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Laredo tourism advisory committee reviews April activity, eyes Texas "Film Friendly" certification
Summary
At its advisory meeting, the Laredo tourism office reported marketing metrics (10,000 visual reach, 4,500 flyers), said automotive tax collections remain above forecast, and outlined final steps to secure Texas "Film Friendly" certification; members urged a stakeholder landing page and broader social media use.
The Laredo Tourism Advisory Committee met and at 08:51AM heard an April activity and finance briefing that included marketing metrics, progress on a Texas "Film Friendly" certification, and proposals to improve local outreach.
Presenter (S3), the tourism office representative, led the meeting's substantive reports. On the finance summary, the presenter said the department's reports span pages 4–6 and cover October through April; discussing tax trends, the presenter said the office’s “automotive tax collections continue to be above the forecast,” while noting that sporadic hotel reporting can cause month-to-month variance. The presenter also described the internal budget timeline, saying the budget has been finalized for review and that departments may be asked to present to city council in July or August with the goal of approval before October.
The tourism office highlighted recent outreach and promotional results. The presenter reported that a pre–Holy Week activation produced a visual reach of about 10,000 people and that roughly 4,500 flyers were distributed at strategic locations to promote Laredo to visitors from Mexico and Monterrey, Coahuila. The office said its sales team conducted more than 30 meetings with tour operators and travel professionals to encourage international operators to include Laredo in multi-stop Texas itineraries.
On film-industry promotion, the presenter said the city has completed much of the work required for Texas’s Film Friendly program: location inventories and a supporting ordinance are finished, and “we just have to go to, do the workshop, and that's the last step” to obtain certification. The presenter credited a local film society (referred to in meeting notes as LFS) with helping identify locations and with legislative coordination.
Committee members also discussed sister-city and binational collaboration. The presenter described two agreements signed with partners in Querétaro, and said city staff and local public-safety officials participated in virtual and in-person training as part of those collaborations.
Members urged the tourism office to broaden digital outreach to younger audiences and to repurpose existing content into short videos. Committee member (S7) said, “if you're gonna get our news or whatever, you go to TikTok,” and members recommended piloting short, fast video segments and a stakeholder newsletter. Several members suggested adding a publicly accessible landing page or tab on the tourism website to publish the monthly agenda reports and highlight projects and opportunities for local businesses and residents.
The committee did not record any formal votes on the substantive items discussed during the meeting. Next procedural steps noted by staff included scheduling the workshop required for the governor’s office certification process and developing a small, local-facing landing page to host monthly reports and stakeholder resources.
