SAN DIEGO -- A multi-million dollar ad campaign promoting tourism in San Diego is seeing mixed results, 10News reported.

San Diego's Convention and Visitors Bureau thinks there is a price for happiness. Seven months ago, the bureau spent $11 million on an ad campaign promoting the city's good vibes with its "Happy Happens" slogan.

"If we don't have strong creative campaigns from our convention and visitors bureau that we can capitalize on, we're in big trouble," said Rebecca Milkey with Hornblower Cruises.

Milkey credited the ad campaign with a 25 percent spike in personal travel. However, her group and convention business nose-dived.

"Actually, it was down by almost 18 percent," she added.

The latest figures from the San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau show a similar decline in tourism this year. Visitors are down more than 3 percent from last year, and how much they spend dropped by almost 9 percent.

Bureau President Joe Terzi told 10News things are even worse with business travelers, as that plummeted 30 percent from 2008. Even so, Terzi defends the $11 million spent on the "Happy Happens" ad campaign.

"If we didn't do that we think the travel would be off, similar to what it's been off around the country," said Terzi.

In comparison, Las Vegas tourism dropped 6 percent, with business travel down 30 percent. Orlando vacations are down more than 3 percent, while business travel is off by 15 percent from last year.

Next month, Terzi will launch another ad campaign that targets event planners.

"We can give you a great deal," said Terzi.

The cost of the new ad campaign is $300,000.