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Mounted Warfare Foundation reports roughly 15,800 visitors; cites marketing partnerships and asks continued hotel-occupancy support
Summary
The National Mounted Warfare Foundation told the council it recorded about 15,786 visitors since opening and said hotel-occupancy-tax funds are being used for marketing; the foundation described recent free PSA placements and rack-card distribution to reach tourists.
KILLEEN, Texas — Representatives of the National Mounted Warfare Foundation updated the Killeen City Council on June 3 about visitor totals and marketing activities for the Warrior Museum and described how hotel-occupancy-tax (HOT) funds are being applied to tourism outreach.
The foundation said construction of the museum’s first phase cost approximately $16 million and that the full build-out cost is estimated at about $35 million. Foundation leadership reported total visitation of roughly 15,786 people since opening and said about 30 percent of visitors come from outside the local metropolitan statistical area.
The foundation highlighted earned and paid marketing: printed rack cards distributed to roughly 21 tourism centers, a small billboard program reaching north to the Dallas–Fort Worth market and a generous media partnership that yielded a donated public-service announcement buy. Foundation representatives said they secured 375 thirty-second PSAs and that one spokesperson appearing in those spots is former professional athlete Nolan Ryan; the PSA placement was described as reaching roughly 410,000 households in the Austin market, about 150,000 households in the Waco market and an additional audience of nearly 29,000 DISH subscribers.
Foundation leaders noted a peak single-day attendance of 428 visitors during a high-traffic day and said they are using a mix of paid placements and partnerships to build awareness during what the foundation called a “leveling year” for a new cultural attraction. The foundation also mentioned in-person outreach to schools and ROTC groups and said it is tracking where visitors learned about the museum so future marketing can be targeted.
The update included an acknowledgement that the museum is a multi-phase project; the foundation said it will return to council as it seeks additional support and thanked the city for HOT funding that helped purchase marketing materials and paid placements.
No council action was requested; the presentation was informational.
