HOTELS / TOURISM : Tourist Bureau to Sell South County as the Southland’s Midpoint Riviera

Everyone knows Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm. But not enough potential visitors to Orange County know the surf at Laguna Beach, the maritime charm of Dana Point or Mission San Juan Capistrano’s gardens.

So reasons the Southern California Riviera Visitors Bureau, a new group formed to promote tourism along the South County coast.

The need for such a group “has been kind of stewing for a long time” because of the need to “more aggressively market the South County area,” said Barbara Sloate, the group’s vice chairwoman for marketing and programs.

About 25 travel-related businesses have already joined the organization, which is headed by Henry Schielein, general manager of the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Dana Point. Sloate, who is president of Whirl-A-Round Tours in Newport Beach, said the group hopes to boost its membership past 100 businesses by the end of the year.

With an initial war chest of $50,000, the group plans to send pamphlet-armed representatives to the Travel Agent Marketplace, a trade show for travel agents, March 26 in Scottsdale, Ariz.

She said the group wants to sell the South Coast as the perfect vacation spot midway between Los Angeles and San Diego--and 40 minutes from Disneyland.