TripAdvisor recently ranked College Station the second fastest growing destination among domestic travelers in the United States, trailing only Yosemite National Park in California.
With the summer travel season fast approaching and many summer activities planned in College Station, city officials are preparing for a busy season that will likely bring many visitors.
“We’re very happy to be named in the top 10 nationally because of all the hard work that so many people put in to have a great summer here in College Station,” said Jeremiah Cook, tourism manager for the city of College Station. “Last month, April to be exact, was one of our biggest months of growth ever year-over-year.”
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The city of College Station outranked many popular destinations, including Waimea, Hawaii and Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, in TripAdvisor’s rankings. TripAdvisor cited online survey and site behavior data on searches for travel from June 1 to Aug. 31, 2024 by travelers from Feb. 1 to April 15, 2024.
At Thursday’s College Station City Council meeting, where council members met with city staff from Economic Development and Tourism to hear updates and discuss what they’d like to see accomplished in the future, Cook presented a number of statistics about the growth of tourism in College Station.
According to a presentation on local tourism for fiscal year 2023, hotel occupancy rates are expected to increase by 2 percent and hotel room tax revenues will increase by 13.7 percent, bringing industry revenues to about $169.4 million and $433.1 million in direct travel within the city.
College Station will soon be hosting two highly anticipated events at Kyle Field, including the Mexico vs. Brazil international soccer match on June 8 and a George Strait concert a week later. Kyle Field has a maximum seating capacity of 102,733, which means it will draw large crowds to the city on weekends when many students are on summer break and the area around campus is quiet.
The U.S. Junior Olympic Track and Field Championships will also be held in College Station the week of July 22-28.
“in [previous] June and July… that [been] “This year has been quieter with fewer tourists,” Cook said. “We’re seeing more tourists this summer, but it’s not just a few people. We’re seeing a type of tourist that we’ve never seen before, and that’s why our TripAdvisor numbers are going up.”
Cook said along with tourism growth, College Station is also a top city for leisure and hospitality job opportunities.
“Looking back on 2019, [year] “Pre-COVID-19, our leisure and hospitality employment grew by 18 percent, and we’re very proud of that because it’s taken a lot of collaboration with not only our many tourism partners, but also with our department’s economic development arm to continue to drive this growth,” he said.
Looking ahead, Cook said the department is working on a new visitor guide, website updates and winter tourism initiatives in preparation for Christmas in College Station.
“Our website was created when we became a department in 2020, so it was in need of a significant upgrade. … We’re very excited to have that website online in July as well,” he said. “Our new visitor guide, which we’re very excited about, will be going live this summer.”
Cook said they are looking to increase resident participation in local events for residents interested in volunteering.
“We’ve heard tourists want authentic experiences,” he says, “and they want what locals like, they want the opportunity to interact with locals — tell them which restaurants to go to, where to shop, what are their favorite places to eat… That’s what we want to encourage.”
Cook said they are also looking for volunteers to help the large-scale program run smoothly.
“Athletics requires between 120 and 150 volunteers a day and this is also a time when our regular volunteers are heading home,” he said. “Not only does this event contribute to continued economic growth, it also provides an opportunity to interact with people from across the country and celebrate an athletics victory.”
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