Savannah Woodward, director of the city’s Convention and Visitors Venture (CVV), told the City Council on Dec. 18 that the municipal tourism office has conserved budgeted funds and is pursuing a mix of product development and marketing to grow overnight stays.

Woodward presented year-to-date hotel metrics: an average daily rate of $104.64 and occupancy around 58.2%, down about 9 percentage points from the same period last year. Quarterly hotel-occupancy-tax (HOT) receipts reported so far total $565,795.17 but Woodward said that figure was incomplete for the quarter because additional payments were still pending.

She outlined business-development steps — ribbon-cutting services for local businesses, quarterly hoteliers’ roundtables, customer-service training for frontline staff, a planned CRM to coordinate sales and room blocks, and a 'Pecos Boot Trail' retail/art project that would partner local manufacturers, artists and retailers. Woodward also said the CVV will move forward with the Delaware Basin Oil Show for Sept. 2026 as both an industry event and a public hiring fair for local employers.

"We're working to be good partners with our hoteliers," Woodward said, adding that the CVV has started advertising cooperatively with the Texas governor's office and is planning a mobile CVV unit to meet visitors at events.

Council members asked for follow-ups on the drop in HOT receipts and on outreach to small businesses; Woodward said she would provide more detailed financial reporting once final quarter payments come in and that the CVV will bear certain local advertising costs for partners rather than charge membership fees.