When visitors come to your town, they don't add a burden to your schools, police or fire departments. They come in, spend money and leave. So who pays to bring them here? Not local residents.
Justin McKenzie talks Texas tourism with Kathleen Davis, CDME, President & CEO of Destinations Texas (formerly the Texas Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus), about how Texas towns grow their tourism economy. They cover what a destination organization (DMO) does, how the hotel occupancy tax is paid by visitors instead of residents, and why Boerne and Dallas fill hotel rooms in very different ways. They also discuss why more Texans are taking regional trips and day trips, how AI is changing the way people plan travel and how small DMO teams market their towns, and what you can do to help your own community welcome visitors.
In this episode:
Guest: Kathleen Davis, CDME, President & CEO, Destinations Texas
Host: Justin McKenzie, The Building Texas Show
Destinations Texas: https://www.destinationstexas.org
Meet Kathleen: https://www.destinationstexas.org/staff
Membership: https://www.destinationstexas.org/membership-information
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/1sNkPsYAzzg
Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@thebuildingtexasshow?sub_confirmation=1
More episodes: https://www.buildingtexasshow.com
0:00 Visitors spend money and leave
0:19 Meet Kathleen Davis of Destinations Texas
0:57 What a destination organization (DMO) does
1:57 The hotel occupancy tax: visitors pay, not residents
3:54 Heads in beds and filling a Tuesday
4:16 Boerne vs. Dallas: leisure vs. convention destinations
5:30 Know your market: regional travel across Texas
8:03 How AI is changing tourism
10:45 Destinations Texas conferences and why DMOs join
14:09 How to join, or get help as a non-member
15:06 How every Texan can help their local destination
16:48 Careers in the tourism industry
17:49 Wrap-up
