The management of Hearst Castle is trying some creative, new ideas to reverse a slow but steady attendance decline that’s been going on since 1989.

In that year, attendance at San Luis Obispo County’s most important tourist attraction peaked at just over 1 million. The latest attendance figures are about 650,000. New self-guided garden tours are among several new ideas that are being instituted.

The attendance decline is especially important to San Luis Obispo because about half of Hearst Castle visitors actually stay overnight in SLO. The attendance decline is probably caused by several factors: unfamiliarity of young people with William Randolph Hearst, lack of funds for promotion, and, lately, the slumped economy.