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Board: spring break and Easter visitation rose in key measures; hotels reported flexible rates
Summary
Visit South Padre Island staff reported higher occupancy in April and a positive Easter weekend compared with the prior year, with hotels reporting increased occupancy but some downward rate pressure; staff recommended earlier coordination with local businesses for next year's spring break planning.
April Romero, senior marketing communications manager for Visit South Padre Island, presented a recap of spring break 2025 and Easter 2025, telling the board that hotel and motel occupancy for the spring period reached about 76% and vacation rentals averaged about 80%.
"Occupancy for hotels and motels were at 76%. That was up 6.25% from last year and vacation rentals was 80%," Romero said, summarizing April performance and noting that indicators showed increases from markets including San Antonio, Brownsville, Minneapolis and Chicago.
Romero and other staff said the April month performed well despite the absence of the SpaceX launch and Semana Santa timing that benefited the prior year. Staff cited positive year‑over‑year trends in RevPAR, ADR and occupancy for April, and noted OTAs (online travel agencies) played a larger role in bookings as the DMO expanded partnerships.
Board members and hoteliers reported different operational experiences: Tom Goodman said he saw slower site performance and that hotels had to be "nimble with their rates," and another board member noted some hotels lowered rates to drive occupancy. Staff recounted that events such as the convention center's large rental and weekend programming helped deliver overnights and that family visitation increased, including more visitors from Houston.
The board discussed planning and outreach improvements for next year's spring break, including earlier workshops with local businesses, clearer messaging for small business partners and use of the updated website to highlight packages, attractions and family activities. Romero said the new website and improved SEO are already driving increased organic searches for spring break and family content.
Ending: Staff said they will continue to refine year‑over‑year benchmarks, share more timely collection figures for hotel occupancy tax and schedule a pre‑season workshop with island businesses to coordinate messaging and shoulder‑season strategies.
