Kerrville, Fredericksburg CVBs tell Austin commission regional partnerships can extend visitor stays and spending

Julie Davis, president and CEO of the Kerrville Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Karen Mayo, vice president of sales and strategic alliances for the Fredericksburg Convention and Visitor Bureau, told the Austin Tourism Commission on Sept. 10 that closer cooperation between Austin and nearby Hill Country destinations can increase overnight stays and regional visitor spending.

Davis said Kerrville “sees Austin as an anchor in Texas tourism” and described the city’s mix of outdoors, arts and meeting space. “We have 15 traditional hotel properties with a little over 1,100 hotel rooms,” Davis said, and noted Kerrville’s conference-capable meeting space, multiple parks and a six-mile river trail. She told commissioners that Kerrville’s visitor economy supports direct travel jobs and generates hotel revenue and tax receipts that she said help reduce property-tax burdens for residents.

Mayo said Fredericksburg complements Austin with a different kind of draw — wineries, German-Texan heritage and small-town shopping — and positioned Fredericksburg as an “add-on” that can lengthen trips that begin in Austin. “Austin is a vital partner to us in Fredericksburg,” Mayo said. She told commissioners Fredericksburg welcomed roughly 3,000,000 visitors annually and reported about $190,000,000 in direct local spending in 2024.

Why it matters: Both speakers argued that stitching destination stories together — through shared itineraries, heritage “passport” programs and cross-promotion at festivals and visitor centers — would keep visitors in Central Texas longer and spread spending across multiple cities. Davis and Mayo offered several operational and marketing ideas commissioners could encourage, including a Hill Country heritage-passport program, joint roundtables for CVBs and targeted promotions to feeder metros such as Houston, San Antonio and Austin.

Details and examples cited at the meeting: - Kerrville: Davis listed a suite of tourism assets including 15 hotels (about 1,100 rooms), two conference-center hotels with roughly 32,000 square feet of meeting space, more than 20 parks (including a 64-acre downtown park and a 500-acre Shriner park), a six-mile river trail, three golf courses and ongoing public-art expansion. She said hospitality and tourism is one of Kerr County’s largest employers and that visitor spending and hotel revenue provide millions in earnings and tax receipts for the local economy. - Fredericksburg: Mayo highlighted more than 75 wineries in the Fredericksburg area, Enchanted Rock as a regional attraction, the National Museum of the Pacific War and a historic Main Street protected by local zoning. Mayo said Fredericksburg is seeing growing international visitation and positioned the town as a midweek complement to Austin’s higher weekend and corporate volume. She noted two full-service hotels planned to open in 2027 (a Waldorf Astoria and a Kimpton-branded property) that she said would expand Fredericksburg’s ability to host higher-yield and overnight business. - Joint products discussed: heritage-passport stamping programs that reward multi‑destination visits; coordinated wine and culinary itineraries; live‑music pairings that combine Austin’s large festivals with smaller, intimate Hill Country shows; and sports-event coordination to maximize hotel utilization for tournaments.

Commission response and follow-ups: Commissioners asked about visitor-origin markets and threatened or recent disruptions. Davis described a “catastrophic event” that affected Kerrville this summer and said regional industry networks and outside destination marketing peers had provided material and fundraising support during recovery. Commissioners suggested inviting CVBs back as planning partners while Visit Austin coordinates flight- and gateway-level marketing.

Ending: Both CVBs said they want to deepen ties with Austin and with each other to drive longer stays and more overnight revenue; commissioners signaled interest in exploring joint heritage and culinary marketing opportunities and in scheduling further briefings.