In a recent episode of Why Your Texas Town Wants Tourists, Not New Residents | Destinations Texas CEO, host Justin McKenzie spoke with Kathleen Davis, president and CEO of Destinations Texas, about the role of tourism in Texas communities and why attracting visitors can be more beneficial than chasing new residents.
Davis, who leads the association formerly known as the Texas Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus, explained that every destination has a destination organization or destination management organization (DMO) responsible for promoting, branding, and developing the area to bring in visitors and conventions. A key argument she makes is that tourists do not place the same strain on local infrastructure as new residents. "When the visitor comes into your community, they're not putting a burden on housing," Davis said. "They're not putting a burden on the schools, on the police, on the fire departments. They're coming in, they're spending money, and then they're leaving."
Much of the marketing work done by DMOs is funded through the hotel occupancy tax, which Davis notes is paid by visitors, not residents. "It's not paid by the resident," she said, adding that the marketing "is not costing residents a dime." This funding structure allows communities to promote themselves without drawing from local tax dollars, making tourism an attractive economic development strategy.
Davis highlighted that strategies vary by destination. Boerne, for example, focuses on leisure travelers—families, couples, and girls' weekends—while Dallas relies heavily on conventions and group business. Across her membership, she identified several trends: more day trips and regional trips, with travelers clustering nearby destinations such as the Metroplex, Austin, San Antonio, Fredericksburg, and Boerne; early adoption of AI to target the right markets, fill slower days, and help small DMO teams, including one-person shops, work more efficiently; and growing use of data to track the visitor journey and demonstrate the economic impact of marketing to partners.
Destinations Texas supports its members through an annual conference, a women's leadership conference, a winter masterclass conference, and an innovation summit, plus online training and a resource library. Davis emphasized that the organization also helps non-members: "Just because you're not a member doesn't mean we won't help you."
For everyday Texans, Davis offers simple advice: be friendly and welcoming to visitors, offer to help local DMOs, and post positive things about their towns. She encourages residents to become "raving fans" of their hometowns, citing the book Raving Fans. "That third-party endorsement from them means so much more than an advertisement," she said.
The full conversation is available on The Building Texas Show website and on YouTube. The episode underscores the importance of tourism as a sustainable economic driver that benefits communities without imposing the costs associated with population growth.
