SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — The Shops at Heavenly Village is expanding its business footprint beyond the Tahoe Basin by joining the El Dorado Hills Chamber of Commerce, creating a new connection between one of South Lake Tahoe’s major visitor destinations and businesses serving the Highway 50 corridor.
The announcement, reported Sept. 25, positions the membership as part of a broader effort to strengthen regional business relationships and tourism outreach between South Lake Tahoe and El Dorado County.
For El Dorado County businesses, the connection is significant because Highway 50 serves as the primary east-west route linking the Sacramento region, El Dorado County’s foothill communities and the Lake Tahoe Basin.
The El Dorado Hills Chamber describes its mission as strengthening the local economy, promoting the community and providing business connections for its members. The organization also operates the California Welcome Center in El Dorado Hills, giving it a direct role in connecting travelers with destinations and attractions throughout the region.
A Highway 50 Corridor Connection
The chamber has specifically developed programs around regional cooperation along Highway 50. Its current calendar includes Highway 50 Corridor Power Luncheons that bring together business professionals and regional chamber organizations to expand networking and collaboration.
That regional orientation makes the new membership a natural fit for Heavenly Village.
The Shops at Heavenly Village is located at 1001 Heavenly Village Way in South Lake Tahoe, at the base of the Heavenly Mountain Resort Gondola. Its website describes the destination as an outdoor shopping center with more than 40 shops, along with dining, entertainment and recreational attractions.
The property has long functioned as more than a retail center. It sits within South Lake Tahoe’s primary visitor district, close to hotels, casinos and the gondola, placing it directly in the path of tourists traveling through the region.
Tourism Runs Both Ways
The relationship also fits into a larger tourism network that already crosses county and regional boundaries.
El Dorado County has historically used transient occupancy tax revenue to support organizations involved in tourism, business development and leisure travel. County documents have identified the El Dorado Hills Chamber, the Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber, the El Dorado County Visitors Authority and the Highway 50 Association among organizations involved in regional tourism promotion.
The county’s tourism funding framework specifically assigned the El Dorado Hills Chamber responsibilities including staffing the California Welcome Center, highlighting local tourism assets and attracting visitors from outside the local region.
That makes the chamber an important bridge between visitors entering El Dorado County and the destinations farther east.
For travelers heading toward Tahoe, El Dorado Hills can be one of the last major commercial and visitor-service areas before the highway climbs into the Sierra. For Tahoe businesses, meanwhile, the Highway 50 corridor represents an important feeder market from Sacramento and the foothill communities.
A New Business-to-Business Link
The new membership gives Heavenly Village an opportunity to participate directly in that business network while introducing El Dorado Hills-area businesses to a major Tahoe visitor destination.
The chamber’s tourism directory already includes businesses and destinations from throughout the broader El Dorado County region, including wineries, lodging properties and the California Welcome Center.
The move also comes as Heavenly Village continues to evolve.
In September 2025, Heavenly Village Cinema closed after two decades, with Trans Sierra Investments President and CEO Gary Casteel describing the closure as an opportunity to shape the next chapter of the village for residents and visitors.
Today, the village continues to promote shopping, dining, entertainment and seasonal recreation as part of its destination offering.
For El Dorado County, the new chamber relationship represents another link in an increasingly interconnected Highway 50 economy — one in which tourism does not stop at a county line or city boundary.
The highway connects the communities. Business relationships determine what happens after travelers get off the highway.
Sources:
- El Dorado Hills Chamber of Commerce
- El Dorado Hills Chamber — About the Chamber
- El Dorado County tourism funding records
- The Shops at Heavenly Village
- Tahoe Daily Tribune report on the chamber membership
