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Wimberley council approves $13,400 HOT grant to market "venue crawl" aimed at boosting weddings
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Summary
The council unanimously approved a hotel-occupancy-tax reimbursement grant for the Wimberley Chamber's venue-crawl event to fund professional advertising and marketing; presenters said the event has produced wedding bookings and downstream lodging revenue and HOTAC recommended funding.
The Wimberley City Council on April 16 approved a hotel-occupancy-tax (HOT) reimbursement agreement with the Wimberley Chamber of Commerce to support a venue-crawl marketing campaign aimed at increasing wedding bookings and lodging nights.
Michelle Woods, introduced as the city's tourism director, presented the chamber's request for $13,400 to hire professional advertising and marketing for the third-year venue-crawl event. Woods said HOTAC (the hotel-occupancy-tax advisory committee) reviewed the request and recommended funding. "This is an event that they have had for their third year," Woods said, adding the committee believes targeted marketing could convert venue-crawl attendees into booked weddings and generate "heads in beds" beyond the single weekend.
HOTAC's chair (speaker 12) described a data-driven review of the request and emphasized it was the first presentation to the committee that included statistics and projections linking the event to hotel tax revenue. Committee figures presented to council included a $210 average nightly rate estimate and downstream revenue calculations produced by applying two-night and one-night stay assumptions to past booking outcomes. Speakers noted the event previously drew roughly 65 attendees in year one and about 125 in year two and cited 12 wedding bookings attributed to prior venue-crawl attendees, with an estimated combined guest count of roughly 1,200 for those bookings.
Sheree Maly, venue manager at Messina Inn and the initiative's organizer, said the goal is to market Wimberley as a wedding destination and make it easier for couples to compare multiple venues in a single weekend. Maly described vendor participation, early-bird ticket incentives and outreach to lodging partners.
Council members discussed logistical and equity questions including whether venues in the extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) or those that opted out of HOT participation could be included in promotional materials; staff and presenters said noncompliant venues cannot be listed and the participation agreement outlines eligibility. Michelle Woods noted the HOT grant budget for the year is $60,000 with $15,000 already awarded; funding the full $13,400 request would still leave about $10,000 available in the current pipeline.
Councilmember Chris Sheffield moved to enter into the grant agreement as presented; the motion was seconded and approved unanimously (4–0).
The grant approval includes the participation conditions HOTAC and chamber staff described, including restrictions on listing or promoting venues that have opted out of HOT participation or are not in compliance with the participation agreement.
