Developing Tourism In Your Community

Section 1

Tourism in Texas

Tourism in Texas⁵:

Texas is among the top tourism states in the nation. Consider the following:

Total direct travel spending in Texas, for both international and domestic travelers, totaled $49 billion in 2005.
Approximately 514,000 Texans have tourism-related jobs.
State and local tax revenues directly generated by travel spending were approximately $3.4 billion in 2005.
Texas ranks third as a pleasure destination for US residents behind only Florida and California.

Texas has unique advantages for tourism because of the extraordinary and diverse characteristics of the state. Features that draw tourists to Texas destinations include:

metropolitan areas
historical and culturally significant locations
natural resources like the Gulf Coast
climate for year-round recreation

Texas' great size and unique geography content provide a wide diversity of natural resources including hills, valleys, forests, lakes, seacoast, and wildlife. Smaller communities reflect Texas' ethnic and cultural diversity and unusual history; additionally many travelers have identified the friendliness of host Texans as a major draw for the state. Finally, its location in the Sunbelt gives Texas a further advantage for attracting visitors.

These unique characteristics suggest that many different tourism opportunities, or products, can be developed to appeal to a wide range of travel market interests. As with any industry, the greater the diversity of products and markets, the greater its long-term stability. Tourism has been shown to be a resilient and expanding economic activity in Texas, even in less than favorable economic times.

5. Texas Travel Facts, 2007 Report, Office of The Governor, Economic Development and Tourism