Cedar Park tourism office reports big gains in digital reach and hotel stays

April Walker Davis, Cedar Park’s tourism marketing manager, updated the council on the city’s tourism program on Jan. 9, reporting significant growth in digital engagement and confirmed overnight visitors.

Walker Davis said confirmed hotel stays from Jan. 1 through Nov. 30, 2025 came from a sample of more than 100,000 records and identified the Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos region as the top origin market, followed by Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. She described strategic goals to expand tourism’s economic contribution by strengthening partnerships with hoteliers and visitor attractions, enhancing digital marketing, and implementing measurable outcomes.

Key metrics presented included a jump in Instagram followers from about 3,200 in March 2024 to more than 14,000 in under 24 months, and roughly 200,000 website sessions year-to-date for 2025. Walker Davis also cited marketing activations tied to local venues such as the H E B Center at Cedar Park and partnerships with Travel Texas and Brand USA to extend reach beyond Texas.

Council members asked how the department measures conversion from online engagement to sales tax and lodging revenue; Walker Davis said the tourism office uses the visitors website as the main KPI and is pursuing co-op efforts and Travel Texas collaborations to capture larger events (for example, outreach tied to FIFA travel patterns). The council praised recent activations and encouraged continued collaboration with economic development.

No ordinance or funding decision was requested during the update; the item was informational.