," Rhea said.
"People will be aware that there are good spots in Stockton and something worth going to," Foronda said.
"I think bringing more attention to that will have people see the heart of the city," said Hania Taduran, who visited Stockton's Miracle Mile.
If you want to highlight a cool spot on your social media in the city, all you have to do tag #VisitStockton on Instagram and they'll look into adding it to their list.