BY ETHAN THOMAS
The local impact
Final takeaways
City Council approved an ordinance on rst reading to establish the TPID March 23. The ordinance needs to be read and approved twice before implementation could take place, according to agenda documents. Return on investment is a key metric needed to assess whether the TPID is working. “Although some districts have existed for more than a decade, not much research has been done into their e ectiveness,” said Ricard Jensen, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Texas at San Antonio. In the case of San Antonio, its local district had recently been extended, with a lot of talk about how it could help the city, but with little data on how, Jensen said. “You see people from San Antonio who talk about it, yet you don’t see a lot of assessments of how it’s actually worked,” Jensen said. To measure the e ectiveness of the district, the CVB will look at return on investment dollars, Joslove said. A 7-to-1 metric will be used, meaning that for every dollar spent to bring conventions, companies and teams, an ideal return would be at least $7 spent on hotel rooms within city limits. If approved and implemented, the district would be active for 10 years, but if it is deemed to be ine ective, it can be canceled or dissolved at any time, Pence said.
Core priorities for the funds center around marketing and sales, making up 85% of the $1.1 million projected annual revenue expected from the district, Joslove said in the presentation to the city. “We have found that this tourist public improve- ment district is the best tool that we have had in several decades to promote tourism in our cities throughout the state of Texas,” Joslove said. The additional 15% will be dedicated to research and administrative costs, and contingency dollars, according to the presentation. The marketing e orts aim to lure tourists to the city year-round, Pence said. E orts will attempt to show that New Braunfels o ers more than just summer activities like oating the Comal River or visiting the Schlitterbahn Water Park and Resort. “There’s so many things to do here, 365 days a year,” Pence said. “We also have so many other things to o er for families, for girls’ weekend trips, anything like that.”
What will it fund? A majority of funds gained by the TPID will be allocated to marketing New Braunfels as a premier destination. Marketing and sales 10% 85%
5%
Research and administration Contingencies
SOURCE: GREATER NEW BRAUNFELS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE COMMUNITY IMPACT
Year-round tourism would also allow hotels and other businesses to keep employees who would otherwise be seasonal, employed permanently throughout the year, Pence said.
What they're saying
“With how much we rely on sales tax for our budget, it is critical to move [the TPID] forward.” REP. D. LEE EDWARDS, DISTRICT 3 CITY COUNCIL MEMBER
“The goal is, use these funds to enhance the experience of the downtown area for both out-of-towners and locals.” RICARD JENSEN, PH.D., UTSA ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, MARKETING
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