Tourism promotion is often misunderstood as a cost to residents, but Kathleen Davis, president and CEO of Destinations Texas, argues the opposite. In a recent episode of The Building Texas Show titled Why Your Texas Town Wants Tourists, Not New Residents | Destinations Texas CEO, Davis told host Justin McKenzie that visitors strengthen local economies without adding pressure on housing, schools, police or fire departments. “They're coming in, they're spending money, and then they're leaving,” she said.
Davis leads Destinations Texas, formerly the Texas Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus, an association for destination organization professionals. She explained that every destination has a destination organization or destination management organization (DO or DMO) that promotes, brands, develops and brings visitors and conventions to the community. Much of that work is funded by the hotel occupancy tax, which Davis emphasized “is paid for by the visitor. It's not paid by the resident.” As a result, she said, the marketing these organizations do “is not costing residents a dime.”
The implications for Texas communities are significant. As towns seek growth, tourism offers a way to generate revenue without the infrastructure demands that come with new residents. Davis noted that strategies differ by destination: Boerne is largely a leisure destination for families, couples and girls' weekends, while Dallas relies heavily on conventions and groups. Across her membership, she sees more day trips and regional trips, with travelers using clusters of nearby destinations such as the Metroplex, Austin and San Antonio, and Fredericksburg and Boerne.
Davis also highlighted early adoption of artificial intelligence to target the right markets, fill slower days and help small DMO teams—some of them one-person shops—work more efficiently. Growing use of data helps track the visitor journey and show partners the economic impact of marketing. Destinations Texas supports its members with an annual conference, a women's leadership conference, a winter masterclass conference and an innovation summit, plus online training and a resource library. Davis said the organization also helps non-members: “Just because you're not a member doesn't mean we won't help you.”
Her advice for every Texan is simple. “Number one, be friendly when the visitors are coming in. Make them feel welcome,” Davis said. She encourages residents to offer to help their local DMO, post positive things about their town and become “raving fans” of their hometowns, a phrase she borrows from the book Raving Fans, because “that third-party endorsement from them means so much more than an advertisement.” The full conversation is available on The Building Texas Show, which publishes new episodes weekly on YouTube and major podcast platforms.
