During the 2018 fiscal year, travelers to Bryan/College Station spent more than $584 million dollars, generating more than $58 million dollars in tax money, and creating 7,200 jobs.
During the last five years, the number of hotel rooms in Bryan/College Station has grown by 38 percent…while demand has increased by 19 percent.
That was among the information presented this month to the Bryan and College Station city councils by the Experience Bryan/College Station (EBCS) travel and tourism agency.
EBCS receives a portion of hotel occupancy tax money from both cities to recruit out of town hotel guests.
President Kindra Fry told council members that the average hotel rate remains among the highest in the state…with the exception of South Padre and Galveston.
And that’s after more than one million local hotel rooms went unsold last year…and the average daily rate paid last year dropped below $100 dollars for the first time in at least five years.
Fry told the city councils that their marketing focus has changed…beginning with choosing a new third party agency.
She also brought up increased contact with out of town groups and organizations as part of the overall effort in recruiting and retaining sports events.
Fry listed future might bring to Bryan/College Station…involving both out of town organizations and those created locally.
The week after Fry’s last presentation, EBCS announced the twin cities are a finalist for the NAIA softball world series in 2021 and 2022. A representative of the Kansas City based small college athletics organization will be making a site visit February 7.
During Fry’s appearance before the Bryan city council, councilman Brent Hairston said with “the pretty dramatic overbuilding happening with hotels in Bryan/College Station, and unfortunately I think some folks expect Kindra (Fry) to fix that overnight”.
College Station councilwoman Linda Harvell, who is on the EBCS board and has worked for four similar agencies, asked why there has been no recruitment of leisure travelers.
College Station mayor Karl Mooney called for the impact of VRBO’s…which stands for vacation rentals by owners…on local hotels.
Fry said their top restraint is visitors asking about local attractions, and she supported College Station city councilman Dennis Maloney’s suggestion of expanding options to neighboring counties.
Click below for comments from Kindra Fry from the January 14, 2020 Bryan city council meeting.