Things are looking a little different at 590 N. Yosemite. Some might say it’s a perfect match and if they did, they’d likely not get an argument from the Oakdale Chamber team or Austin Romito.

Visit Oakdale is now sharing space with the Oakdale Chamber of Commerce.

Austin Romito, president of Visit Oakdale since January 2022, shared the relocation from its former office in the River Road Plaza north of town just made sense.

“We didn’t need such a big space,” Romito said of the previous location.

“Most people aren’t necessarily looking for a place to stop and grab a map,” he continued of the once thought of purpose for a Visitors Center. “Some people still do, but we’re a small non-profit with a really small budget. With the resources we have we should focus on digital marketing, more so than just staffing this cool place.”

Occupying two adjoining rooms within the Chamber of Commerce building, Visit Oakdale is open Thursday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. All the informational pieces are in the Chamber lobby for visitors to stop in and take during regular Chamber hours.

The location offers information for out-of-town travelers as well as Oakdale merchandise which includes T-shirts, sweatshirts, tote bags, enamel pins and postcards.

“Visit Oakdale and the Chamber, we both want to enrich Oakdale. Boost the economics of Oakdale, increase spending in Oakdale. We just do it different ways,” Romito said.

He further shared that while the Chamber focuses on supporting everything local, Visit Oakdale is a Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) focused on driving business to the 95361.

“We’re the official destination marketing organization for the City of Oakdale. Our job is to tell the story of Oakdale to the California traveler,” he said, further describing the Chamber’s focus as being internally while the DMO’s is externally.

With a focus more on travelers worldwide versus local economy, the partnership by way of shared space may prove to be a perfect blend of all things Oakdale.

According to the Romito, it is unique for a town the size of Oakdale to have a DMO.

“The only other place the size of Oakdale in this entire state that has a DMO is someplace right outside of Death Valley and it’s a similar situation,” he said of the other town’s logistic location to Death Valley and the large number of destination travelers.

“We’re advertising Oakdale to the world,” he added. “We do e-mail blasts and Google ad campaigns. A lot of people in town don’t see our marketing. That’s because we’re doing Google ad campaigns globally targeting the Yosemite traveler.”

Now with over two years and a significant location move under his belt, Romito shared his passion and enthusiasm for his current role as the one man show of Visit Oakdale.

“I was a photo journalist for a long time,” he shared. “I love story telling. My favorite part about this is getting to tell the story of Oakdale. Getting to show people who would otherwise maybe just drive through that this is a really special spot and there’s a lot of things to do here.”

And in so doing, Romito has learned a little as well from visitors who stop by for a map, some pamphlets or even some Oakdale merchandise.

“I once met a traveler that said something I’d never thought about,” he shared. “They said ‘I love seeing when a town has a Visitors Center because it shows that they care about their community. It shows that they have something to offer’.”

Still, Romito said it is not commonplace.

“It’s really rare for a place this size to have an entity just focused on advertising its offerings,” he explained, noting that data has shown an average of 30,000 vehicles travel through the main intersection on any given day.

“The more of our businesses that we get creating new experiences and catering to those people passing through,” he said, “it’s an easy way for them to scale their business. There are fun things to do here, but there’s definitely opportunity for there to be more.”

Additional information can be found on visitoakdale.com. Merchandise sold at the North Yosemite Avenue location may also be found at oakdalesouvenirs.com. Persons interested in contacting Visit Oakdale may do so by emailing hello@visitoakdale.com.