Representatives from the Rockwall Area Chamber of Commerce and Visit Rockwall briefed the City Council Aug. 4 on tourism-marketing efforts, recent events and performance metrics. The presenter said Rockwall received a Texas Tourism Friendly Community designation and highlighted recent conferences and sporting events that generated hotel room nights and estimated economic impact.

The presenter, identified as Darby from Visit Rockwall, said two recent groups (a Texas judiciary DWI conference and the Nautique South Central Regatta) generated more than 80 hotel room nights with an estimated economic impact of over $40,000. Darby said Visit Rockwall has secured four more conferences and one major sporting event through 2028 and that, working with hoteliers, six events this fiscal year have produced over 1,700 room nights with an estimated economic impact of more than $500,000.

Darby also described ongoing marketing and social-media work, saying the bureau's Facebook sponsored ads had a click-through rate "7.718.5%" in the report provided to council and that the bureau's posts and videos have produced millions of views since Oct. 1. The presenter notified council that the detailed report had not been included in the meeting packet and that staff would email the packet materials after the meeting. Councilmembers praised the bureau's outreach and noted positive visitor feedback about downtown walkability, restaurants and Lake Ray Hubbard.

Council members did not take action on the report; it was provided for information and updating the council on meeting and tourism activity.