Australian-founded travel technology and commerce platform BYRDLI is expanding its partnership with the San Diego Tourism Authority, launching SAN DIEGO, WIDE OPEN across November and December.
Featuring BYRDLI Travel Club owners Jayson Robertson (@jaysonrobertson), Marianna Meza Albarez (@spicyramona) and Sari Coakley (@irishontherun), the campaign is designed to open up a destination with far more range than one itinerary, one travel company, or one creator could capture.
With 70 miles of coastline, distinctive coastal, urban and inland neighbourhoods, a thriving dining and nightlife scene, arts and culture, outdoor adventure and its signature Cali-Baja influence, San Diego can become a very different trip depending on who is travelling.
That breadth is the idea behind SAN DIEGO, WIDE OPEN.
Rather than asking the creators to tell the same destination story, each will experience San Diego through their own travel style, build the recommendations they genuinely want to make to their audience, and turn those discoveries into bookable travel products and full itineraries within their own BYRDLI Travel Club.
THREE CREATORS. THREE VERSIONS OF SAN DIEGO.
In November, Jayson Robertson and Marianna Meza Albarez will experience San Diego together while each operates their own Travel Club, creating recommendations and products for their respective communities.
Jayson’s Travel Club
Marianna’s Travel Club
In December, Sari Coakley will continue the campaign with her own journey through San Diego, shaped around her travel style and audience. Sari’s Travel Club
Across the two months, the campaign will move through the many sides of the destination, from the Pacific coastline and La Jolla to neighbourhood dining, culture, city life, outdoor experiences and the places the creators discover along the way.
“San Diego is exactly the kind of destination that makes this model exciting because there isn’t one version of it,” said Vanessa Richards, Co-Founder and CEO of BYRDLI.
“You can build a trip around the coast, food, neighbourhoods, outdoor adventure, culture, nightlife or slow Southern California living and still feel like you’ve only scratched the surface.”
“Wide Open is about giving each creator the freedom to find the San Diego that resonates with their own community, and then giving that community a way to actually experience it for themselves.”
FROM INSPIRATION TO BOOKING
The partnership also addresses a challenge BYRDLI has spent the past five years building around: creators have long influenced where people travel, but historically have disappeared from the journey once their audience moves from inspiration into planning and booking.
BYRDLI was created to change that.
Rather than using creators simply to promote a travel company’s package or booking channel, each creator operates their own bookable Travel Club, curating stays, itineraries and recommendations for their community while BYRDLI provides the travel technology, inventory, concierge and booking infrastructure behind it.
“The travel industry is talking much more about creator commerce now, but there is an important distinction between using creators to sell your travel product and enabling creators to build a travel business of their own,” Richards said.
“We’ve spent five years building the second model.”
“A traveller might see San Diego through a creator today, save it, come back three months later and finally be ready to book. The creator’s recommendations are still there. Their Travel Club is still there. They remain part of the transaction they helped inspire.”
SAN DIEGO, BUILT TO STAY BOOKABLE
Travel products developed through SAN DIEGO, WIDE OPEN will remain active in the creators’ Travel Clubs beyond the campaign itself, creating an ongoing pathway from destination storytelling to measurable bookings and room nights.
The campaign will also be supported through social, PR, owned media and paid amplification designed to drive audiences directly into the participating Travel Clubs.
For San Diego, where 32.4 million visitors generated $14.4 billion in direct visitor spending in 2025, the partnership provides another way to connect destination inspiration with future travel intent and conversion.
SAN DIEGO, WIDE OPEN marks BYRDLI’s second campaign with the San Diego Tourism Authority, expanding the partnership into a two-month activation with three creator-led pathways into the destination.
“San Diego offers incredible diversity across our coastline, neighbourhoods, dining, culture and outdoor experiences, and this campaign gives travellers the opportunity to discover that breadth through creators whose perspectives they already know and trust,” said Riki Suzuki, Tourism Development Manager, San Diego Tourism Authority.
“By partnering with BYRDLI, that inspiration can continue beyond the content itself, with each creator building recommendations and bookable travel that remain accessible to their communities.”
SAN DIEGO, WIDE OPEN will roll out across November and December 2026, with creator Travel Clubs and San Diego travel products remaining bookable beyond the campaign period.
SAN DIEGO, WIDE OPEN
Three creators. Three travel businesses. One destination with a lot more to discover.
