California’s wildfire season is in full swing, and as blazes continue to burn throughout the state, three West Coast tourism boards have launched a website to help visitors safely schedule their time in and around the affected regions.
With real-time air-quality readings, live-cam feeds, and an array of itineraries covering California, Oregon, and Washington states, plus emergency contacts and up-to-the-minute local news, WestCoastTravelFacts.org aims to put the latest information on natural disasters at visitors’ fingertips, giving them the tools they need to choose alternate destinations, reroute road trips, and put contingency plans into place where necessary.
“The West Coast is a massive 205-million-acre area, and wildfires in one location typically have no impact beyond the immediate region,” Caroline Beteta, president and CEO of Visit California, said in a press release. “Our first concern is always the safety and well-being of residents and visitors, so we recommend visitors planning a trip to the West Coast have access to most current facts and plan accordingly.”
To that end, travelers should bookmark the site’s Current Conditions section, a mapping feature that includes 40 webcams displaying real-time conditions on the roads and at popular destinations like national parks, color-coded air-quality readings from around the region, and welcome-center locations for all three states.
Comprising the nation’s biggest leisure travel destinations – all of which are increasingly affected by natural disasters, from wildfires to snowstorms – the new resource comes courtesy of the West Coast Tourism Recovery Coalition, a partnership formed last year to draw attention to areas unaffected by the region’s ongoing crises.
For more information, visit westcoasttravelfacts.org.
