DMO of the Year - $1 Million and Over

Entries

Visit Austin

Description: Following a year of unprecedented spikes across all key KPIs for our organization in 2022, Visit Austin has been able to maintain and sustain our role driving visitation and economic impact to the city of Austin. In anticipation of the closure of the Austin Convention Center between 2025-2029, Visit Austin created and approved a strategic business plan alongside 50+ committee members representing hotel sales and marketing representatives from all over the city of Austin.

Objective: Visitor volume: 27.5 M (+17% YoY)

Visitor spending: $10.8 B (+2%)

State/Local taxes generated: $1.1 B (+4%; $607.9 M state, $485.5 M local)

Tax savings per household: $1,670 (+4%)

Leisure/Hospitality jobs: 147,100 (+4%)

Ranked #8 in Cvent's Top Meeting Destinations in North America in 2023

Ranked #4 by Move Maker Magazine as a best place to live and work a moviemaker in 2024

Selected as Sports Events & Tourism Association's Sports Commission of the Year, population above 500,000 category

In the last eight years, Visit Austin’s Music Office has helped secure more than $1.76M direct to Austin musicians. In 2023, we hired 148 different artists with $307,400 directly back to this talent for their support promoting Austin across local conventions, meetings and at key events including IPW, SXSW Sydney and CNN’s Austin New Year’s eve. These events not only give immediate economic impact to these artists, but they provide an opportunity for national – and even international – exposure to help build and grow their fan bases.

In-house Project

Visit Shenandoah, TX

Description: This past fiscal year our 2-person team produced some extraordinary results for our destination. As a result, we felt these efforts were worthy of submitting to this category.

Note: Refer to attached images for stats and creative samples.

Objective: Day in, day out, to do great work showcasing all the things our destination has to offer and to help our partners grow.

Project Costs: Under $500,000

In-house Project

Visit McKinney

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Description: Visit McKinney's 2023-24 fiscal year has been a standout period marked by significant achievements and community engagement. The grand opening of our re-envisioned Visitor Experience Center and Store in September 2023 has enabled the Visit McKinney team to more positively impact visitors and residents alike. The bureau expanded its free history and public art tour program, now offers complimentary coffee that is locally-roasted and specially formulated for Visit McKinney, and stocks its store with gifts and souvenirs from local businesses, enabling guests to get a sample “taste” of what they can experience in McKinney. Overall, the bureau’s Downtown McKinney location fosters a warmer and more inviting atmosphere than ever before. One of Visit McKinney’s KPIs involves hosting community events in the visitors which have included a cookie baker pop-up shop, a reception for the artists in Round 2 of our co-sponsored Downtown McKinney Tiny Doors public art installation, and a harmonica learn-it event for Make Music Day. The bureau also takes its presence outside of the Visitors Center to sponsor events around town, including the city tent at the Byron Nelson and a post-Byron Nelson golf and Cinco de Mayo-themed event at one of our entertainment districts and an alley stage complete with photo booth at Texas Music Revolution in Downtown McKinney.

Objective: The purpose of all this activity was to increase Visit McKinney's visibility and relevance in McKinney and the North Texas area with our municipal partners/colleagues and tourism partners. The city communications department is now using Visit McKinney’s website as its host site for major event landing pages for the Byron Nelson, the Eclipse event, Downtown McKinney Summer Events Calendar, and more. The bureau team also now has a leadership role in large visitor-focused events like the Byron Nelson, and McKinney extremely successful Solar Eclipse event during which we sold about 900 t-shirts, 100 postcards, 50 posters, and thousands of eclipse glasses! Visit McKinney has also been the focus of/included in three cover stories this winter and spring in Community Impact newspaper, articles highlighting city developments and growing support for tourism. Over the past year, Visit McKinney has solidified its role as a dynamic and essential Destination Marketing Organization, and has finally secured a seat at the table with McKinney Economic Development, hotel developers, and sports planners and organizers, demonstrating the organization’s commitment to enhancing McKinney's visibility and appeal. These accomplishments underscore why Visit McKinney should be considered for Destination Marketing Organization of the Year.

Project Costs: Byron Nelson sponsorship costs of about $250,000 ($50K for marketing), event sponsorships of $2500, and incidentals and store inventory costs that were almost doubled in revenue from eclipse merch sales.

In-house Project

Visit College Station

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Description:

Over the past year, the Visit College Station team has made significant strides in promoting our lively community. Our efforts have led to recognition as the 2nd fastest-growing domestic destination for US travelers by TripAdvisor. We hosted the historic MexTour soccer friendly match at Kyle Field with over 85,000 fans, and the George Strait concert dubbed the “King at Kyle Field” sold over 108,000 tickets surpassing all other ticketed concerts in history; our local hotels achieved a 94% occupancy both weekends. In addition to these two citywide events, during this period of time, we saw visitors travel from all over the state and nation to celebrate 41@100, the celebration of former president George H.W. Bush’s 100th birthday at his very own presidential library with the opening of a new free exhibit featuring Bush 4141 locomotive and Marine 1 helicopter. College Station is also set to host the 2024 USATF Junior Olympic Track and Field Championships, bringing approximately 10,000+ student-athletes and families to our destination for 7-10 days. Summer of 2024 will be the most prosperous in recent history, as we have added these events onto our annual book of business.

Objective: Our mission is to enhance economic growth through the marketing and promotion of the College Station area as a premier destination experience.

Project Costs: Visit Pearland operates with an annual budget of $1.7M for FY24 which includes a first-time use of HOT funds for a sports facility improvement project at a city-owned park.

In-house Project

Visit Pearland

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Description:

The mission of Visit Pearland, to inspire visitation, hotel stays, and local spend to Pearland, benefits from the drive, passion, and creativity that each team member brings to the table every day. A small but mighty department of three full-time and one part-time staff members, Visit Pearland manages the marketing of Pearland as a destination city, coordinates both leisure and sporting events, executes major cultural arts projects, and acts as a resource for all-things-Pearland for both visitors and residents alike.

Objective: The role of Visit Pearland is to promote and coordinate tourist related activity within the City of Pearland.

Project Costs: Visit Pearland operates with an annual budget of $1.7M for FY24 which includes a first-time use of HOT funds for a sports facility improvement project at a city-owned park.

In-house Project

Beaumont Convention and Visitors Bureau

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Description:

All times lead to good times with the Beaumont Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB), who capped off a successful year in 2023, solidifying its role as a leader in driving economic growth through tourism. Our efforts focused on both attracting conventions and meetings, as well as leisure travelers, with impressive results.

Please see attached file for comprehensive submission.

Objective:

Analyzing the impact of destination

Submitting destination management and campaign success

DMO Operations & Culture

In-house Project

Waco Convention & Visitors Bureau

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Description:

Waco’s location within the path of totality during the 2024 total eclipse allowed us to experience a surge of visitors from all over the world, partially due to the CVB’s multi-faceted efforts to market the destination over the last year. We recently adopted a new focus of using data to drive decision-making, utilizing software like Zardico and Placer.ai to be more strategic in reaching potential visitors. The CVB also sought to draw visitors to Waco instead of other locations on the path of totality by helping host a festival featuring multiple events in the days leading up to the eclipse, which offered guests a full weekend of fun in addition to the Eclipse Over Texas: Live from Waco event. Some of the other efforts that helped make the eclipse so successful for Waco were due to the culture of collaboration the CVB has worked to develop, partnering with both local stakeholders and other industry professionals through organizations like TACVB, Texas Travel Alliance, Travel Texas, and Team Texas events.

Objective:

We relied heavily on the stats provided by software like Zartico and Placer.ai, and we used advanced booking data prior to the eclipse to help guide decisions and inform local partners and City Council.

In-house Project

Project Costs: The budget for this website was $250,000, including software and technologies.

https://www.visitsanantonio.com/

Visit El Paso

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Description:

Visit El Paso (VEP) has achieved numerous milestones and achievements that contribute to its worthiness of winning DMO of the year. As a collective unit, VEP’s mission is to provide convention, tourism, venue and event management services to visitors, clients and the greater El Paso community so they can enjoy a pleasurable experience that enhances quality of life and generates economic growth. Serving as the City of El Paso’s DMO, Visit El Paso goes above and beyond industry standards and expectations to promote El Paso as a premier travel destination in several ways.

Objective:

In 2023, El Paso’s hotel occupancy soared, rising above the Texas and United States’ average hotel occupancy rates, achieving 69%. Contributing factors to that number are VEP’s efforts to promote the destination on a regional, national, and international level to garner positive publicity and visitors. Tourism development in El Paso has driven unprecedented growth and prosperity throughout the city and its surrounding region.

As a result, the cumulative economic impact of tourism in El Paso surged to an astounding $2.2 billion in 2023, and El Paso recorded over 3.5 million visitors. VEP’s tourism team is responsible for promoting the city’s four pillars: history, culture, ecotourism, and food. VEP aims to promote events and attractions that will target the specific interests of visitors and showcase local businesses as an integral part of the tourism industry. VEP’s reach extends far beyond city limits, encompassing markets within a 300-mile drive radius, direct flight markets, and targeted international destinations.

VEP also emphasizes strategic alliances, such as what it has cultivated with the state of Chihuahua, Mexico to contribute to the overall success and sustainability of El Paso as a destination. The team actively builds partnerships with trade associations, chambers of commerce in target markets, and marketing agencies. Also in the last year, VEP secured relationships with Brand USA, the nation’s destination marketing organization, to launch a campaign tailored for the city’s Canadian audience, inviting them to explore the Sun City. Simultaneously, VEP has expanded strategies to reintroduce El Paso to the Mexican travel market. Introducing ""A Un paso de El Paso,"" VEP’s reimagined marketing campaign poised to redefine the way travelers experience the journey from Mexico to El Paso.

In-house Project

Project Costs: N/A